Markdown editor comparison

There is no shortage of Markdown editors. This page sets out what each one is good and bad at, looking at price, how quickly you can start, and where your documents end up.

📊 At a glance

✅ What EasyMD is good at

Each tool, one at a time

Notion — for teams accumulating documents

Notion's real strength is not the editor but the databases and permissions behind it. You can group documents into tables and filter by status, owner, or due date, and nest pages inside pages until you have a wiki. Several people editing the same document and discussing it in comments is a natural fit.

For "write this one thing and export it as a file", though, it is heavy. Creating an account and picking a workspace comes first, and because Notion is not Markdown-native, what comes out does not always match the Markdown you put in. Code blocks and nested lists in particular tend to need a second pass when moved elsewhere.

Typora — the cleanest way to work with local files

Typora is a desktop app that opens and saves .md files on your own computer directly. It was the tool that first refined formatting-as-you-type, so the editing feels smooth and stays fast as documents grow. For anyone managing folders of Markdown files over a long period, it is still a strong choice.

In exchange, it has to be installed and it costs money. On a work laptop without install rights, on somebody else's computer, or on a tablet or phone, it is not an option. If the requirement is "right here, right now", it drops out.

Obsidian — a knowledge system more than a writing tool

What Obsidian is built around is links between notes, the graph view, and a large plugin ecosystem. It starts paying off once notes number in the hundreds and the connections between them matter. Files stay on your computer as Markdown, so lock-in is low.

But there is a lot of setup before you write a single paragraph — creating a vault, choosing plugins, adjusting the theme — and the default editing view leans towards showing raw Markdown. Syncing between devices is a separate paid service.

HackMD — when several people write Markdown together

If you want real-time collaborative editing in Markdown, HackMD is the most direct answer. Several people filling in one document during a meeting, then sharing it by link, is exactly what it is for.

Documents live on HackMD's servers, and sharing or continuing later means an account after all. For a short document you are writing alone, that is more process than it is worth.

EasyMD — write one thing, take the file, no friction

EasyMD aims at a narrow target: open the address, write immediately, and take the result away as Markdown, PDF, or Word. With no account and no install, the time from arriving to writing is as short as it gets, and because documents never leave the browser, there is no question of whether work material is allowed on an external service.

Put another way, it lacks most of what the tools above offer. Here is that list, plainly.

🤔 So which one fits?

• A team wiki and project tracking → Notion
• Several people taking notes together in a meeting → HackMD
• Building a linked body of notes over years → Obsidian
• Working with local Markdown files every day → Typora
• Writing one document now and exporting it → EasyMD ✓
• Using a computer where you cannot install anything → EasyMD ✓
• Material you would rather not upload anywhere → EasyMD ✓

Prices and plan details in the table were accurate when written and change at each vendor's discretion — check their official pricing page before paying for anything. EasyMD has no affiliation with any of the five tools above.