Comparison

Writer for Markdown vs openote

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Writer for Markdown

Features
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Writer is a lightweight yet powerful Markdown editor for multiple platforms (macOS, iOS and more). It combines distraction-free writing, real-time preview, flexible themes, document outline navigation, Markdown-to-PNG export on both platforms, and Finder Quick Look support on macOS for a smoother reading and sharing workflow. ## Features 1. **Markdown Editing**: Full support for standard Markdown syntax with syntax-aware text editing. 2. **Real-time Preview**: Review rendered Markdown while writing with a smooth editing and preview workflow. 3. **Theme System**: Choose from built-in light and dark themes, or import custom CSS themes. 4. **Code Highlighting**: 83 built-in code highlighting themes powered by Highlight.js. 5. **Outline View**: Automatically parse Markdown headings to generate a document outline for quick navigation. 6. **Markdown PNG Export**: Export Markdown content as PNG for sharing, archiving, or quick publishing. ### iOS 1. **Image Support**: Insert images from the photo library or Files picker while editing on the go. 2. **Document Browser Integration**: Works with iCloud Drive and other file providers through the system document browser. http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/appstore/dev/stdeula

About

openote

Features
Read full description

openote โ€” Markdown notes with free sync. No account. No subscription. Other note apps charge a yearly fee just to sync your own devices. openote syncs iPhone, iPad and Mac through your iCloud Drive โ€” free, with no account to create. Your notes stay plain .md files. Open them in the Files app or any Markdown editor, and take them anywhere. No proprietary format, no lock-in. --- WHY OPENOTE Free iCloud sync Notes sync through iCloud Drive on your own Apple account. No sign-up, no subscription. Plain Markdown files Every note is a standard .md file. Front matter, checklists and [[wiki links]] are kept exactly as you wrote them. Safe across devices If a note changes on another device while you're editing, openote keeps both versions instead of silently overwriting one. Your last words are saved even if you switch apps or quit right away. Mermaid diagrams Flowcharts, sequence diagrams and more render live from Markdown. Start from a template, pinch to zoom, tap to edit the code. Rendering works offline. On-device AI On devices with Apple Intelligence, summarize a note, get tag suggestions, or turn a sentence into a diagram. It runs entirely on your device โ€” nothing is sent to a server. --- FEATURES Editor - Rich Markdown editing, with a source mode when you want the raw text - Checklists, tables and code blocks - Auto-save - Word and character count Organize - Folders and #tags with autocomplete - [[Wiki links]] between notes - Full-text search in English, Korean and Japanese Sync & files - iPhone, iPad and Mac via iCloud Drive - Browse your notes in the Files app - Export a note as PDF Shortcuts & Siri - Create, open and search notes from Shortcuts and Siri - Notes appear in Spotlight search --- PRIVACY - No account, no email - No tracking - Your notes stay in your iCloud and on your devices - AI runs on your device Everything is free. openote has no in-app purchases. openote โ€” Your notes, your files.

Screenshots

Writer for Markdown4 screens
openote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: openote at none against Writer for Markdown's 3. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Writer for Markdown sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. openote asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Writer for Markdown ships an update monthly, openote every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Writer for Markdown versus openote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWriter for Markdownopenote
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthly โ€” betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.617.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size22 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer้‘ซ ่‚‡Wooyoung Kim

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Writer for Markdown

Subscriptions1
  • Writer Pro Weekly$0.997 Days
One-time2
  • Writer Pro one-time Purchase macOS$9.99
  • Writer Pro one-time Purchase iOS$9.99
None

openote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Writer for Markdown free?
Writer for Markdown is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is openote free?
openote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Writer for Markdown or openote have ads?
Neither Writer for Markdown nor openote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Writer for Markdown or openote?
Writer for Markdown ships an update monthly, and openote every 5 weeks. Most recently, Writer for Markdown was updated on October 7, 2026 and openote on September 30, 2026.

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