The Best iA Writer AlternativesTop Note-taking Tools & Text Editors like iA Writer

iA Writer is described as 'The key to good writing is not that magical glass of Bordeaux, the right kind of tobacco or that groovy background music. The key is focus. What you need to write well is a spartan setting that allows you to fully concentrate on your text and nothing but your text' and is a popular Note-taking tool in the news & books category. There are more than 100 alternatives to iA Writer for a variety of platforms, including Mac, Windows, Linux, Web-based and iPhone apps. The best iA Writer alternative is Joplin, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like iA Writer are Typora, Zettlr, Simplenote and ghostwriter.

More about iA Writer

iA Writer alternatives page was last updated Dec 16, 2025

Joplin
898 likes
Open source app for managing notes and to-dos with Markdown support. Syncs seamlessly across devices using services like Dropbox and OneDrive. Offers end-to-end encrypted synchronicity, offline access, rich import/export options, and a Web Clipper for browsers.
144 Joplin alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application types
Note-taking
Todo List Manager
Origin
France
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Self-Hosted
AppImageHub
Snapcraft
Google Chrome
Flathub
PortableApps.com
F-Droid
Cloudron
Homebrew
Chocolatey
Termux
Mozilla Firefox
+7
Is Joplin a good alternative to iA Writer?

|
1comment
Joplin vs iA Writer Comments

diver_down
Positive commentMar 3, 2020
0
FOSS and (most importantly!) works on ALL platforms. Ubuntu, Manjaro, iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS... it will sync effortless between them. Oh, and it's also E2EE which is mandatory for good security practices as far as I'm concerned. Thanks L.C. <3
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Joplin is Freemium and Open SourceiA Writer is Paid and Proprietary
Joplin is Minimalistic and DecentralizediA Writer is not according to our users
Typora
330 likes
A minimalist Markdown editor offering cross-platform synchronization, live preview, and seamless export/import in various formats like PDF, DOCX, and LaTeX. Features include distraction-free Focus and Typewriter modes, file management with tree and articles panels, and content organization through an outline panel.
184 Typora alternatives
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application types
Note-taking
Text Editor
Origin
China
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Electron
Visual Studio Code
+4
Is Typora a good alternative to iA Writer?

|
6comments
Typora vs iA Writer Comments

Top Positive Comment
Guest
May 23, 2017
2
Very nice interface, themes, markdown support is awesome. Exactly what I was looking for. I thought it was impossible to find a quality software of this type on Windows.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Alec Kinnear
Positive commentSep 28, 2022
0
Typora is great if you like to write in preview mode. iAWriter is better if you prefer to see Markdown in the edit window and have access to a preview window (old WordPerfect paradigm). Both are excellent apps. Typora is great for Markdown tables.
arximughal
Positive commentJan 8, 2020
-5
It's free and opensource and packed with a lot of useful features. I just love writing in Typora.
3 of 6 comments
Typora is Paid and ProprietaryiA Writer is also Paid and Proprietary
Typora is Minimalistic and CustomizableiA Writer is not according to our users
Zettlr
254 likes
Unified writing platform offering note-taking, easy citations with Zotero integration, LaTeX/Word templates, snippets, themes, dark modes, code highlighting, multi-language support, and knowledge management with Zettelkasten for seamless writing from notes to books.
202 Zettlr alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application types
Note-taking
Text Editor
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
PortableApps.com
+5
Is Zettlr a good alternative to iA Writer?

|
1comment
Zettlr vs iA Writer Comments

Guest
Negative commentSep 18, 2020
1
iA Writer is for writing longer texts. Zettlr is for note taking.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Zettlr is Free and Open SourceiA Writer is Paid and Proprietary
Ad
Daino Notes
Offers fast, distraction-free note-taking via a high-performance editor with real-time Markdown, local-first storage, image support, Kanban task boards, intuitive drag-and-drop, keyboard shortcuts, configurable themes, fast searc...

https://www.get-notes.com
Learn More
Simplenote
606 likes
Cloud-based, open-source note-taking app supporting plain text notes, lists, and ideas with real-time sync, multi-device support, version history, markdown, tagging, collaborative editing, no ads, and free registration required for all cloud features.
146 Simplenote alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-2.0)
Application types
Note-taking
Todo List Manager
Origin
United States
Alerts
Discontinued
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
+3
Is Simplenote a good alternative to iA Writer?
ghostwriter
114 likes
ghostwriter is a feature-rich text editor using Markdown syntax which makes it suitable for note-taking, document redaction, simple HTML website creation and much more.
144 ghostwriter alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application types
Text Editor
Note-taking
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Snapcraft
Flathub
Haiku
+1
Is ghostwriter a good alternative to iA Writer?

|
1comment
ghostwriter vs iA Writer Comments

NA0341
Positive commentNov 22, 2023
0
Fast, lean, open source, many useful features, well integrated with different Markdown parsers - Hemmingway mode. Although for anything beyond just writing I'd suggest something more advanced - like Obsidian.
ghostwriter is Free and Open SourceiA Writer is Paid and Proprietary
FocusWriter
212 likes
Simple but configurable and themeable, distraction-free text editor for writers. Open-source and available across desktop platforms.
103 FocusWriter alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Text Editor
Origin
United States
Platforms
Windows
Linux
PortableApps.com
+7
Is FocusWriter a good alternative to iA Writer?
MarkText
121 likes
Open-source Markdown editor on Mac, Windows, and Linux offering real-time preview, clean interface, and various themes. Supports math expressions, exports HTML/PDF, allows image pasting, and more.
116 MarkText alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (MIT)
Application types
Note-taking
Text Editor
Origin
Singapore
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
+4
Is MarkText a good alternative to iA Writer?

|
1comment
MarkText vs iA Writer Comments

Guest
Positive commentMay 19, 2020
1
Interface is great, and you can edit the font from the preferences.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
MarkText is Free and Open SourceiA Writer is Paid and Proprietary
QOwnNotes
99 likes
Plain text notepad with markdown support and todo list manager for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, that works together with the notes application of ownCloud.
292 QOwnNotes alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-2.0)
Application types
Note-taking
Todo List Manager
Origin
Austria
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
PortableApps.com
Qt
+3
Is QOwnNotes a good alternative to iA Writer?
Marknote
25 likes
Marknote lets you create rich text notes and easily organise them into notebooks. You can personalise your notebooks by choosing an icon and accent color for each one, making it easy to distinguish between them and keep your notes at your fingertips.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-2.0)
Application type
Note-taking
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
Flatpak
Snapcraft
+1
Is Marknote a good alternative to iA Writer?
Foam
52 likes
Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system inspired by Roam Research, built on Visual Studio Code and GitHub.
255 Foam alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Note-taking
Platforms
Self-Hosted
Visual Studio Code
Is Foam a good alternative to iA Writer?
Nuclino
136 likes
Nuclino is a unified workspace where teams can bring all their knowledge, docs, and projects together in one place. It’s a modern, simple, and blazingly fast way to collaborate, without the chaos of files and folders, context switching, or silos.
354 Nuclino alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application types
Note-taking
Team Collaboration
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Chrome OS
iPad
Is Nuclino a good alternative to iA Writer?
Bear
98 likes
Flexible note-taking and writing tool featuring advanced markdown with in-line images, cross-note links, live preview, hashtags, Focus Mode, plain text storage, iCloud sync, one-tap formatting, smart data recognition, and multiple export formats for portability.
264 Bear alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application types
Note-taking
Todo List Manager
Origin
Italy
EU
Platforms
Mac
Online
iPhone
iPad
+5
Is Bear a good alternative to iA Writer?

12 of 125 iA Writer alternatives

The Best iA Writer AlternativesTop Note-taking Tools & Text Editors like iA Writer

Alternatives list

Joplin

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

Joplin vs iA Writer Comments

Typora

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

Typora vs iA Writer Comments

Zettlr

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

Zettlr vs iA Writer Comments

Simplenote

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Alerts

Platforms

ghostwriter

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

ghostwriter vs iA Writer Comments

FocusWriter

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

MarkText

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

MarkText vs iA Writer Comments

QOwnNotes

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

Marknote

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

Foam

Cost / License

Application type

Platforms

Nuclino

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms

Bear

Cost / License

Application types

Origin

Platforms