# MarkNote vs Athena Editor

The clearest difference is price: Athena Editor at Free against MarkNote's $1.99. Athena Editor also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 86%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Athena Editor is free to download; MarkNote costs $1.99 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 — 4.8 for MarkNote against 4.8 for Athena Editor. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 4 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of MarkNote's written reviews are positive against 100% of Athena Editor's.

MarkNote ships an update every 3 weeks, Athena Editor monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and August 4, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | MarkNote | Athena Editor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $1.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.8 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/marknote-markdown-note/id991297585/reviews)** | [4.8 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/athena-editor/id1209898072/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **5** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | 85.7% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 63 MB | 18 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [淑敏 孙](https://appshunter.io/developer/991297584) | [COMQUAS Co., Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/374193869) |

## What reviewers say

### MarkNote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/marknote-markdown-note/id991297585)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Athena Editor

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/athena-editor/id1209898072)

A code editor for iOS that supports various cloud storage services and syntax highlighting for multiple programming languages. It also offers special support for Bluetooth keyboards with Zawgyi input for Myanmar users.

**Highlights:** File opening via iOS Document Picker, Integration with Google Drive, iCloud, Git2Go, Syntax highlighting for Markdown, Swift, C#, Java, XML, Bluetooth keyboard support with Zawgyi input, Control + Shift keyboard switching

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is MarkNote free?

MarkNote costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Athena Editor free?

Athena Editor is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, MarkNote or Athena Editor?

MarkNote is rated higher. MarkNote averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Athena Editor averages 4.8 from 4 ratings.

### Do MarkNote or Athena Editor have ads?

Neither MarkNote nor Athena Editor shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, MarkNote or Athena Editor?

MarkNote ships an update every 3 weeks, and Athena Editor monthly. Most recently, MarkNote was updated on September 29, 2026 and Athena Editor on August 4, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*