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Day 67: new resources are added every day. See what's new
Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

Glow

A terminal Markdown reader that makes notes and READMEs easy on the eyes.

Visit Glow4.6

  • Rating

    4.6 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    macOS, Windows, Linux

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

Free: 1,100+ ways people make money onlineFree: 399+ ways to make money online

What is Glow?

Glow is a free, open-source command-line tool that renders Markdown beautifully right in your terminal. Open a single file or browse every Markdown note in a folder, with clean headings, lists, tables and code blocks, so reading docs and notes never means leaving the terminal or opening another app.

Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.

Pros: what Glow does well

  • Clean, readable Markdown in the terminal
  • Browse all notes in a folder
  • Free and open source

Cons: where it falls short

  • Read only, not an editor
  • Terminal only

Who Glow is for

Developers and writers who keep notes and docs in Markdown.

Who can skip it

Anyone who reads Markdown in a full note app.

Glow alternatives

Not sold on Glow? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Reading resources

bat

Focus: file viewer. Shares command line and developer tool with Glow. Rated 4.7 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

Koodo Reader

Focus: ebook reader, epub and pdf reader. Shares open source and github with Glow. Adds Web. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

fzf

Focus: fuzzy finder and shell. Shares command line and open source with Glow. Rated 4.8 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

lazygit

Focus: git client and terminal ui. Shares developer tool and open source with Glow. Rated 4.8 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

Atuin

Focus: shell history, terminal and sync. Shares command line and open source with Glow. Rated 4.7 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

OCRmyPDF

Focus: ocr and scanned pdf. Shares command line and open source with Glow. Rated 4.7 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

Free alternatives to Glow

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

rclone

Focus: cloud sync, backup and file transfer. Shares command line and open source with Glow. Rated 4.7 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit

Starship

Focus: shell prompt and terminal. Shares developer tool and open source with Glow. Rated 4.7 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

Yazi

Focus: file manager and terminal ui. Shares developer tool and open source with Glow. Rated 4.7 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

zoxide

Focus: terminal, navigation and shell. Shares command line and open source with Glow. Rated 4.7 (Glow: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

D2

Focus: diagrams and diagram as code. Shares command line and open source with Glow. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

superfile

Focus: file manager and terminal ui. Shares developer tool and open source with Glow. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
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