AllApps

Note-taking apps you buy once.

Buy iA Writer. It stays out of the way better than anything else here and keeps what you write in plain markdown files you can open anywhere. 1Writer costs a quarter as much and is the better pick if your notes already live in Dropbox, WebDAV or an Obsidian vault. Scrivener is for manuscripts rather than notes, and Byword is the plainest of the four. None of them can start billing you monthly.

The filter. Every app here is a single purchase. None of them can start charging you monthly for what you already bought. See every app under this rule ›
Top pick

iA Writer

Information Architects AG
View on the App Store ›
$19.99 once4.6★ (1,533)Updated Aug 10, 2026
Verdict
The one that gets out of the way. Plain markdown files, a focus mode that dims everything except the sentence you are on, and nothing you have to learn first.
Best for
Someone who writes prose and wants the app to disappear while they are doing it.
The catch
Steady on iCloud and shaky off it. Reviewers working out of Dropbox or Google Drive report freezing and lockups, and that is where most of the crash reports come from.
One-time purchaseNo subscriptionPlain markdownFocus mode

1Writer - Markdown Text Editor

Ngoc Luu
View on the App Store ›
$4.99 once4.6★ (391)Updated Sep 24, 2025
Verdict
The one that fits into a file system you already have. WebDAV, Dropbox, iCloud and a self-hosted Nextcloud all work, which is why people point it at an Obsidian vault.
Best for
Anyone whose notes already live in folders somewhere and who wants to edit them on a phone without moving them.
The catch
The interface has not been rethought in years — reviewers call the navigation unintuitive and long nested documents awkward — and Dropbox is where the sync complaints cluster.
One-time purchaseNo subscriptionWebDAVWorks with Obsidian

Scrivener

Literature & Latte
View on the App Store ›
$23.99 once4.2★ (2,603)Updated Sep 29, 2023
Verdict
Built for manuscripts rather than notes. You write in fragments and rearrange them, which is the right shape for a book and far too much for anything shorter.
Best for
Someone drafting something long enough that the structure is the hard part.
The catch
Syncing is the most common complaint by a wide margin — thirty-nine of the last two hundred reviews raise it against eighteen who say it works — and it runs through Dropbox rather than iCloud.
One-time purchaseLong manuscriptsDropbox sync

Byword

Metaclassy, Lda.
View on the App Store ›
$5.99 once4.4★ (180)Updated Apr 9, 2020
Verdict
The plainest of these. Markdown, a clean sheet, and files that live in iCloud or Dropbox rather than inside the app.
Best for
A writer who already keeps plain-text files in a folder and wants a tidy place to edit them on a phone.
The catch
Syncing is where it falls down — nineteen of the last two hundred reviews describe it hanging on download or crashing when opening a file it did not create itself.
One-time purchasePlain markdowniCloud or Dropbox

Side by side.

AppPriceFormatSyncs withMade forUpdated
iA Writer$19.99MarkdowniCloud, DropboxFocused proseAug 10, 2026
1Writer - Markdown Text Editor$4.99MarkdowniCloud, Dropbox, WebDAVFiles you already keepSep 24, 2025
Scrivener$23.99Rich textDropboxLong manuscriptsSep 29, 2023
Byword$5.99MarkdowniCloud, DropboxPlain-text writersApr 9, 2020

Who should skip this entirely.

If you only need somewhere to jot things down, Apple Notes is free, already on your phone, and syncs without being configured. Nothing here improves on that for short notes. These earn their price when you are writing at length, when you want the files to be plain text you control, or when you need one specific format that Notes does not do.

Questions.

Can I use these with an Obsidian vault?1Writer and iA Writer both edit plain markdown files where they sit, so pointing either at a vault works. Reviewers say they do exactly that to avoid paying for Obsidian's sync.
Why is Apple Notes not on this list?It is bundled rather than bought, so it fails the rule this list is built on. For short notes it is also usually the right answer.