Typora does not run on iPad — here is what does
Typora is a macOS, Windows and Linux app. There is no iPadOS or iOS version, and there has never been one. If you liked Typora on your Mac and want the same document on your iPad, this is the gap Inkiostro fills.
This is the shortest comparison on the site, because the central fact is not a matter of opinion: Typora ships for macOS, Windows and Linux, and there is no iPad or iPhone app. If you searched for one, that is the answer, and no amount of comparison table will change it.
Inkiostro is native on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and one purchase covers all three. On iPad the editor and live preview sit side by side with your files a tap away; on iPhone the formatting toolbar sits above the keyboard; on Mac it is a full three-pane window. iCloud keeps the same document current on all of them, and that is in the free tier.
Since version 1.12 you also choose how you write. The visual editor shows headings, bold and lists formatted as you type, with no symbols on screen — the thing most people love about Typora — and the Markdown editor shows the symbols with a rendered preview alongside. The file stays plain Markdown either way. One honest difference: Typora shows the markup again while your cursor is inside a formatted word; Inkiostro's visual editor never does, and when you want the symbols you switch to the Markdown editor. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| iPad app | ✓ | — |
| iPhone app | ✓ | — |
| Mac app | Native | ✓ |
| Windows / Linux | — | ✓ |
| Price | Free · Pro $19.99 once | $14.99 once, up to 3 devices |
| Editing model | Your choice: visual editor (Pro, 7-day trial) or Markdown + rendered preview | WYSIWYG, markup shown again under the cursor |
| iCloud sync across devices | Free | No sync (local files) |
| LaTeX math (KaTeX) | Free | ✓ |
| Mermaid diagrams | Free | ✓ |
| Version history with restore | Pro · 40 versions per file, line-by-line diff | On Mac, via macOS Versions (whole file) |
| PDF export | Free · formulas, diagrams and code stay selectable text | ✓ |
| EPUB export | Pro | Via Pandoc, installed separately |
| Self-contained HTML export | Pro | ✓ |
| Plain .md files on disk | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom CSS themes | 29 built-in themes | Full custom CSS |
Typora — pricing and features checked on 13 August 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. Inkiostro is Apple-only and always will be.
- You want the markup to reappear under your cursor. Typora shows the symbols of the word you are editing and hides them again 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. Typora takes arbitrary CSS; Inkiostro gives you 29 built-in themes and no stylesheet slot.
- You never write on a tablet or a phone, in which case the whole premise of this page does not apply to you.
Where Inkiostro pulls ahead
- It exists on iPad and iPhone. Native apps, not a web wrapper, with a formatting toolbar above the keyboard and the preview side by side on iPad.
- You choose how to write on iPhone, iPad and Mac: the visual editor if you never want to see a `#`, the Markdown editor if you do. Paragraphs you do not touch in the visual editor stay in the file exactly as they were.
- iCloud sync in the free tier: start a document on the Mac, keep writing on the iPad on the train, finish it on the phone.
- Version history: up to 40 automatic versions per document with a line-by-line diff and single-paragraph restore. On the Mac, Typora relies on macOS Versions, which bring back a whole file, not a paragraph.
- EPUB export built in, to a real ebook with a navigation table of contents; Typora needs Pandoc installed to do it.
- PDF where equations, diagrams and highlighted code remain selectable text rather than images.
Nothing to migrate
Both apps work on ordinary .md files, so there is no export, no conversion and no import. Put your existing Typora documents in Inkiostro's iCloud folder and they open as they are — LaTeX blocks, Mermaid diagrams, YAML front matter and footnotes included. You can keep editing the same files in Typora on a Windows machine at the same time.