An iA Writer alternative: the Inka writing app
iA Writer is a native Markdown app built to keep the screen bare. The Inka writing app is free to write in, in the browser, and it is not trying to be iA Writer. If you want Markdown, focus mode on a sentence, and their type, stay with them.
What their page says
Read on 10 October 2026 from ia.net/writer. They describe a screen without the usual chrome, a focus mode that highlights the current sentence or paragraph, Markdown, a style check that runs on the device, and a view that marks what you typed versus what you pasted. They offer a seven-day trial and say no credit card is required for that trial. We are not repeating their awards, user counts, or press quotes.
The platforms, from the same reading: Mac, Windows, iPad, and iPhone. There is no Android app and no version that runs in a browser, so a Chromebook or an Android phone cannot run it at all. Their pricing page on 10 October 2026 listed one-time prices: $49.99 for Mac, $29.99 for Windows, $49.99 for iPhone and iPad, and said subscriptions are not available for those platforms. You buy iA Writer once. Inka Pro renews, at $7 a month or $49 a year, or $99 once if you prefer to pay a single time.
Side by side
| Inka writing app | iA Writer | |
|---|---|---|
| Form | A browser room, on any machine with a browser. Optional install into a window. | Native apps for Mac, Windows, iPad, and iPhone. No Android, no web version. |
| Price | Free to write. Pro is $7 a month, $49 a year, or $99 once. | A seven-day trial, then one payment: $49.99 Mac, $29.99 Windows, $49.99 iPhone and iPad. Not a subscription. Read 10 October 2026. |
| Text | Prose. Four fonts, all free, including Atkinson. | Markdown, their own fonts, focus mode, style check. |
| AI | No generator and no rewrite. | Their page talks about showing pasted or model-written text in another colour. That is their feature, described by them. |
| Room and sound | 30 rooms, mixable sounds, a timer, Spotify. | Not the product they were describing. The point of their app is the absence of decoration. |
Who should use iA Writer
Use iA Writer if the work is Markdown, if you want their focus mode and their type, and if you are happy with a native app after a trial. You pay once, per platform, and you keep it: $49.99 on a Mac, $29.99 on Windows, $49.99 across iPhone and iPad. Over several years that is cheaper than a renewing subscription. Inka does not include Markdown syntax, a style check of their kind, or a highlight for pasted text.
Use Inka if you are on a Chromebook or an Android phone, where iA Writer does not run at all, or if you want a free browser page, a room, mixable sound, and a timer, and you do not need Markdown. The trade is real: less document structure, a three-piece cap on the free tier, a Pro price that renews rather than ending, and no claim to their typography.
Questions
Is the Inka writing app free as an iA Writer substitute?
It is free to write in. It is not a Markdown editor, so it is a substitute only if you did not need Markdown.
Does Inka mark AI-pasted text?
No. It also does not generate text. Those are different absences.
Can I get iA Writer's focus mode in Inka?
No. Inka hides controls, and it has a plain Ink Room. It does not dim every sentence except the one you are in.
What does iA Writer cost?
On 10 October 2026 their pricing page listed one-time prices of $49.99 for Mac, $29.99 for Windows, and $49.99 for iPhone and iPad, with no subscription for those platforms. Check their page before you buy.
Other comparisons
Six pages, one other app each, written the same way: we make Inka, and the other column is read off their own site on a dated reading.
- Google Docs
- FocusWriter
- Calmly Writer
- iA Writer — this page
- Write or Die
- ZenPen
- All comparisons on this site
Open Inka
If the work is not Markdown, Inka is free to try for one draft.