Comparison

Read.md vs MDreaderlite

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

Head to head
About

Read.md

This app allows you to beautifully view markdown files on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. It offers perfect rendering of complex elements like tables, code blocks, and diagrams, with offline support and privacy in mind.

Highlights
  • Perfect markdown rendering
  • Syntax highlighting for 180+ languages
  • Mermaid diagram rendering
  • GitHub repository browsing
  • Export to PDF & HTML (Pro)
  • Smart diagram fixing
  • Auto-generated table of contents
Features
Read full description

Open any .md file and read it beautifully — on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Read.md is a markdown reader. Not an editor, not a note-taking app, not a vault system. A reader. Tap a .md file, it opens, it looks great, you read it. PERFECT RENDERING Tables, code blocks, nested lists, task lists, blockquotes, images, links — everything renders correctly. Syntax highlighting for 180+ programming languages. GitHub Flavored Markdown fully supported. MERMAID DIAGRAMS Flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts, class diagrams, and more render natively. Tap to zoom into any diagram for a detailed view. EXPORT TO PDF & HTML Turn any document into a clean, paginated, print-quality PDF or a self-contained HTML file — diagrams and syntax highlighting intact. Share it, print it, archive it. Or export the original Markdown source. (PDF and HTML export are Read.md Pro; Markdown export is free.) OPEN FROM GITHUB Read documentation straight from the source. Browse any GitHub repository — public or private — navigate its file tree, and open any .md file with the same beautiful rendering. Sign in with a personal access token; your token stays on your device. (Read.md Pro) SMART DIAGRAM FIXER ASCII art and box-drawing diagrams that look broken in other apps? Read.md detects and corrects misaligned characters automatically so your diagrams look the way they were intended. NAVIGATE LONG DOCUMENTS Auto-generated table of contents from your headings. Search within any document with match highlighting and next/prev navigation. Your scroll position is remembered when you come back to a file. ZERO FRICTION No account needed to read. No workspace. No vault. No setup. Works as your default .md file handler — open markdown files from Files, Finder, email attachments, AirDrop, the share sheet, or drag and drop. ADAPTS TO YOUR DEVICE iPhone: stacked navigation with a frosted-glass nav bar and bottom sheets. iPad: landscape split-view, portrait slide-over panels, trackpad and keyboard support. Mac: split-view with sidebar, reader, and table-of-contents panel, keyboard shortcuts, and translucent panels. Everything adapts automatically when you resize windows or rotate your device. DARK AND LIGHT MODES Switch between dark and light themes, or follow your system setting. Adjust font size to your preference. Everything updates live. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Opens instantly, even large files. Your markdown is rendered entirely on your device — file contents are never uploaded, and reading works fully offline. No ads. No account required to read. The only feature that touches the network is GitHub browsing, and only when you choose to use it. We use anonymous, aggregate analytics to improve the app. READ.MD PRO A one-time purchase — or a yearly subscription with a free trial — unlocks PDF/HTML export and GitHub browsing. Everything else stays free, forever. WHAT PEOPLE USE IT FOR Reading AI-generated markdown exports. Reading GitHub README files on mobile. Viewing documentation and project specs on the go. Reviewing technical docs from colleagues. Browsing personal notes written in markdown. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

MDreaderlite

Features
Read full description

MDReader 是一款简洁优雅的 Markdown 阅读器,专为 iOS 设计。 主要功能: • 快速打开和渲染 Markdown 文件,支持 .md、.markdown 等格式 • 从微信、邮件、文件 App 等任意应用中直接打开 Markdown 文件 • 最近打开记录,一键访问常用文档 • 支持代码高亮、表格、引用、列表等完整 Markdown 语法 • 简洁的阅读界面,专注内容本身 适合开发者、写作者以及所有使用 Markdown 的用户。

Screenshots

Read.md4 screens
MDreaderlite3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MDreaderlite at none against Read.md's 2. MDreaderlite also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks). Read.md's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Read.md sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. MDreaderlite asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Read.md ships an update every 2 weeks, MDreaderlite daily. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Read.md versus MDreaderlite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRead.mdMDreaderlite
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (35 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews90.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings35 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPavel Abin翀 冉

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Read.md

Subscriptions1
  • Read.md Pro Yearly3 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Read.md Pro (Lifetime)$24.99
None

MDreaderlite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Read.md free?
Read.md is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MDreaderlite free?
MDreaderlite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Read.md or MDreaderlite have ads?
Neither Read.md nor MDreaderlite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Read.md or MDreaderlite?
Read.md ships an update every 2 weeks, and MDreaderlite daily. Most recently, Read.md was updated on September 19, 2026 and MDreaderlite on September 10, 2026.

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