Comparison

Markdly vs Stillwater Focus

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

Head to head
About

Markdly

Features
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The markdown editor that respects your output. Markdly is a native Markdown editor for iPhone and iPad with live preview, built for people who write in plain .md and ship a real deliverable. Open a file, write, and watch the preview render as you type. The same Bravely Account unlocks Markdly on Mac, Windows, and Linux too, so the document you start on your phone is waiting on your desktop. WRITE & EDIT β€’ Native SwiftUI editor with adjustable font size and syntax highlighting β€’ Live preview with multiple themes, side by side β€’ Mermaid diagrams render right inside the preview β€’ KaTeX math, inline and block β€’ Open .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, and .mkdn files from anywhere DOCUMENT INTEGRATION β€’ Open files from the Files app and from any Markdown share β€’ Save back to iCloud Drive, Files, or any document provider β€’ Multi-document tabs to switch between drafts β€’ Recent files for one-tap return FOLDER-BASED, NO LOCK-IN Your files stay plain .md on disk β€” no vault, no proprietary format, nothing to migrate out of later. Git-friendly, and the same files open everywhere else you use Markdly. WHAT MARKD.LY IS FOR Blog posts. README files. Documentation. Technical writing. Markdly is for writing that lives in markdown but leaves the app as something polished β€” not a note-graph or a second brain. If you need wikilinks and a graph, use a vault tool. If you want documents that look great when you ship them, this is the editor. ONE PURCHASE, EVERY PLATFORM Markdly is a tool, not a service. A single one-time purchase unlocks the complete app on every platform β€” iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and Linux β€” carried by your Bravely Account. Buy it once on any platform and the rest unlock automatically, with no per-feature paywalls. The deeper export pipeline β€” Pandoc to DOCX, EPUB, LaTeX, and slides, a custom CSS editor, a snippet library, vim mode, encrypted documents, the command-line tool, and an MCP server for AI agents β€” lives on the desktop builds, included in the same one purchase. SIGN IN Signing in is free. Sign in with Apple, Google, or email β€” the same sign-in works on every Markdly app you install. Try it free, then a single one-time purchase unlocks everything. Already bought Markdly on another platform? Sign in to restore it here at no extra charge. SUPPORT Questions, bug reports, and feature requests: support@bravely.dev Privacy: https://bravely.dev/privacy/markdly Terms: https://bravely.dev/terms

About

Stillwater Focus

Features
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Still Water helps you put down your phone, and keep it down. Pick the apps that pull you in, choose how long, and Still Water blocks them. No snooze button, no β€œfive more minutes.” When the timer ends, they unlock on their own. FOCUS SESSIONS β€’ Block any apps for 15 minutes up to a full day β€’ Run more than one session at a time β€’ A live countdown on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island WEEKLY SCHEDULES β€’ Block apps at set times: mornings, work hours, bedtime β€’ Pick the days, then repeat for 1 to 8 weeks β€’ Once you commit, it can’t be paused or deleted until it ends INSIGHTS β€’ Time focused today, yesterday and this week β€’ See when you focus most, hour by hour PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads. Your app choices and history stay on your iPhone. Still Water uses Apple’s Screen Time framework. You’ll be asked to allow Screen Time access the first time you open the app.

Screenshots

Markdly4 screens
Stillwater Focus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stillwater Focus at none against Markdly's 8. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Markdly sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Stillwater Focus asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Markdly versus Stillwater Focus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarkdlyStillwater Focus
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysβ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.6 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size20 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBravely StudiosRohit Agrawal

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Markdly

Subscriptions6
  • Markdly Pro Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Markdly Pro Annual1 Month trial$19.991 Year
  • Markdly Pro Annual$19.991 Year
Show 3 more
  • Bravely Premium (Annual)7 Days trial$95.991 Year
  • Bravely Premium (Annual)$95.991 Year
  • Bravely Premium (Annual)1 Month trial$95.991 Year
One-time2
  • Markdly Pro$19.99
  • Bravely Premium (Lifetime)$399.99
None

Stillwater Focus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Markdly free?
Markdly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stillwater Focus free?
Stillwater Focus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Markdly or Stillwater Focus have ads?
Neither Markdly nor Stillwater Focus shows ads.

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