iA Writer vs GoCoEdit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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)
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“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
GoCoEdit
Edit local and remote files with a powerful code editor. Supports cloud storage, SSH, and a wide range of programming languages with syntax highlighting and advanced editing features.
- Sublime-like code editor
- Dropbox, OneDrive, FTP, SFTP/SSH support
- Syntax highlighting for numerous languages
- Multi-caret editing
- Siri Shortcuts integration
- Drag & Drop file support
- Markdown Preview & HTML Export
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GoCodeEditor is a Code Editor optimized for fast opening and editing local and remote files (Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, FTP, SFTP/SSH) on your iOS Device. FEATURES: ------------------------------ • Sublime like Code-Editor! • Universal App (use it on your iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch) • iPhone X (s/s Max) support • Full iPad Pro support (including smart keyboard support, shortcuts, split-screen multitasking) • iPadOS Mouse & Trackpad • NEW! Multi-caret Editing • NEW! Siri Shortcuts - create newfile / start shell / connect to shell / preview - more soon... • Drag & Drop Support - Support for Drag & Drop files from the Files App - Support for Drag & Drop files / repos and folders from Working Copy App - Support for Dragging local files from GoCoEdit to other Apps • Compatible with Apple Watch Start a ssh-shell from your wrist right now! Run your self defined scripts with one tap. • Extra keybar with swipe functions and trackball to precisely move the cursor and select text • Syntax highlighting for many coding languages like: (apache, arduino, asp/vb.net, c, c#, c++, ceylon, clojure, coffeescript, css, dart, dockerfile, elixir, erlang, fortran, go, handlebars, haskel, html, jade, java, javascript (es6 support), jsx, kotlin, latex/stex, less, lisp, livescript, lua, markdown, mathematica, nginx, objective-c, pascal, perl, php, plist, powershell, pug, puppet, python, r, rss, ruby, rust, sass, scala, shader, shell, sql, squirrel, stylus, svelte, swift, typescript, verilog, vue(js), xml, yaml) • Some comfort features: code folding, code hinting, auto indent, auto close brackets, line wrapping, smart indent, tag and bracket matching, find by regular expression, replace, replace all, symbolic/function search for many syntax modes • Quick CMD-mode (keep your hands on the On-Screen-Keyboard) - p.e. press cmd+c, cmd+v to copy and paste selected text - over 15 shortcuts supported • Different themes ( include solarized, monokai and many more ) and font-sizes • Import / export / open files from icloud drive and other file providers • Open entire folders or repositories from the Git client Working Copy or the Files App using the iOS document picker • Extendable - Custom Syntax Modes -- create your own Syntax highlighting modes now you can write own modes and use it for your own file types - Custom Themes -- create your own editor themes - Snippets -- use short fragments of text again and again ( with filed and placeholders support ) • Preview Browser with Javascript console ( in iPad version resizeable for preview iPad or iPhone layouts ) • Markdown Preview & HTML Export • Connect to your servers via SFTP, FTP, DRIVE, G-DRIVE, ONEDRIVE or DROPBOX NEW! with OneDrive 365 and OneDrive for Business support • NEW! File has changed detection ( GCE is now able to detect external file changes on local and remote files ) • Upload and Download files/folders or edit files directly on your server/dropbox/drive/onedrive without download • Very fast reconnect and recover of open files after restart • Edit your files directly on your server without download. • Integrated Shell (ssh) to perform background tasks like a Grunt, Gulp, npm or another shell job ( type direct or define scripts and run it with a single tap ) • Supporting advanced features like textselection by cursor, Splitview, Slide-Over and Drag & Drop • 3D Touch support - Show/move cursor by 3D touch the keyboard - Quick Actions (new file, start shell, connect shell to last server, show preview of last file) • External/Bluetooth keyboard support ( all iOS shot-cut keys are supported + lots of shortcuts available ) ------------------------------ If you want to support the project and increase the development speed become a patreon. ------------------------------
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: GoCoEdit at $8.99 against iA Writer's $19.99. GoCoEdit also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). iA Writer's advantage is ratings volume (1.5K vs 122) and chart position (#26 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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
iA Writer costs $19.99 and GoCoEdit $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for iA Writer against 4.5 for GoCoEdit. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iA Writer has 1.5K ratings behind it against 122, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of iA Writer's written reviews are positive against 78% of GoCoEdit's.
iA Writer ships an update fortnightly, GoCoEdit monthly. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.
| Parameter | iA Writer | GoCoEdit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | $8.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (1.5K ratings) — better | 4.5 (122 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 73.2% of reviews | 78.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | 122 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #26 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 63 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Information Architects AG | Christoph Gogolin |
Customer experience
iA Writer
GoCoEdit
User reviews
iA Writer
From 1.5K App Store ratingsWhat 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
GoCoEdit
From 122 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent remote file editing via SFTP/SSH
- 👍 Intuitive and clean user interface
- 💡 Multiple cursor support like Sublime Text
- 🎨 Beautiful themes and syntax highlighting
- 📱 Works seamlessly on iPad and iPhone
Room to improve
- 🐛 Settings not preserved across app updates
- 🐛 FaceID authentication only works once per session
- 🐛 Frequent SFTP crashes with large repositories
- 🐛 Dropbox integration shows incomplete file listings
- 🐛 File size limitations (cannot open 4MB+ files)
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
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- Collaborative editing features
GoCoEdit
Reported bugs
16 issues- Settings reset after app or OS updates
- FaceID authentication fails on subsequent app launches
- SFTP crashes with large repositories
- Dropbox integration missing files in directories
- Cannot open files larger than 4MB
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- Extra whitespace created when pressing enter (Python compatibility issue)
- Google Drive integration stopped working
- OneDrive shows incorrect/empty directories
- External keyboard space key not functioning
- App crashes when entering OneDrive password
- Slow/non-functional SFTP uploads
- SFTP protocol incompatibility with macOS Sierra
- Terminal CTRL key issues
- Keyboard jumps up unexpectedly
- File browser shows cached information loss
- Cannot delete folders containing files without deleting individual files first
Requested features
26 requests- Vi/Vim key bindings for external keyboard
- Remember last cursor position in files
- Preserve user preferences across updates
- Print functionality
- Block editing/selection features
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- FTP with SSL support
- GitHub/Bitbucket integration
- Native Git support
- Code compilation support (C++, PHP, etc.)
- Emmet support for HTML
- Mosh terminal support for better responsiveness
- Side-by-side tab editing
- SSH key import capability
- Auto-formatting and customizable text editor options
- Space-for-tab indentation option
- Syntax highlighting within markdown code blocks
- Collapsible code blocks
- Full screen file management
- Equal-sized tabs like web browsers
- Light/dark mode theme selection for UI
- Intellisense/code completion improvements
- LaTeX/TeX improvements
- BASIC language support
- MySQL/database support
- Spanish UI translation
- Preview window in split-screen mode
In-app purchases
iA Writer
No in-app purchases
GoCoEdit
No in-app purchases









