Comparison

Read Markdown vs Clayshell

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

Head to head
About

Read Markdown

Features
Read full description

Read Markdown (R.md) is the fast, lightweight way to read and edit Markdown on iPhone and iPad. Open a .md file and it appears instantly, rendered exactly like GitHub, in a clean, distraction free layout. Need to change something? Tap the pencil and edit, with a formatting bar right above the keyboard. Truly native, no accounts, no setup, no internet. WHY READ MARKDOWN • Fast: opens in a blink and scrolls smoothly, even for big documents. • Lightweight: a tiny native app that is easy on memory and battery. • Dead simple: just open a file and read. Nothing to configure. READING • Renders like GitHub, including tables, task lists and blockquotes. • Syntax highlighting for code blocks, with a copy button on each one. • Live Mermaid diagrams: flowcharts and sequence diagrams render in the page. • Dark mode that follows your system appearance. • Live outline: tap a heading to jump, or filter to find one. On iPad it stays open in a sidebar. • Images next to your document and links to other .md files just work. • Find in page, adjustable text size, and a list of recent files. • Export a clean, paginated A4 PDF and share it anywhere. EDITING • Reading stays reading: the app only switches to editing when you tap the pencil. • On iPad, edit side by side with a live preview that updates as you type. • Formatting bar for headings, bold, italic, code, links, lists, checklists and tables, plus undo and redo. • Smart typing: Return continues lists, code fences close themselves, and pasting a URL over selected text makes a link. • Tick a checkbox right in the rendered page and the change is saved to your file. • Light syntax colors in the editor, a clear unsaved indicator, and a prompt before you close. • Plays well with other apps: changes made elsewhere are detected, and you choose to reload or keep yours. • Hardware keyboard shortcuts on iPad: Cmd+B, Cmd+I, Cmd+K and Cmd+S. WORKS WITH YOUR FILES Open documents from the Files app, iCloud Drive or any other app with Open In. Files are edited in place, so nothing is copied or uploaded. Works fully offline. No account, no tracking, and your files never leave your device. Perfect for developers, writers and anyone who reads README files, design docs and notes. Download Read Markdown and open your first .md file in seconds.

About

Clayshell

Features
Read full description

Clayshell is an SSH server manager for people who run their own servers. Add a server once, then do the daily work without leaving the app. TERMINAL A real terminal with full colour, in tabs. Your own shell, as many sessions as you need. FILES Browse the server over SFTP. Upload, download, rename, delete, make files and folders, and preview text files. EDITOR WITH A BACKUP Open a file on the server, edit it and save. Before every save the previous version is kept next to it as a .bak file, and one tap puts it back. If the file changed on the server while you were editing, Clayshell tells you instead of overwriting it. MONITOR CPU, memory, disk, load, uptime and the busiest processes, live, for Linux servers. PM2 See your PM2 processes, start, stop and restart them, and follow their logs. ALERTS Be told when a disk fills up, when CPU or memory stays high, when a PM2 process goes down, or when a server cannot be reached. On the Mac, Clayshell can watch your servers from the menu bar. A small script can also be installed on the server itself, so alerts reach Telegram, ntfy or a webhook even when your devices are asleep. MORE SSH Jump hosts. Import from your SSH config. Port forwarding. Ed25519, ECDSA and RSA keys, or a password. YOUR DATA STAYS WITH YOU • No account, no analytics, no tracking. Nothing is sent to us. • Passwords and keys are kept in the Keychain on your device. • Clayshell only talks to the servers you add. • It asks before trusting a new server, and stops if a server's key changes. • An optional lock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Clayshell has a day and a night look, and works on Mac and iPhone. Monitoring needs a Linux server. The PM2 screen needs PM2 on the server. Server alerts need curl and cron on the server. An RSA key protected by a passphrase is not supported yet.

Screenshots

Read Markdown4 screens
Clayshell4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Read Markdown at 16.0 against Clayshell's 18.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 5 level
Read Markdown versus Clayshell: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRead MarkdownClayshell
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, Mac
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVU THANHArvind Kumar

In-app purchases

None

Read Markdown

No in-app purchases

None

Clayshell

No in-app purchases

Questions

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

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