A Typora alternative that comes with you to the iPad
Typora made writing Markdown without seeing it feel natural, and on the Mac it is still very good. Inkiostro writes the same way — a visual editor that hides the symbols, over plain .md files — and adds what Typora does not have: native iPad and iPhone apps, iCloud sync, and version history that restores a paragraph at a time.
Typora is a well-made app at a fair price: $14.99 once, for up to three devices, on macOS, Windows and Linux. Its central idea — the document is the preview, and the Markdown symbols disappear as you leave a word — has been borrowed by half the category, Inkiostro included. If you only ever write on one computer, this page is not going to talk you out of it.
People start looking for an alternative when the writing leaves the desk. Typora has no iPad or iPhone app and no sync of its own: it opens files and leaves the rest to you. Inkiostro is native on Mac, iPad and iPhone, one purchase covers all three, and iCloud keeps the same document current on each of them in the free tier.
Since version 1.12 Inkiostro has two editors on every device. The visual editor shows headings, bold, lists, tables and formulas already formatted as you type, with a formatting bar for everything; the Markdown editor shows the symbols, with a rendered preview alongside. The file is plain Markdown either way, and paragraphs you do not touch in the visual editor stay exactly as they were. The visual editor is part of Pro, with a 7-day free trial.
Inkiostro vs Typora, feature by feature
A ✓ means it ships today. Notes mark the differences worth knowing about.
| Feature | Inkiostro | Typora |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free · Pro $19.99 once | $14.99 once, up to 3 devices |
| Use it without paying | Free tier, no time limit | 15-day trial |
| Editing model | Your choice: visual editor (Pro, 7-day trial) or Markdown + rendered preview | Visual (WYSIWYG), markup shown again under the cursor |
| Mac app | Native | ✓ |
| iPad and iPhone apps | ✓ | — |
| Windows / Linux | — | ✓ |
| Sync across devices | iCloud, free | None built in — use a synced folder |
| Version history with restore | Pro · 40 versions per file, restore a single paragraph | macOS Versions (whole file) |
| LaTeX math | Free (KaTeX) | Yes (MathJax) |
| Mermaid diagrams | Free | ✓ |
| PDF export | Free · formulas, diagrams and code stay selectable text | ✓ |
| EPUB export | Pro, built in | Via Pandoc, installed separately |
| Word (.docx) export | — | Via Pandoc |
| Self-contained HTML export | Pro | ✓ |
| Focus & Typewriter mode | Pro | ✓ |
| Custom CSS themes | 29 built-in themes | Full custom CSS |
| Plain .md files on disk | ✓ | ✓ |
Typora — pricing and features checked on 6 October 2026 from the official site of Typora. Both products change — verify before you buy.
Where Typora is still the right choice
- You work on Windows or Linux, or move between them and a Mac. Inkiostro is Apple-only.
- You want the markup to reappear under your cursor. Typora shows the symbols of the word you are editing and hides them when you move on; Inkiostro keeps them hidden in the visual editor and visible in the Markdown editor, with nothing in between.
- You write your own CSS themes, or export to Word, LaTeX and other formats through Pandoc. Typora is far more open on both counts.
- You want the visual editor for less: Typora is $14.99 with everything in it, while in Inkiostro the visual editor is part of the $19.99 Pro.
- You only ever write on one Mac, never on a tablet or a phone.
Where Inkiostro pulls ahead
- It goes where you go. Native iPad and iPhone apps with the same two editors, a formatting bar above the keyboard, and one purchase for all three devices.
- Sync that is part of the app. iCloud keeps every document current on Mac, iPad and iPhone in the free tier, with nothing to set up.
- Version history that restores a paragraph, not just a file: up to 40 automatic versions per document, a line-by-line diff and single-paragraph restore. macOS Versions brings back whole files.
- EPUB built in. A real ebook with a navigation table of contents, cover and metadata, without installing anything else.
- PDF that stays text. Equations, Mermaid diagrams and highlighted code are exported as selectable, searchable text rather than images.
- A free tier with no countdown. Unlimited documents, iCloud sync, the Markdown editor, live preview, LaTeX, Mermaid and PDF export never expire.
Nothing to migrate
Typora and Inkiostro both work on ordinary .md files, so there is no import and no conversion. Put your Typora documents in Inkiostro’s iCloud folder, or point Pro’s external folders at the folder they already live in, and they open as they are — Mermaid, footnotes and YAML front matter included. LaTeX carries over too, with one caveat: Typora renders it with MathJax and Inkiostro with KaTeX, so a few MathJax-only extensions may not render.