Comparison

iA Writer vs Nintype

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

Nintype

This app enhances typing speed and productivity on iOS devices by offering a unique two-handed sliding keyboard. It includes advanced features for text correction, cursor movement, and quick access to punctuation and emojis, alongside a robust note-taking application with extensive organizational capabilities.

Highlights
  • Two-handed sliding keyboard
  • Quick word correction and cursor control
  • Edge slide punctuation shortcuts
  • Flick autocomplete
  • Customizable keyboard themes
  • Subfolders and unlimited note depth
  • Robust archive system
Features
Read full description

Nintype, as used by over 150k people! ----------------------- Transform your iPhone or iPad into a highly productive device where you can actually type relatively quickly with it - so writing emails, reports and articles are much nicer, because you can type faster on the iPad/iPhone than most people can on a desktop keyboard! This notes app comes with a 3rd party keyboard, which is most probably what you're after. Keyboard Features: - Two-Handed Sliding Keyboard - construct words with slides and taps - A top bar to correct previous words quickly - Slide left/right at the spacebar to move the cursor quickly - Backspace slide to quickly erase words - Edge slide shortcuts to quickly add punctuations - Quickpaste menu (press-hold caps) - Height / layout adjustment. Can split, align right, left, etc. - Flick autocomplete - Number pad layout quick access (slide right from the 123 button, at the bottom left) - Calculator which actually counts things - numbers ready to be inserted - Customizable theme - with a lot of presets - Autospace Mode (Automatically flushes in adjustable time, dynamic timing, new and improved! recommended for expert users) - Emojis! Press hold the topleft button at the topbar! - Emojify - type any english word (e.g happy), slide down from X, and select the emoji you want! Supported Languages: Priority Support - English Secondary Support - Danish, Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish Nintype App (A note-taking app) features: - Subfolders, unlimited depth too - Shortcuts System - Recent Notes History system - A Robust Archive system. - Quick Share Shortcuts

Screenshots

iA Writer4 screens
Nintype3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Nintype at $4.99 against iA Writer's $19.99. Nintype also leads on iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). iA Writer's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks). 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 Nintype $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iA Writer holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iA Writer has 1.5K ratings behind it against 168, 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 58% of Nintype's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iA Writer ships an update every 2 weeks, Nintype every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
iA Writer versus Nintype: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriA WriterNintype
Price$19.99$4.99 — better
Rating4.6 (1.5K ratings) — better4.1 (168 ratings)
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews — better57.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1.5K — better168
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#36 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB79 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperInformation Architects AGJormy Games

Customer experience

iA Writer

All ratings1,543 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.4%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews1,015 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral9.2%
Negative17.8%

Nintype

All ratings167 ratings
Positive74.3%
Neutral9.0%
Negative16.8%
Written reviews353 reviews
Positive57.8%
Neutral11.3%
Negative30.9%

User reviews

iA Writer

From 1.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Distraction-free writing experience
  • 👍 Elegant and minimalist design
  • 💡 Helpful syntax highlighting and formatting tools
  • 🚀 Seamless sync across devices
  • 👍 Reliable and stable performance

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and sync issues
  • 🔒 Limited cloud storage integration options
  • 👎 Lack of advanced organization and navigation features
  • 👎 Subpar text selection and cursor control
  • 👎 Dated app icon and visual design

Nintype

From 168 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fastest keyboard
  • 👍 Highly customizable
  • 🚀 Two-finger swiping
  • 👍 Innovative features
  • 👍 Responsive developer

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 👎 Steep learning curve
  • 👎 Confusing UI and settings
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 👎 Unreliable autocorrect

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

Nintype

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Keyboard freezes or disappears
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Typing errors and incorrect word suggestions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Update to improve stability
  • Simplify UI and settings
  • Improve autocorrect and prediction
  • Add dark mode option

In-app purchases

None

iA Writer

No in-app purchases

None

Nintype

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iA Writer free?
iA Writer costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nintype free?
Nintype costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iA Writer or Nintype?
iA Writer is rated higher. iA Writer averages 4.6 out of 5 from 1.5K ratings, while Nintype averages 4.1 from 168 ratings.
Do iA Writer or Nintype have ads?
Neither iA Writer nor Nintype shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iA Writer or Nintype?
iA Writer ships an update every 2 weeks, and Nintype every 5 weeks. Most recently, iA Writer was updated on October 26, 2026 and Nintype on October 26, 2026.

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