A curated list of the best Markdown tools, viewers, editors, and resources for macOS.
Maintained by the developer of MacMD Viewer. MacMD is listed here alongside its competitors, including the free ones, in alphabetical order. If an entry is wrong, open an issue — corrections are merged, including ones that make MacMD look worse.
Prices and dates verified 2026-08-05. App Store prices and update dates come from
Apple's iTunes Lookup API; repository status comes from the GitHub API; direct-download
prices come from the vendor's own page. Entries marked — are ones where the vendor
does not publish the information.
Apps focused on reading and rendering Markdown rather than writing it.
| App | Price | Last updated | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kite | $14.99 | — | Quick Look previews for .md plus an editor. Direct download, not on the App Store. |
| MacMD Viewer | $19.99 | 2026-08-01 | Native SwiftUI viewer. Live reload, Mermaid diagrams, Quick Look extension, 12 document themes. |
| Marked 2 | $13.99 | 2025-03-11 | Mature previewer with custom styles and export options. Pairs with an external editor. |
| OpenMark | $9.99 | 2026-04-23 | Markdown viewer aimed at AI-generated documents. |
| Peek | $7.99 | 2022-04-02 | Lightweight Quick Look extension for Markdown. |
| QuickMD | Free | 2026-07-28 | Reader with live reload and editor hand-off. |
| Read.md | Free | 2026-07-23 | Reading-focused renderer: code blocks, tables, diagrams. |
| Readdown | Free | — | Viewer with Finder Quick Look support. Direct download. |
Apps for writing Markdown, with preview.
| App | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bear | Free download, subscription for sync | Notes app with Markdown support and a well-regarded theme set. |
| iA Writer | $49.99 | Minimalist writing app with focus mode. |
| MacDown | Free | Open source. Last release 0.7.3 in January 2020; last commit July 2023. Still works, no longer developed. |
| Nota | — | Markdown writing app with terminal integration. |
| Obsidian | Free for personal use | Knowledge base with bidirectional linking. Commercial use requires a paid licence. |
| Typora | $14.99 | WYSIWYG Markdown editor with seamless live preview. |
| Ulysses | Free download, subscription | Full writing environment with publishing. |
| Zettlr | Free | Open source, academic writing with Zettelkasten support. |
Preview .md files by pressing Space in Finder.
- MacMD Viewer — Quick Look extension with Mermaid diagrams and syntax highlighting, bundled with the app.
- QLMarkdown — Open source Quick Look generator. Actively maintained: release 1.5.2, June 2026.
- Glance — All-in-one Quick Look plugin. Repository archived since 2020; last release 1.2.0.
- Glow — Render Markdown in the terminal with style. Actively maintained (2.1.2, April 2026).
- mdcat —
catfor Markdown. Repository archived; last release December 2024. - grip — Preview GitHub-flavored Markdown locally in a browser.
- pandoc — Universal document converter. Markdown to almost anything.
- markdownlint-cli — Lint your Markdown files.
- Mermaid — Text-to-diagram tool. Flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts.
- Mermaid Live Editor — Browser editor for Mermaid diagrams.
- MacMD Viewer — Renders Mermaid diagrams inline inside
.mdfiles, including in Quick Look. - kroki — Unified API for 20+ diagram types.
- pandoc — The Swiss Army knife of document conversion.
- markdown-pdf — Markdown to PDF converter.
- wkhtmltopdf — HTML/Markdown to PDF via WebKit.
- Prince — High-quality PDF generation.
- Markdown Guide — Comprehensive reference for Markdown syntax.
- GitHub Flavored Markdown Spec — Official GFM specification.
- CommonMark Spec — Standard Markdown specification.
- Markdown Cheat Sheet — Quick reference for all Markdown syntax.
- GitHub Markdown Cheat Sheet — Popular community reference.
- Markdown Tables Guide — Complete guide to creating tables in Markdown.
- Mermaid Diagram Guide — Getting started with Mermaid diagrams.
- Links in Markdown — Every link syntax explained.
Contributions welcome — open a PR to add a tool, fix a price, or correct a status. Please link to the source that proves the fact you are changing.
