Comparison

Tertiary Markdown vs Phantasm

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

Head to head
About

Tertiary Markdown

Features
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Tertiary Markdown is a fast, native Markdown notes app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. It manages your files and folders the way Obsidian does β€” open any local folder as a vault and your notes stay as plain .md files you fully own. KEY FEATURES β€’ Open any folder as a vault β€” fully compatible with your existing Obsidian vault. Your notes are plain Markdown files, never locked into a proprietary format. β€’ File & folder management β€” browse, create, rename, and delete notes and folders from a clean sidebar. β€’ Live preview editor β€” switch instantly between Edit, Split, and Preview. Your work autosaves as you type. β€’ Images, Bear-style β€” embed pictures with standard Markdown ![](image.png) or Obsidian ![[image.png]] embeds, rendered inline. β€’ Tables, Notion-style β€” GitHub-flavoured tables render as clean, bordered grids. β€’ Everyday Markdown β€” headings, bold and italic, links, checklists, bullet and numbered lists, block quotes, and code blocks. β€’ One app, every device β€” a true native experience on macOS, iPadOS, and iOS. Your notes never leave your device. Everything is stored as simple text files on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone, so you stay in control and your library is future-proof. Whether you keep a personal knowledge base, take meeting notes, or write long-form drafts, Tertiary Markdown gives you a distraction-free, Markdown-first workspace that travels with you.

About

Phantasm

Features
Read full description

Phantasm is a private AI chat client for the backend you already run. Point it at your own server: Ollama, vLLM, llama.cpp, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint and chat with your own models over your own network. No account, no middleman, no data collection. YOUR SERVER, YOUR RULES β€’ Connect with just a URL and a token β€” works against a bare Ollama out of the box β€’ Add the open-source Phantasm orchestrator to unlock web search, image generation, and research modes β€’ Multiple backend profiles for home network, VPN, or tunnel setups β€’ Your token lives in the iOS Keychain; conversations are stored only on your phone A REAL CHAT EXPERIENCE β€’ Fast streaming responses with markdown, syntax-highlighted code blocks with copy, and charts β€’ Attach photos and files β€” vision models can see your images β€’ Generated images appear inline; save or share them β€’ Dictate messages with on-device transcription and have replies read aloud β€’ Long generations survive backgrounding and pick up where they left off β€’ Ask Phantasm from Siri and Shortcuts TOOLS ON YOUR TERMS β€’ Per-chat toggles for web access and image generation β€’ Optional device tools β€” location, calendar, Apple Health β€” are off by default and only shared with your own backend when you enable them β€’ See the model's reasoning when a thinking model is selected PRIVATE BY DESIGN Phantasm operates no servers and collects no data. The app talks exclusively to the backend you configure β€” nothing else. What you say to your AI is between you and your hardware. Phantasm requires an OpenAI-compatible server that you provide (for example, Ollama running on your own machine). Feature availability depends on your backend's capabilities.

Screenshots

Tertiary Markdown2 screens
Phantasm4 screens

Verdict

The call

Tertiary Markdown and Phantasm are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters β€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them β€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Tertiary Markdown versus Phantasm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTertiary MarkdownPhantasm
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyβ€”Every 8 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 β€” better18.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size2 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlfred AngBenjamin Carman

In-app purchases

None

Tertiary Markdown

No in-app purchases

None

Phantasm

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tertiary Markdown free?
Tertiary Markdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Phantasm free?
Phantasm is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Tertiary Markdown or Phantasm have ads?
Neither Tertiary Markdown nor Phantasm shows ads.

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