Comparison

Cairn vs Folio Writer

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

Head to head
About

Cairn

Manage tasks and notes directly within your existing Markdown files. This app offers focused views, quick capture, and robust task management features, all while keeping your data private and locally stored. It integrates seamlessly with Obsidian and other file sync services.

Highlights
  • Native Markdown task and note management
  • Works with Obsidian vaults or any folder
  • Quick capture with date, tag, and priority parsing
  • Multiple task views (Today, Upcoming, Inbox, Pool)
  • Full support for sub-tasks and recurring tasks
  • Local reminders and Live Activity integration
  • Data stays local, no cloud sync required
Read full description

Cairn is a fast, native task and note companion that lives on top of the Markdown files you already own. Point it at your Obsidian vault — or any folder of Markdown notes — and your tasks and notes appear in clean, focused views. Everything you do in Cairn is written straight back to your files as plain text, in the Obsidian Tasks format. YOUR NOTES STAY YOURS • No account, no sign-up, no Cairn cloud database — your tasks live in your own files • Cairn does not send your notes or tasks to the developer • Careful, patch-based edits change only the content you touched, preserving the rest of your note • Works alongside Obsidian, iCloud Drive, Git, or any sync you already use CAPTURE, BROWSE, AND PLAN • Browse and edit Markdown notes directly in your vault • Quick capture into your daily note, with date, tag, and priority tokens parsed as you type • Choose where longer captures are saved • Today, Upcoming, Inbox, and Pool views, plus a global filter for folders, tags, dates, priority, and status • Full support for sub-tasks and task hierarchies • Recurring tasks in Obsidian Tasks format, with safe completion handling • Convert upcoming calendar events into tasks, or mirror your dated tasks into a calendar you choose (optional) STAY ON TRACK • Local reminders for due tasks — including sunrise-relative reminders computed entirely on your device • A Live Activity keeps today's progress on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • Home Screen widgets and a Control Center quick-capture control • Search across every task in your vault MADE FOR OBSIDIAN — NOT ONLY OBSIDIAN Cairn reads and writes the Obsidian Tasks plugin format (due, scheduled, start, and done dates, priorities, recurrence, tags), so your vault stays fully compatible with your desktop setup. Don't use Obsidian? Create a plain task folder in the Files app and Cairn works as a stand-alone Markdown to-do app. Cairn asks for access only to the folder you pick. Calendar access and location (used to compute local sunrise times) are optional and processed on your device. If you choose iCloud Drive or another Files or calendar provider, that provider's own sync and privacy terms apply.

About

Folio Writer

This writing studio allows you to work on long-form projects like books and manuscripts on your iPhone and iPad. It supports plain text formats like Markdown and Typst, syncing seamlessly with its Mac counterpart. Features include a special keyboard bar, project organization, and citation management.

Highlights
  • Plain-text writing (Markdown, Typst)
  • iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Files integration
  • Special Markdown key bar
  • Typewriter scrolling and sentence focus
  • Binder for project organization
  • Snapshots for version control
  • Project-wide search
  • BibTeX citation support
Features
Read full description

Folio Writer is a plain-text writing studio for long-form work — scholarly manuscripts, books, and novels. This is its iPhone and iPad edition: the same projects, the same files, in your pocket. Open a project from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, any Files location, or your Folio Cloud account, and pick up exactly where you left off on the Mac. Everything you write is a plain Markdown or Typst file you own — no lock-in. WRITE ANYWHERE — FREE A Markdown key bar puts #, *, links, code, and $math$ one tap away. Typewriter scrolling and sentence focus for drafting on the go. Live word count and writing targets for each document, the whole draft, and each session. Hardware-keyboard shortcuts on iPad. YOUR WHOLE PROJECT — FREE The full binder: browse, open, rename, reorder by dragging, indent and outdent, and create new documents. Project-wide search with filters — label:, status:, type:, tag: — and saved searches as Collections. Version history: every save is kept and restorable, so nothing you write is quietly lost. Comments, and the Review Inbox for suggestions from co-authors. CITATIONS & PREVIEW — FREE Insert citations from the project's BibTeX files by author, year, or key. Preview the rendered document — headings, tables, images, and LaTeX math — right on the device. SYNC WITH THE MAC AND FOLIO CLOUD — FREE Opens the exact same .folio projects as Folio Writer for Mac, byte-for-byte. Conflict-safe syncing: edits from two devices merge when they don't overlap, and a losing copy is always preserved. Sign in to Folio Cloud and every project your account owns is listed; create projects in the cloud, share by link, co-edit live, and protect encrypted projects with a recovery passphrase. FOLIO PRO — ONE PURCHASE FOR MAC, iPHONE, AND iPAD Pro adds the finishing tools: Preview Manuscript — the whole draft assembled in binder order with its title page. Suggesting — propose edits as tracked changes, then Accept or Reject each one from the review bar, and mark a document as reviewed. Snapshots — named copies to compare side by side and roll back, change by change. Insert Template, with starter snippets for figures, tables, equations, and more. Compile to PDF, Word, or Typst through Folio Cloud, right from the device. Pay once, unlock both platforms. Folio Pro is the same one-time purchase as in Folio Writer for Mac: buy it here and Pro unlocks on your Mac; buy it on the Mac and it unlocks here. It follows your Apple ID — tap Restore Purchases if it hasn't appeared. Every Pro feature is free to try for 7 days. Prefer to pay by the month or year? Pro ($1.99 a month) and Premium ($3.99) are also available as subscriptions, which unlock the tier here and on the Mac for as long as they run and come with complimentary Folio Cloud storage (1 GB or 3 GB), so your projects sync to every device and open in any browser. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No analytics, no trackers. Your manuscripts never leave your own devices except through the cloud service you choose, and Folio Cloud projects are end-to-end encrypted. In-App Purchases (display names) Folio Pro — one-time, universal purchase shared with Folio Writer for Mac Folio Pro Subscription — monthly / yearly (Pro here and on the Mac + 1 GB Folio Cloud storage) Folio Premium Subscription — monthly / yearly (Premium here and on the Mac + 3 GB Folio Cloud storage) Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://foliowriter.app/privacy/

Screenshots

Cairn4 screens
Folio Writer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cairn at none against Folio Writer's 8. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Folio Writer sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Cairn asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Cairn against 5.0 for Folio Writer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cairn ships an update every 5 days, Folio Writer every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Cairn versus Folio Writer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCairnFolio Writer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYoung Hun JEONGBin Chen

Customer experience

Cairn

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Folio Writer

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Cairn

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Folio Writer

Subscriptions4
  • Cloud Pro Monthly1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Premium Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Premium Yearly$39.991 Year
One-time4
  • Pro Lifetime$19.99
  • Pro to Premium Upgrade$19.99
  • Premium Lifetime$39.99
Show 1 more
  • Unlock Pro Features$39.99

Questions

Is Cairn free?
Cairn is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Folio Writer free?
Folio Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cairn or Folio Writer?
Cairn and Folio Writer are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Cairn or Folio Writer have ads?
Neither Cairn nor Folio Writer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cairn or Folio Writer?
Cairn ships an update every 5 days, and Folio Writer every 4 days. Most recently, Cairn was updated on October 24, 2026 and Folio Writer on October 24, 2026.

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