Comparison

iA Writer vs Scratch

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

Head to head
About

iA Writer

A distraction-free writing environment designed to help you focus on your words. It offers features like Focus Mode, plain text writing with HTML preview, and robust organization tools. Customize your writing experience and export to various formats.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free writing environment
  • Focus Mode for enhanced concentration
  • Plain text writing with HTML preview
  • Document organization and search
  • Customizable keyboard layout
  • Export to various formats (Word, PDF, HTML, WordPress, Medium)
Currently charting
Read full description

“Leaving life’s mess for an ideal realm of words.” —The New Yorker “My favorite iOS app for writing in Markdown, without question, is iA Writer. iA Writer is just beautiful. To me, it’s the gold standard for Markdown syntax styling... an elegant champagne flute. That’s iA Writer for me.” —John Gruber “iA Writer creates a clean, simple and distraction-free writing environment for when you really need to focus on your words.” —The New York Times “iA Writer is an example of how powerful simplicity and accessibility can be.” —The Guardian “iA Writer is all about textual production—writing this phrase, this sentence, this word at this moment.” —WIRED 4 x Best of App Store Winner # The Simple Writing App iA Writer removes distractions. Giving you a calm, focused, writing space, so you can express yourself clearly. # Focus Focus Mode dims everything but the current sentence or paragraph, helping you stay in the flow. # Start Don’t worry about the format. First, write in plain text. Then preview in HTML. # Organize Search, sort, and quickly swap between documents from different clouds. # Customize When you tap and hold a key in the command keyboard, you’re given the chance to choose your own layout. Rearrange your keys, or pick new ones from the extensive list. # Search You can open documents and launch frequent actions in no time with the new Quick Search. It lives in the keyboard so it’s always close at hand. # Work iA Writer includes an inverted light-on-dark-mode, perfect for working day and night. # Clean Spot superfluous adjectives, weak verbs, repetitive nouns, false conjunctions and clean your text of the usual rumble. # Shape Customize your templates and export to WordPress or Medium, HTML, Microsoft Word (.docx), or PDF. # 100% Text Embed links, pictures, tables and text files in plain text and see them in preview. # Get in Touch - Visit ia.net/writer for more information - Visit ia.net/writer/support for support and feedback

About

Scratch

A fast and simple note-taking app for capturing ideas, drafting messages, or saving temporary text. It automatically saves your work and offers advanced text correction using AI. Easily copy, paste, share, or clear your notes.

Highlights
  • Automatic saving of all notes
  • AI-powered spelling, grammar, and punctuation correction
  • One-tap text copying
  • Clipboard pasting
  • Sharing to other applications
  • Customizable appearance modes and colors
  • Adjustable text size and haptic feedback
Features
Read full description

Scratch es un espacio sencillo y rápido donde puedes escribir cualquier cosa justo cuando la necesitas. Úsala para apuntar una idea, preparar un mensaje, guardar un texto temporal o escribir algo que después quieras copiar y utilizar en otra aplicación. Todo lo que escribas se guarda automáticamente para que puedas volver más tarde sin perderlo. También puedes corregir la ortografía, la gramática y la puntuación de tus textos mediante Apple Intelligence. La corrección conserva el idioma, el significado y el tono original del contenido. Desde su barra de herramientas puedes: • Copiar el texto con un toque. • Pegar contenido desde el portapapeles. • Compartirlo con otras aplicaciones. • Borrar todo cuando quieras empezar de nuevo. Cuando aparece el teclado, la barra de herramientas se coloca automáticamente sobre él para que todas las acciones sigan estando siempre a mano. Además, Scratch permite personalizar el modo de apariencia, el color de la interfaz, el tamaño del texto y la respuesta háptica. Una aplicación directa, cuidada y sin distracciones para escribir, corregir y compartir.

Screenshots

iA Writer4 screens
Scratch2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Scratch at $1.99 against iA Writer's $19.99. Scratch also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and review sentiment (100% vs 73%). iA Writer's advantage is ratings volume (1.5K vs 1) and chart position (#31 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

iA Writer costs $19.99 and Scratch $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Scratch holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iA Writer has 1.5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of iA Writer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Scratch's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iA Writer ships an update fortnightly, Scratch every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
iA Writer versus Scratch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriA WriterScratch
Price$19.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.6 (1.5K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.5K — better1
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#31 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInformation Architects AGFran Besora Malo

Customer experience

iA Writer

All ratings1,539 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.4%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews1,011 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral9.2%
Negative17.7%

Scratch

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

Bugs and requests

iA Writer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when opening certain files
  • Sync issues leading to data loss
  • Formatting problems when exporting to other formats

Requested features

6 requests
  • Improved cloud storage integration (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)
  • Enhanced file management and organization tools
  • Better text selection and cursor control
  • More customization options for appearance and layout
  • Integrated outline/table of contents view
Show 1 more
  • Collaborative editing features

Scratch

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

iA Writer

No in-app purchases

None

Scratch

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iA Writer free?
iA Writer costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Scratch free?
Scratch costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iA Writer or Scratch?
Scratch is rated higher. iA Writer averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.5K ratings, while Scratch averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do iA Writer or Scratch have ads?
Neither iA Writer nor Scratch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iA Writer or Scratch?
iA Writer ships an update fortnightly, and Scratch every 2 days. Most recently, iA Writer was updated on October 19, 2026 and Scratch on October 12, 2026.

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