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Day 68: new resources are added every day. See what's new
Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Mac App

MarkEdit

A tiny, native Markdown editor for Mac that feels like TextEdit.

Visit MarkEdit4.6

  • Rating

    4.6 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    macOS, Offline

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 MarkEdit?

MarkEdit is a free, open-source Markdown editor for macOS that works like TextEdit, only built for Markdown. The installer is about 4 MB, it opens huge files without slowing down, and it supports Shortcuts, AppleScript and optional extensions for preview and themes, so you can write and edit notes without a heavy app getting in the way.

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 MarkEdit does well

  • Very small and quick to launch
  • Handles very large Markdown files
  • Free and open source

Cons: where it falls short

  • Mac only
  • Latest builds need a recent macOS

Who MarkEdit is for

Mac users who want a clean, fast place to write Markdown.

Who can skip it

Anyone who needs a full notes app with sync and folders.

MarkEdit alternatives

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

All Writing resources

Zettlr

Focus: academic writing and citations. Shares markdown editor and open source with MarkEdit. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.5 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.5Visit

Open Knowledge

Focus: ai notes and wiki. Shares markdown editor and open source with MarkEdit. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Rated 4.4 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreeCross-Platform
4.4Visit

Ice

Focus: menu bar, bartender alternative and macos. Shares open source and github with MarkEdit. Same 4.6 rating.

Mac AppFreemacOS
4.6Visit

Mole

Focus: mac cleaner, disk space and uninstaller. Shares open source and github with MarkEdit. Same 4.6 rating.

Mac AppFreemacOS, Offline
4.6Visit

HedgeDoc

Focus: markdown, collaborative editing and self-hosted. Shares open source with MarkEdit. A web app, not a Mac app. Adds Web. Rated 4.5 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb
4.5Visit

Hidden Bar

Focus: menu bar, declutter and mac utility. Shares open source and github with MarkEdit. Rated 4.5 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Mac AppFreemacOS, Offline
4.5Visit

Free alternatives to MarkEdit

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

MarkText

Focus: markdown, editor and writing. Shares open source with MarkEdit. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.5 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.5Visit

Blurt

Focus: dictation, speech to text and macos. Shares open source and github with MarkEdit. Rated 4.4 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Mac AppFreemacOS
4.4Visit

StackEdit

Focus: markdown, editor and writing. Shares open source with MarkEdit. A web app, not a Mac app. Adds Web. Rated 4.4 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb
4.4Visit

Tiny Little Office

Focus: office suite, documents and spreadsheets. Shares open source with MarkEdit. A web app, not a Mac app. Adds Web. Rated 4.3 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb
4.3Visit

Ollama

Focus: local llm, ai models and privacy. Shares open source and github with MarkEdit. An AI tool, not a Mac app. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.8 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

AI ToolFreeWindows, macOS
4.8Visit

Pandoc

Focus: document converter, markdown and command line. Shares open source and github with MarkEdit. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.8 (MarkEdit: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
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