Comparison

Marklens vs xmark

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

Head to head
About

Marklens

This app is a fast, native Markdown viewer for macOS, iPadOS, and iPhone. It renders .md files instantly with beautiful typography, themes, syntax highlighting, and diagrams. Designed for reading, it offers a private and friction-free experience.

Highlights
  • Instant Markdown rendering
  • Syntax highlighting for 30+ languages
  • Mermaid diagram support
  • GitHub-Flavored Markdown
  • Light and dark themes
  • Export to PDF
  • Quick Look preview on macOS
Features
Read full description

Marklens is a fast, native Markdown viewer for macOS, iPadOS, and iPhone. Open any .md file with a click and see it rendered immediately — beautiful typography, light and dark themes, syntax-highlighted code, and Mermaid diagrams. No editor, no library, no friction. HIGHLIGHTS • Instant render — every .md opens in a clean, focused window • 30+ language syntax highlighting via highlight.js, bundled offline • Mermaid 11 diagrams — flowcharts, sequence, state, xy-charts and more • GitHub-Flavored Markdown — tables, task lists, footnotes, strikethrough • Light and dark theme matching the system appearance • Quick Look on macOS — press Space on any .md in Finder for a rendered preview • Export to PDF on every platform • Pinch-to-zoom on iPadOS and iPhone, ⌘+ / ⌘− / ⌘0 on macOS • Open files via drag-and-drop, the Share Sheet, or the Files app MADE FOR READING Marklens doesn't try to be a notes app or a knowledge base. It opens a file, renders it perfectly, and gets out of the way. If you write Markdown in another tool — VS Code, Obsidian, GitHub, your favorite text editor — Marklens is the viewer you reach for to look at the result. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Marklens collects nothing. No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reports, no network requests. Every rendering asset — Mermaid, highlight.js, fonts — ships inside the app. Read the full privacy policy at https://donald-jackson.github.io/marklens/privacy/ OPEN SOURCE Marklens is MIT-licensed and developed in the open. Source, issues, and contribution guide live at https://github.com/donald-jackson/marklens.

About

xmark

Features
Read full description

xmark turns your X (Twitter) bookmarks into something you actually use. you save hundreds of posts you never scroll back to. xmark syncs them, understands them, and lets you ask questions across all of them in plain language - with every answer cited back to the original tweet. chat with your bookmarks ask "what did i save about ai agents?" or "that thread on pricing" and get a real answer, with citations to the exact posts. semantic search search by meaning, not just keywords. find the bookmark you half-remember. xmark wrapped your bookmarking, summarized: most-saved creators, top topics, total saved - shareable on x. free to start: 20 chats a month, one sync a day. upgrade to pro for unlimited chat and sync. subscriptions xmark offers an auto-renewing pro subscription (monthly or yearly). the pro yearly plan includes a 7-day free trial. payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase, and the subscription auto-renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. terms of use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ privacy policy: https://xmark.dev/privacy

Screenshots

Marklens3 screens
xmark3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Marklens at none against xmark's 2. Marklens also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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. xmark sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.00 per month. Marklens asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Marklens ships an update monthly, xmark every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Marklens versus xmark: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarklensxmark
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB11 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperDonald JacksonJCLVSH LLC

In-app purchases

None

Marklens

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

xmark

Subscriptions2
  • xmark pro (monthly)$5.001 Month
  • xmark pro (yearly)7 Days trial$50.001 Year

Questions

Is Marklens free?
Marklens is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is xmark free?
xmark is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Marklens or xmark have ads?
Neither Marklens nor xmark shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Marklens or xmark?
Marklens ships an update monthly, and xmark every 3 weeks. Most recently, Marklens was updated on October 24, 2026 and xmark on October 28, 2026.

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