Comparison

MarkNote vs zOutline

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

Head to head
About

MarkNote

Create and manage markdown notes with rich formatting, image embedding, and code snippets. Sync across Apple devices via iCloud and access notes from any web browser. Publish notes as blog posts or share them easily.

Highlights
  • Markdown editing with live preview
  • Embed photos, images, and code snippets
  • iCloud synchronization across devices
  • Web browser access for notes
  • Publish notes as blog posts
  • Graph view for note relations
Features
Read full description

Take notes with markdown. Sync notes into iCloud. Access your documents with any of your mac or iOS devices. Share your notes with your friend. You can easily embed photos, format text, create tables, send rich formatted mail message, and share and edit notes from any devices. FEATURES - Embed photos and images into note - Live preview while writing - Auto save - Send mail with rich format - Swipe to delete a note - Syntax highlighting - Embed code snippets and mathematics formulas - Click to update the task status in todo list - Review and edit your notes from any web browsers or smart devices - Sync your notes into iCloud drive, and share with all your devices. You can read and edit your notes with marknote app on iPhone/iPad or marknotes on mac - Publish your note as blog posts - Import web page shared from apps like mobile safari, save in markdown format, so that you can read it later or edit it later - graph view, visualize notes relations You have complete control to your data. SUPPORT If you have any feedback or questions, reach us by mail at marknote@aliyun.com

About

zOutline

This is a simple outline editor that allows for easy creation and management of hierarchical lists. It supports multiple outlines in tabs, text formatting, and various export options like HTML, RTF, and plain text. The app remembers your progress and allows sharing via email attachments.

Highlights
  • Simple tap and gesture controls
  • Multiple outlines in tabs
  • Text formatting (bold, italic, underline)
  • Export to HTML, RTF, and text
  • Email attachment sharing
  • Persistent editing state
Features
Read full description

A straightforward, uncomplicated outline editor. You tap an item to select. You double-tap to edit an item. You swipe left on an item to delete an item.. Or you tap-and-hold to cut & paste, etc. Multiple outlines can be edited at once in different tabs. zOutline remembers what you were editing even if you kill the app. You can send outline files as email attachments, and open outline file attachments. zOutline permits export as HTML, RTF or text. Outline items can be enumerated or dotted. Items can be bold, italic, underlined. Several fonts and text colors are available.

Screenshots

MarkNote4 screens
zOutline1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: zOutline at Free against MarkNote's $1.99. zOutline also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). MarkNote's advantage is review sentiment (86% vs 50%). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

zOutline is free to download; MarkNote costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

zOutline holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 86% of MarkNote's written reviews are positive against 50% of zOutline's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
MarkNote versus zOutline: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarkNotezOutline
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (5 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB1 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developer淑敏 孙Zack Smith

Customer experience

MarkNote

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

zOutline

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

MarkNote

No in-app purchases

None

zOutline

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MarkNote free?
MarkNote costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is zOutline free?
zOutline is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MarkNote or zOutline?
zOutline is rated higher. MarkNote averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while zOutline averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do MarkNote or zOutline have ads?
Neither MarkNote nor zOutline shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MarkNote or zOutline?
MarkNote ships an update every 3 weeks, and zOutline every 3 weeks. Most recently, MarkNote was updated on September 18, 2026 and zOutline on June 11, 2026.

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