Comparison

Git client vs Runestone Text Editor

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

Head to head
About

Git client

Access and manage Git repositories directly on your iOS device. Clone, edit, commit, and push code, even offline. Offers advanced features for code review and automation.

Highlights
  • Clone, edit, commit, and push repositories
  • Offline commit capability
  • Syntax highlighting for 50+ languages
  • Markdown and HTML preview with console
  • Branch management and merge tool
  • Fuzzy search and commit graph
  • Diff viewer for text and images
Features
Read full description

Access Git repositories on the go. Clone, edit, commit and push while allowing other apps access to repositories. Git is a important part of our work-life and iOS can take part in this. The ability to commit even when offline has added utility on a device that moves in and out of network coverage. Cloning repositories gets you a local copy on your iOS device with commits for all branches. You can browse the content from within the app and make changes. Other applications supporting the Files app, WebDAV or x-callback-url has access to these files. Changes made can be committed and the commits can in turn be pushed back to the remote. The idea of doing significant programming on iOS might seem far fetched when you are used to a large screen, a physical keyboard and a full IDE. But just as it turned out that not every email is serious prose, then not everything that goes on in Git is significant programming. Sometimes you just want to update a TODO file or make adjustments to your Jekyll site. Sometimes you just need to add a file the designer sent after hours. If you ever make reminders about small things to do with the code-base, then you should give Working Copy a try. You will spend less time moving stuff around and you will get much better commit messages when you write them for fixes that are still fresh in your mind. You won't be leaving your computer behind any time soon, but sometimes it is faster to just fix things with the device in your hand. When you do need to perform real work on iOS, Working Copy is a powerful tool. Editor has syntax highlighting for more than 50 programming languages and a built-in color picker. Preview images, Markdown and HTML files with a Javascript console pointing to errors in your code. Create new branches and merge or rebase them back, with a brilliant merge-tool for handling conflicts. If you need to automate your work there are Working Copy actions in the Shortcuts app for most operations. Even if you never edit a line of code on iOS, Working Copy is a great companion for reviewing and discussing code. Repositories are cross indexed and with powerful fuzzy search you can quickly jump from a symbol to the declaration or reverse from the declaration to all usages. A graph of your commits lets you zoom out for a overview of the commit tree or zoom in for specifics about each commit, with speed and beauty you won’t find in desktop Git applications. Review the changes your files have gone through with a diff viewer that is great for text and images. There is even hex-dump mode for that obscure occasion. Working Copy is a free download but you need to unlock pro features such as the ability to push commits and manage more than 5 repositories. There is no venture capital, large company or ads funding development and your support through in-app purchase directly sustains development. Try out pro features with a 10 day free trial. When you pay to unlock you get permanent access to all pro features at the time of purchase as well as any added the next year. When 12 months have passed you keep all existing pro features but any new ones introduced are locked until you renew your unlock.

About

Runestone Text Editor

A powerful plain text and code editor for iPhone and iPad. Offers syntax highlighting, line numbers, find and replace, and extensive customization options for developers and writers.

Highlights
  • Syntax highlighting for many languages
  • Customizable themes and fonts
  • Advanced find and replace
  • Line numbers and cursor location
  • Code formatting with Prettier.js
  • Multiple windows on iPad
Features
Read full description

A plain text editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers, search and replace, page guide, and much more. It's like TextEdit but more powerful and optimised for iPhone and iPad. Runestone is made by a single person with a love for text editors and a vision of building the most lightweight text editor for iPhone and iPad that still has the core features for editing code. Features: - Syntax highlighting of many languages including HTML, JavaScript, JSON, Markdown, Swift, Python, PHP, YAML, and many more. - Select one of the twelve standard themes including popular themes like Tomorrow, Dracula, Solarized, and One Dark Pro. - Innovative find and replace for searching and modifying text while still viewing your file. - Choose font and font size, including support for custom fonts imported using another third-party app. - Show the line and column the cursor is located on. - Uses the standard document browser for an experience similar to the Files app. - Quickly navigate to a specific line. - Automatically close opening brackets and quotes. - Multiple windows on the iPad. - Format code using Prettier.js. Supported languages include CSS,HTML, JavaScript, JSON, PHP and more. - Choose text encoding between popular encodings like UTF-8, UTF-16, ISO Latin 1, and many more. - Enable or disable autocorrection, autocapitalization, and smart punctuation. - Set default file extension of new files. - Open files in Runestone from the Share Sheet. - Print documents. Premium features: - Choose between eight app icons. - Show line numbers. - Highlight the selected line. - Increase line height and letter spacing. - Disable line wrapping to allow horizontal scrolling. - Show tabs, spaces, and line breaks using a selected symbol. - Enable page guide at a specific column to easily tell when lines are getting too long. - Add vertical and horizontal overscroll. - Remember the selected language per file. - Save file extensions and filenames that should always be treated as plain text files. - Enable soft tabs and choose the width of the tab character. - Specify whether pressing the tab key should insert a tab or indent the line. - Adjust the scaling of Markdown headings and disable highlighting of code blocks in Markdown. Runestone was built on the open-source framework with the same name. Find more information on the Runestone framework at github.com/simonbs/runestone

Screenshots

Git client4 screens
Runestone Text Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

Git client and Runestone Text Editor both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 91% of Git client's written reviews are positive against 76% of Runestone Text Editor's. Runestone Text Editor's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.2). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Git client sells 13 one-off in-app purchases and Runestone Text Editor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Git client against 4.7 for Runestone Text Editor. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.8K and 2K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Git client's written reviews are positive against 76% of Runestone Text Editor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Git client ships an update every 9 days, Runestone Text Editor every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Git client versus Runestone Text Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGit clientRunestone Text Editor
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.8K ratings) — better4.7 (2K ratings)
Positive reviews90.5% of reviews — better76.2% of reviews
Number of ratings3.8K — better2K
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#26 — better#35
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS18.215.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size93 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnders BorumSimon B. Støvring

Customer experience

Git client

All ratings3,757 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.0%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews549 reviews
Positive90.5%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.7%

Runestone Text Editor

All ratings1,962 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews353 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral9.6%
Negative14.2%

Bugs and requests

Git client

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Runestone Text Editor

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Disappearing files
  • Difficulty pasting text
  • Scroll position not saved
  • Hangs on startup
  • Trouble opening large files
Show 1 more
  • Issues after iOS updates

Requested features

6 requests
  • Markdown preview
  • Code folding
  • Syntax highlighting for more languages
  • Ability to run/execute code
  • Multiple file/window support
Show 1 more
  • Improved undo/redo functionality

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Git client

One-time13
  • Unlock transfer4 variantsFree
  • Pro Unlock trial2 variantsFree
  • Pro Unlock trial (2023)Free
Show 10 more
  • Pro Unlock trial (2024)Free
  • Pro Unlock trial (2025)Free
  • Support Development$1.99
  • Pro Upgrade (2025)$17.99
  • Pro Upgrade (2024)$17.99
  • Pro Upgrade$17.99
  • Pro Upgrade (2022)$17.99
  • Pro Upgrade (2023)$17.99
  • Working Copy Pro Unlock$24.99
  • Working Copy Pro Unlock$35.99
1 purchases

Runestone Text Editor

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99

Questions

Is Git client free?
Git client is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Runestone Text Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Git client or Runestone Text Editor?
Git client is rated higher. Git client averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.8K ratings, while Runestone Text Editor averages 4.7 from 2K ratings.
Do Git client or Runestone Text Editor have ads?
Neither Git client nor Runestone Text Editor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Git client or Runestone Text Editor?
Git client ships an update every 9 days, and Runestone Text Editor every 2 weeks. Most recently, Git client was updated on September 29, 2026 and Runestone Text Editor on September 30, 2026.
Which is more popular, Git client or Runestone Text Editor?
Git client currently peaks at #26 in the App Store charts, and Runestone Text Editor at #35. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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