Ichi vs Typora

Picking between Ichi and Typora is really a question about how you want Markdown to feel while you work. Both are Windows Markdown editors with no document/workspace account and no built-in sync, and both keep your files as ordinary local Markdown. They differ most in one place: Typora puts everything into a single rendered editing surface, while Ichi keeps reading and editing as separate, deliberate views.

Disclosure: I build Ichi, so I have a point of view. This comparison uses the same criteria for both and calls out where Typora is the better fit.

Overall product model

Typora is a mature, polished Markdown editor built around a single hybrid surface. It removes the preview window and the mode switcher, so you write and read in the same place, with formatting rendered inline as you type. A raw Source Code Mode is still available when you want to see the Markdown.

Ichi takes a different line. It has dedicated Read, Edit and Split views rather than one hybrid surface. Reading is a distinct rendered workflow in Ichi: the Read view typesets the document and removes the editing chrome, and Ichi preserves your document position when you switch between Read, Edit and Split.

Neither model is objectively better. A single rendered surface is simple and immediate; separate Read/Edit/Split views make reading a deliberate step. Which you prefer is a matter of how you work.

Reading experience

Typora renders Markdown inline as you write, so what you see is essentially the reading view already. There is no separate reading mode — the writing surface is the reading surface.

Ichi gives reading its own dedicated rendered view, while Typora uses the same Live Preview surface for reading and editing. Ichi’s Read view (Ctrl+1) typesets the document and hides editing controls; it is the calmest surface Ichi offers, and it is reachable from Edit or Split without losing your place in the document.

Editing experience

Typora’s editing is the same hybrid surface: live rendering, no mode switch, with raw source available via Source Code Mode (Ctrl+/). It is a smooth, mature writing environment.

Ichi’s Edit view works directly in the Markdown source, while Split keeps the source and rendered result side by side. Unlike Typora, Ichi does not turn that source editing surface into an in-place live-preview surface. It also currently has no dedicated Focus or Typewriter writing mode.

Read/Edit/Split versus Typora’s single surface

This is the core difference. Typora is one surface that is always rendered, with an optional Source Code Mode for raw source. Ichi is three views you move between — a dedicated raw-source Edit view, a dedicated rendered Read view, or both in Split — and it keeps your scroll/position when you do. If you like one always-rendered pane, Typora fits. If you want reading to be a distinct, position-preserving step, Ichi fits.

Local files and ownership

Both use ordinary local Markdown files as the source of truth. Typora works on local .md files wherever you keep them. Ichi edits the existing Markdown files in place and does not replace them with a proprietary document format. Neither requires a vendor workspace to open or edit your files.

Folders and project navigation

Typora supports Open Folder with a File Tree and File List, Quick Open, and Global Search across the files in the opened folder.

Ichi provides a project file tree, Quick Open and project-wide search, so navigating a folder of Markdown is built into the reading/editing environment rather than a separate file dialog.

The difference is product and workflow design, not a missing capability: both let you open a folder of Markdown and search across it.

Search

Typora provides Find/Replace in the current document and Global Search across the opened folder.

Ichi provides in-document find/replace and project-wide search across the open project’s files.

Both offer document and folder-wide search; the difference is how each presents it within its interface.

Markdown and rendered feature support

Typora has the broader advanced writing and export surface. It supports advanced Markdown features and native PDF, HTML and image export, with additional formats such as Word, RTF and EPUB available through Pandoc.

Ichi currently supports GitHub Flavoured Markdown including front matter, tables, task lists, fenced code, local images and sanitised structural HTML.

The useful conclusion is simply that Typora currently has the broader feature and export surface.

Focus and writing tools

Typora ships Focus Mode (F8), Typewriter Mode (F9) and Fullscreen (F11). Those are genuine, mature focus tools. (Source Code Mode is a source-editing mode, not a focus tool, and is covered under Editing experience above.)

Ichi has no dedicated Focus or Typewriter mode. Instead, its distraction reduction comes from a small default interface and the ability to move into the dedicated Read view with one keystroke.

Themes and customisation

Typora has an official community theme gallery and supports custom CSS, so its appearance can be changed substantially.

Ichi has built-in appearance settings, including theme, but no theme marketplace.

Extensions and plugins

Typora does not centre on a general-purpose plugin marketplace, but it is a mature product with deep Markdown and export capabilities, custom-CSS theming, and configurable integrations.

Ichi has no plugin marketplace and a deliberately limited feature surface.

Account, sync and privacy

Neither requires a SaaS-style document/workspace account for ordinary files, and neither has built-in proprietary document sync — you bring your own storage.

Keeping the concepts separate:

• Document storage / account model: Typora needs no document/workspace account to open and edit local files; Ichi needs no account at all.
• Licensing / activation: Typora’s paid licence is activated with an email address and licence code, and normal activation uses the network (Typora also documents an offline activation path). That is licensing, not a cloud-document account — Typora does not upload your document content.
• Optional telemetry: Typora sends anonymous usage telemetry only when “Send Anonymous Usage Info” is enabled; the option is off unless enabled and can be disabled. Ichi sends no telemetry and the app itself performs no background update checks.

Windows and platform support

Typora runs on Windows, macOS and Linux — an established general-release product across those platforms.

Ichi is currently a Public Beta and Windows x64 only. That is the most important maturity gap: if you need macOS or Linux, or an established general-release product rather than a Public Beta, Typora is the appropriate fit today.

Price and licensing

Typora is a one-time purchase of $14.99 before tax — no subscription or renewal fee — with a 15-day free trial, and one licence may be activated on up to 3 devices for a single user.

Ichi is currently free while in Public Beta.

Maturity

Typora is a mature, established product with years of releases. Ichi is substantially newer (Public Beta) with a smaller feature and theme ecosystem. If product maturity and breadth matter most, Typora leads; if you want a calm, narrow, telemetry-free local tool and can accept beta status, Ichi is the deliberate alternative.

Which one fits you

Choose Ichi if you want a calm, narrow Windows Markdown tool with dedicated source Edit, rendered Read and Split, document position preserved across views, ordinary local files, no account, no telemetry and no background update checks, and you are comfortable with Public Beta and Windows x64 only.

Choose Typora if you want a mature, cross-platform (Windows/macOS/Linux) Markdown editor with a polished single rendered surface, Focus/Typewriter/Fullscreen modes, broad Markdown and export support, custom CSS theming, and a one-time $14.99 licence.

Either works if you mainly want ordinary local Markdown files, no document/workspace account, and your own sync — both keep documents as ordinary local Markdown and leave document sync to the user’s chosen storage.

I build Ichi, so treat the Ichi-favouring framing as my bias and weigh Typora’s strengths on their own terms.

Sources

• Typora — typora.io (purchase)
• Licence Agreement — support.typora.io/License-Agreement
• Activation — support.typora.io/activation
• Shortcut Keys — support.typora.io/Shortcut-Keys
• File Management — support.typora.io/File-Management
• Search — support.typora.io/Search
• Sync — support.typora.io/Sync
• Privacy Policy — support.typora.io/Privacy-Policy
• Typora support — support.typora.io
• Theme gallery — theme.typora.io
• Export — support.typora.io/Export
• Ichi features — withichi.com/features
• Ichi philosophy — withichi.com/philosophy
• Ichi privacy — withichi.com/privacy
• Ichi — withichi.com