Comparison

MarkNote vs Metis

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

Metis

Read full description

Metis is a native Markdown editor and local-first knowledge base. Your notes are just .md files in a folder you own - Metis is a fast, beautiful, native view over them. No lock-in, no proprietary format, no account required to write. WRITE IN LIVE PREVIEW A clean Obsidian-style editor styles your Markdown as you type - headings, bold, lists, quotes and code - while keeping the raw syntax one tap away. It feels like writing in a document, not in code. On iPad it's a full three-pane workspace with hardware-keyboard shortcuts. CONNECT YOUR IDEAS Link any two notes with [[wiki links]]. Backlinks appear automatically, so you always see what references the note you're reading. An interactive link graph shows your whole knowledge base at a glance - zoom, pan, and drag nodes to explore the connections. READ BEAUTIFULLY Reading mode renders the full document: headings, tables, task lists, images, syntax-highlighted code, Mermaid diagrams, and real math (LaTeX) rendered natively - no web view. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Tag anything with #tags, group notes into folders, and see typed properties (status, owner, due...) that live as YAML front matter and are preserved as you edit. A fast switcher and full-text search get you anywhere instantly. ON-DEVICE AI (Apple Intelligence) Summarize a note, suggest tags or related links, and ask your whole vault a question - all running privately on your device. AI is optional; the app is fully functional without it. SYNC ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Keep your vault in iCloud and the same notes are on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - still as plain .md files you can open anywhere. Edits sync in the background, and Metis helps you resolve conflicts if two devices change the same note. LOCK WHAT MATTERS Any note can be locked with your notes password and opened with Face ID or Touch ID. Locked notes are encrypted on disk and stay encrypted in iCloud - and they're kept out of search and previews. PRIVATE AND YOURS Everything stays in plain files on your device. No tracking, no cloud lock-in. Open the same folder in any other Markdown editor whenever you like. Import an existing folder of notes (from Obsidian or anywhere) and Metis just works. ONE PURCHASE, ALL YOUR DEVICES A single one-time purchase unlocks Metis Pro on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - no subscription. Try everything free for 7 days. Metis is made by Empiric Apps. Questions or feedback? contact@empiricapps.com

Screenshots

MarkNote4 screens
Metis4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Metis at Free against MarkNote's $1.99. Metis also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks). MarkNote's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On ads 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

Metis is free to download; MarkNote costs $1.99 up front. Metis sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MarkNote asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MarkNote ships an update every 3 weeks, Metis every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
MarkNote versus Metis: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarkNoteMetis
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer淑敏 孙Burlac Mihail

In-app purchases

None

MarkNote

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Metis

One-time1
  • Metis Pro$14.99

Questions

Is MarkNote free?
MarkNote costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Metis free?
Metis is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MarkNote or Metis have ads?
Neither MarkNote nor Metis shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MarkNote or Metis?
MarkNote ships an update every 3 weeks, and Metis every 2 days. Most recently, MarkNote was updated on September 18, 2026 and Metis on September 12, 2026.

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