GraphiteGraphite compared
Graphite is a focused Markdown writing app that runs in your browser, installs like an app and works offline. It’s free to write, and needs no account. Here’s how it sits next to five apps writers often weigh it against, with facts from each app’s own site, checked on 17 October 2026.
- Graphite vs iA WriterNative Markdown apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad, bought once per platform.
- Graphite vs UlyssesA subscription writing app for Mac, iPad and iPhone, with its own library, goals and publishing.
- Graphite vs BearA Markdown notes app for Mac, iPhone and iPad, with tags and iCloud sync in Bear Pro.
- Graphite vs ObsidianA free, extensible app for linked notes in a local vault of Markdown files, with paid Sync and Publish.
- Graphite vs TyporaA desktop Markdown editor for macOS, Windows and Linux that renders as you type, bought once.
- Graphite Free and ProWhat’s free, what Pro adds, and what it costs.
How to choose
If you want a native app on your Mac or iPhone, iA Writer, Ulysses and Bear are made for that, and Graphite is a browser app for now. If you’re building a knowledge base of linked notes with plugins, Obsidian does more than Graphite. If you write technical documents with math and diagrams on the desktop, Typora fits better. If you publish straight to WordPress or Ghost from your editor, iA Writer and Ulysses do that and Graphite doesn’t.
Graphite fits when you want one place to draft and revise on any computer, tablet or phone with a modern browser, with Focus, Typewriter and Zen built in, plain Markdown files you keep in your browser, a folder or your own Google Drive, and nothing to pay until you want Pro. The best way to tell is to open it and write a page.