Comparison

MarkWrite vs Metis

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

Head to head
About

MarkWrite

Features
Read full description

WYSIWYG Markdown editor that allows embedding pictures and natural language mathematics. MarkWrite is a fast, focused Markdown editor for Mac, iPad and iPhone. Your writing formats itself as you type โ€” headings, bold, lists, quotes, tables and code appear the moment you write them, while the Markdown syntax stays visible only on the line you are editing. Nothing to toggle, no split screen required. EMBED IMAGES, NOT LINKS Drag a picture into your document and it is really there. Grab its corner to resize it and MarkWrite writes the new size back into the Markdown for you. Text and images are saved together in one self-contained document you can move, rename, duplicate or send without leaving a single broken link behind. Images can be embedded in any of the common formats: VS Code, Pandoc or HTML. WRITE EQUATIONS BY DESCRIBING THEM Say what you mean: "x equals minus b, plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four a c, all over two a." MarkWrite turns that sentence into a properly typeset formula. There is no LaTeX to memorise โ€” though you can type LaTeX directly whenever you would rather. Powered by on-device Apple Intelligence; requires a supported device. ALSO โ€ข Tables that line up in the editor, not only in the preview โ€ข Live preview that follows your cursor, side by side or full width โ€ข Themes: fonts, colours, spacing, line height, list spacing โ€” saved as presets โ€ข Callouts, footnotes, highlights, code blocks and inline code โ€ข Export to PDF or print, with your theme applied โ€ข Open a whole folder in tabs and work across files โ€ข Find and replace, including regular expressions STILL JUST MARKDOWN MarkWrite writes ordinary .md files. Nothing is trapped in a proprietary format, nothing is locked in a cloud, and nothing you have written is ever held behind a subscription. Open your work in any other editor, any time, or share it with anyone and they will be able to open it with any Markdown viewer, including the embedded images. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Metis

Read full description

Metis is a native Markdown editor and local-first knowledge base. Your notes are just .md files in a folder you own - Metis is a fast, beautiful, native view over them. No lock-in, no proprietary format, no account required to write. WRITE IN LIVE PREVIEW A clean Obsidian-style editor styles your Markdown as you type - headings, bold, lists, quotes and code - while keeping the raw syntax one tap away. It feels like writing in a document, not in code. On iPad it's a full three-pane workspace with hardware-keyboard shortcuts. CONNECT YOUR IDEAS Link any two notes with [[wiki links]]. Backlinks appear automatically, so you always see what references the note you're reading. An interactive link graph shows your whole knowledge base at a glance - zoom, pan, and drag nodes to explore the connections. READ BEAUTIFULLY Reading mode renders the full document: headings, tables, task lists, images, syntax-highlighted code, Mermaid diagrams, and real math (LaTeX) rendered natively - no web view. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Tag anything with #tags, group notes into folders, and see typed properties (status, owner, due...) that live as YAML front matter and are preserved as you edit. A fast switcher and full-text search get you anywhere instantly. ON-DEVICE AI (Apple Intelligence) Summarize a note, suggest tags or related links, and ask your whole vault a question - all running privately on your device. AI is optional; the app is fully functional without it. SYNC ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Keep your vault in iCloud and the same notes are on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - still as plain .md files you can open anywhere. Edits sync in the background, and Metis helps you resolve conflicts if two devices change the same note. LOCK WHAT MATTERS Any note can be locked with your notes password and opened with Face ID or Touch ID. Locked notes are encrypted on disk and stay encrypted in iCloud - and they're kept out of search and previews. PRIVATE AND YOURS Everything stays in plain files on your device. No tracking, no cloud lock-in. Open the same folder in any other Markdown editor whenever you like. Import an existing folder of notes (from Obsidian or anywhere) and Metis just works. ONE PURCHASE, ALL YOUR DEVICES A single one-time purchase unlocks Metis Pro on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - no subscription. Try everything free for 7 days. Metis is made by Empiric Apps. Questions or feedback? contact@empiricapps.com

Screenshots

MarkWrite3 screens
Metis4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Metis at 18.0 against MarkWrite's 26.4. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. MarkWrite sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per year and Metis sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
MarkWrite versus Metis: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarkWriteMetis
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Every 2 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.418.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size14 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGuy ShavivBurlac Mihail

In-app purchases

1 purchases

MarkWrite

Subscriptions1
  • MarkWrite Pro$9.991 Year
1 purchases

Metis

One-time1
  • Metis Pro$14.99

Questions

Is MarkWrite free?
MarkWrite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Metis free?
Metis is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MarkWrite or Metis have ads?
Neither MarkWrite nor Metis shows ads.

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