When comparing FocusWriter vs iA Writer, the Slant community recommends FocusWriter for most people. In the question“What are the best apps for writers?” FocusWriter is ranked 2nd while iA Writer is ranked 20th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Open Source and free with donation
Pro Customizable themes
This program has a number of good pre-made themes and allows you to create your own.
Pro Can save as ODT, RTF, DOCX and TXT
In addition to Text Open Document (ODT), FocusWriter allow to save as Office Open XML (docx), Righ Text Format (RTF) and text file (TXT).
Pro Cross platform including Linux, Windows, Mac OS X
Pro Word count
Pro Noise Free Writing Experience removes even the program bar
The Noise Free Writing Experience is one of the first approaches to create a first class distraction-free environment. The feature hides the Mac program bar when you start writing.
Pro A mode that brings focus to the sentence you're working on
Enabling Focus Mode will dim the whole text except the sentence you are currently writing on.
Pro Can tell how long it would take to read through what you've written
Pro Markdown support
Pro Syncs using iCloud and Dropbox
iA Writer can sync documents using iCloud or Dropbox from within the editor for use across multiple devices.
Pro Create whole document by including separate images/markdown docs
This is new and very awesome feature in iA Writer 4.0.
Pro Can export a Word document
Pro Available for all Apple devices
iA Writer is available for Mac, iPhone and iPad.