Comparison

MarkDown Reader vs Markdown Editor & Notes

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

Head to head
About

MarkDown Reader

Features
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MarkDown Reader is a free, lightweight viewer for Markdown files. Double-click any .md file and read it beautifully rendered — no editor chrome, no distractions, just your document. It also turns a checklist into somewhere to work. Tick a task and the change is written straight back to the file, one character, instantly. Add a note to any item and it is saved as an ordinary indented bullet, so every other Markdown tool still reads it. On the Mac, drag a file onto an item to attach it, and click the chip to open it again later. Nothing is locked in a database. Everything this app writes is plain Markdown you can read in any editor. - Clean rendering of headings, tables, code blocks, and images - LaTeX math, typeset offline: $…$ inline and $$…$$ display - Interactive task lists: click a checkbox and the .md file updates instantly - Notes on any checklist item, saved as plain Markdown - Attach files to checklist items by dragging them in (macOS) - Clickable file references: a path in a code span opens in your editor (macOS) - Table of contents sidebar for long documents - Full-text search with match navigation - Live reload — edit the file elsewhere and the view keeps up - Zoom, print, and export to PDF - Light or Dark on your terms: follow the system, or pin the reader to either (macOS) - Copy the document's path or reveal it in the Finder (macOS) - Opens .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, and .mkdn files - Sandboxed and private: no accounts, no analytics, no data collection

About

Markdown Editor & Notes

Features
Read full description

You don’t need to learn all of Markdown. # at the start of a line makes a heading, - makes a bullet, and / opens a menu of tables, checklists and diagrams. Those three are all you need to keep notes that read far better than a plain notes app. What you type takes shape where you typed it, so there is no preview pane to switch to. No Google account is required — the app works with this device alone. Sign in and your notes are kept in your own Google Drive, becoming a private notebook you can pick up from Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone or the browser. ■ Open what AI writes Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or another AI to summarize something in Markdown, then open it here as is — it reads cleanly and stays editable. It's a plain Markdown file, so you can paste it back into an AI to keep going, or drop it straight into Notion or GitHub without reformatting. ■ Ask AI (with your own API key) Add an API key for OpenAI (GPT), Anthropic (Claude) or Google (Gemini) and you can ask AI from inside the app. · On selected text — polish, shorten, make formal, translate, turn into a table or a diagram · From the whole note — meeting notes & to-dos, summarize, extract to-dos, tidy into Markdown, continue writing · In your own words — have it draft a how-to or a first version Check the answer before it goes into your note, and undo it in one step. Usage is billed by the service you choose, and your key stays on this device. ■ What people use it for · A notepad that reads better — jot things down and they turn into tidy headings and bullet points. As light as a plain text editor, far easier to read back · Meeting notes — organize the discussion as it happens and put decisions in a table · To-do lists and tasks — list what needs doing as a checklist and tick items off · Journal, diary and daily log — keep a note per day and find anything later with full-text search · A personal wiki — link notes to one another and build a notebook of what you know · Docs, how-tos and blog drafts — outline with headings, then paste the plain Markdown anywhere · A Markdown viewer — open an .md file and read it with its tables and headings in place · Code and command snippets — kept with syntax highlighting, copied in one click ■ Features · Styling as you type — headings, bold, italic, quotes, rules, footnotes and nested lists are formatted the moment you write them · Type / at the start of a line to insert tables, checklists, diagrams, math and more · Tables render as tables — click one to go back to the raw Markdown and edit it · Diagrams (flowcharts, sequence diagrams and more) from mermaid syntax, and math from TeX, drawn inline · Collapsible sections (details) and clickable checkboxes · Code blocks with syntax highlighting and a one-click copy button · Images and file attachments, with PDFs opening right in the app · Paste a URL and get a link preview card · Full-text search across all your notes · Six themes (Light, Sepia, Solar, Dark, Night, Contrast) and three text sizes · Available in 12 languages ■ Choose where your notes live · Google Drive — saved automatically, with no save button. Your Drive folders stay as they are, and shared drives and multiple Google accounts are supported · On this device — no sign-in needed. On Mac and Windows you can also open any folder you already have · In Google Drive, the app only touches files it created and files you explicitly open ■ About usage · Free to use.

Screenshots

MarkDown Reader4 screens
Markdown Editor & Notes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Markdown Editor & Notes at every 2 days against MarkDown Reader's every 5 weeks. Markdown Editor & Notes also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MarkDown Reader ships an update every 5 weeks, Markdown Editor & Notes every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
MarkDown Reader versus Markdown Editor & Notes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarkDown ReaderMarkdown Editor & Notes
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEdward JudenMakoto Kobayashi

In-app purchases

None

MarkDown Reader

No in-app purchases

None

Markdown Editor & Notes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MarkDown Reader free?
MarkDown Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Markdown Editor & Notes free?
Markdown Editor & Notes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do MarkDown Reader or Markdown Editor & Notes have ads?
Neither MarkDown Reader nor Markdown Editor & Notes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MarkDown Reader or Markdown Editor & Notes?
MarkDown Reader ships an update every 5 weeks, and Markdown Editor & Notes every 2 days. Most recently, MarkDown Reader was updated on October 11, 2026 and Markdown Editor & Notes on October 16, 2026.

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