--- title: "Coffee vs iA Writer: which writing app for your Mac?" author: Pedro Thomaz source: https://coffeetext.app/blog/coffee-vs-ia-writer --- # Coffee vs iA Writer: which writing app for your Mac? > Checked November 2026 against [iA Writer's pricing page](https://ia.net/writer/pricing) and support docs. I make Coffee, so read this with that in mind. Coffee isn't affiliated with iA. If your main job is writing prose, or you need iPhone, iPad or Windows, choose iA Writer. Choose Coffee if you're on a Mac and your notes are working documents: edited by AI tools, full of sums, kept in Git, and searched across often. Both are quiet apps that keep your writing in plain files, and I respect what iA has built. The difference lies in what each is for. ## At a glance | | iA Writer | Coffee | |---|---|---| | Price | [$49.99 once on Mac](https://ia.net/writer/pricing). Windows $29.99, iPhone and iPad $49.99, each paid separately | €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once | | Subscription | Not offered | Yes, or buy once | | Trial | 7 days, no card | 14 days, no card | | Updates | Minor ones free. Major ones may cost extra | Included in a subscription. Two years with €79, then €29 a year if you want them | | Platforms | Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad | Mac only | | Mac needed | macOS 10.15 or later | macOS 15 or later | | Writing tools | Focus Mode, Style Check, Syntax Highlight, Authorship | Focus and typewriter modes, a Style Check in English | | Export | [PDF, Word, HTML, Markdown](https://ia.net/writer/support/preview/export-share-print) | PDF, Word, EPUB, HTML, Markdown, plain text | ## Where iA Writer is better **Help with prose.** This is what iA Writer is known for. [Style Check](https://ia.net/writer/support/editor/style-check) marks fillers, redundancies and clichés, in English, French, Spanish and German, on your device. Coffee has a simpler Style Check, off by default, that marks filler words, stock phrases, a word written twice and words from your own list, in English only. **Other devices.** There's an app for iPhone and iPad, and one for Windows. Coffee only runs on a Mac. **Older Macs.** iA Writer asks for macOS 10.15. Coffee needs macOS 15, so if your Mac can't run that, it's not an option. **Word.** Both export a `.docx`. Coffee also imports one, turning it into a Markdown note and leaving the original alone. **PDF control.** iA Writer has more built-in [templates](https://ia.net/writer/support/preview/templates), and you can write your own in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, with control over title pages, headers and footers. Coffee has three templates and no way to change them. **Content blocks.** On the Mac, you can [embed images and CSV tables](https://ia.net/writer/support/library/content-blocks) as separate files that are drawn in Preview and included on export. **One payment with no end date.** If you don't want a recurring charge at all, iA Writer doesn't offer one, and it's cheaper than Coffee's €79 on the Mac. Coffee has a subscription too, and a one-time price. There's [a fuller comparison of pricing](https://coffeetext.app/blog/markdown-editors-mac-subscription-vs-one-time). ## AI: two different approaches Both apps deal with AI text, in different ways, and it's worth comparing them properly. [Authorship](https://ia.net/writer/support/editor/authorship) in iA Writer tracks who wrote what. You mark text as human, AI or reference, and it shows in different styles, so you can see how much of a draft is yours. You assign the authors yourself, for example with Paste As, and the data is kept at the end of the file. It's made for people who write with AI at their side and care about what's theirs. Coffee looks at the file and compares it with the version you last read. When Claude, Cursor or anything else edits a note, you see each change, with Keep and Undo beside it. It has no idea who wrote what, and it adds nothing to your file. See [how that works](https://coffeetext.app/blog/review-claude-cursor-markdown-changes). If you want to know how much of a draft came from an AI, iA Writer's approach answers that and Coffee's doesn't. If a tool is editing your files and you want to check its work, Coffee's does that directly. iA Writer also has a Paste Edits From command for bringing in outside edits, but you do that step by hand. ## Where Coffee is different I'm describing what Coffee has here, not claiming iA Writer lacks all of it. **Sums in your notes.** Write `20% of 50` or `2:30 pm HKT in Berlin` and the answer appears beside the line. [Try it](https://coffeetext.app/blog/calculator-in-notes-mac). **Search that answers as you type.** ⌘K searches every note, accents included, at about 14 milliseconds across 5,000 notes in our tests. Ask, on macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence, answers questions about your notes with the model running on your Mac. **Editing on the page.** You can work in the finished page, in the code, or side by side and type in either. iA Writer writes in a plain text editor and [switches to a Preview](https://ia.net/writer) to show it styled. **Git without Git.** Coffee can send one note to a new branch and open a pull request, for people on a team who don't use Git. **Comments and version history.** Comment on selected words, without changing the Markdown, and drag back through earlier versions of any note. **Paste from a spreadsheet.** Copy cells and paste, and [you get a table](https://coffeetext.app/blog/paste-excel-numbers-table-markdown). **Everyday extras.** Private notes locked with Touch ID, a searchable clipboard history, quick capture from any app, and an MCP server for AI apps, off until you turn it on. Whether you want those in a writing app is a fair question. iA Writer has chosen to leave out a lot, and for many writers that's the point. ## Choose iA Writer if - Writing prose is the main thing, and you want help tightening it - You need iPhone, iPad or Windows - You want to mark AI text and human text as you write - You want to design your own PDF templates - You want a single payment, with no subscription on offer ## Choose Coffee if - You're on a Mac running macOS 15 or later, and don't need it elsewhere - AI tools edit your files, and you want to check each change - Your notes are working documents, with sums, tables and links to Git - You keep many notes and search them constantly - You like seeing the finished page as you write ## Questions ### Does iA Writer have a subscription? No. iA's pricing page says subscriptions aren't available on any platform. It's a one-time payment per platform, and major updates may cost extra. ### Can I use iA Writer and Coffee on the same files? Mostly, since both work with Markdown files in folders. One thing to watch: if you use Authorship, iA Writer stores that data at the end of the file, where other editors, Coffee included, will show it. --- Written by Pedro Thomaz, who makes Coffee, a Markdown editor for the Mac on macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days with no card or account, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates. More at https://coffeetext.app/llms-full.txt