Raven vs markru
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Raven
This app allows you to quickly open and write markdown notes as plain .md files. It offers fast launch times, native performance on iPhone and Mac, and seamless syncing between devices. Your notes are stored directly in your file system for easy access and integration with other tools.
- Plain .md file storage
- Under a second launch time
- Native iPhone and Mac app
- Full-text search
- Nested folders and pinned notes
- Syncs between Mac and iPhone
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Beautiful notes. Never locked in. Raven is a native Markdown notes app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Write, journal, capture articles, and turn checkboxes into reminders—without putting your work in a proprietary note format. WRITE WITH CONTEXT Create notes with tables, images, checklists, code blocks, wiki links, and backlinks. Organize them with folders and tags, pin what matters, and find anything with full-text search. TURN NOTES INTO ACTION A checkbox can become a task with a due date and time. Raven gathers open tasks from across your notes, keeps each one linked to its source, and can send a local reminder when it is due. Complete or snooze it from the notification. JOURNAL WITHOUT ANOTHER SILO Daily and weekly journals live beside the rest of your writing. Save articles to Read Later, or capture a thought from widgets, Shortcuts, and the share sheet. MARKDOWN YOU CAN KEEP Raven works offline without an account. Keep notes on this device, choose a folder on Mac, or use iCloud Drive to keep the same Markdown files available in Files and Finder across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. No proprietary note format. No forced account. One purchase, with no subscription.
markru
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Markdown notes are easy to write — and easy to forget. markru is built for what comes after writing: shelving, binding, and rereading your own notes like books. (Some features — tag suggestions, summaries — use Apple Intelligence on supported devices.) YOUR NOTES, SHELVED LIKE BOOKS Promote finished notes from drafts to your bookshelf. Browse by shelf, search, and sort by what you read last. BIND NOTES INTO ONE READABLE BOOK Combine related pages into one book. Reorder pages, add new ones, and read them as a single piece — or unbind anytime. WRITE IN CLEAN MARKDOWN A focused editor with live preview and a formatting bar for headings, lists, checklists, tables, code, and more. Some writing helpers — tag suggestions, formatting, and summaries — are partly powered by Apple Intelligence, right on your device. Note: These AI-assisted features require a supported device and OS version. Where Apple Intelligence isn't available, they simply fall back to manual entry — everything else in the app still works, and no note content is ever sent to an external server. CAPTURE IDEAS IN SECONDS Quick Capture works like a paper memo: jot it down, the title can come later. Import .md and .txt files, or send text from any app with the share sheet. KEEP YOUR SHELVES IN ORDER See your note, shelf, and book counts at a glance. Clean up, compress, or bind notes as your library grows. PICK UP RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT OFF markru remembers your reading progress in every book, so returning to your notes feels like reopening one. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account required. Your notes live as plain Markdown files on your device or in iCloud Documents — never on our servers. Write lightly. Reread deeply.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: markru at Free against Raven's $12.99. Raven's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). On ads, in-app purchases, device support 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
markru is free to download; Raven costs $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Raven ships an update every 2 days, markru weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Raven | markru |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $12.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 120 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas Sivilay | kazunobu tsujino |
In-app purchases
Raven
No in-app purchases
markru
No in-app purchases









