Markdown editors
Markdown-focused writing and note apps for macOS. For note-taking apps see also Notes and calendar.
🆕 New and noteworthy
Section titled “🆕 New and noteworthy”- Cogito — native macOS Markdown editor (free beta, requires macOS Tahoe 26+) with wiki links,
![[embeds]], synced source/preview scrolling, Quick Open (⌘P), multi-tab support, and syntax highlighting for 20+ languages; stores plain files on disk with no proprietary database - Clearly — native SwiftUI/AppKit Markdown editor for macOS with GitHub Flavored Markdown preview, Mermaid diagrams, KaTeX math, callouts, footnotes, PDF export, menubar scratchpad, and QuickLook integration; open source and free
⭐ Well known
Section titled “⭐ Well known”- Obsidian — knowledge base and note editor built on a local folder of Markdown files; extensible with a large plugin ecosystem
- Logseq — privacy-first, open-source knowledge base with outliner-style note-taking, bi-directional links, and local-first Markdown/Org-mode storage
📝 Note centric
Section titled “📝 Note centric”- Bear — polished Markdown editor for Mac and iOS with tags and iCloud sync
- FSNotes — fast note manager supporting GitHub Flavored Markdown, TextBundle, iCloud sync,
[[wikilinks]], Mermaid, MathJax, tags, and optional Git versioning - Nota — pro Markdown notes app for local files; no account or subscription required
- Joplin — open-source note-taking app with end-to-end encryption and sync via Nextcloud, Dropbox, or WebDAV
- Notable — Markdown note-taking app with tags, dark theme, and multi-note editing
✍️ Writer centric
Section titled “✍️ Writer centric”- iA Writer — minimal writing environment with focus mode, syntax highlighting for content style, and export to Word/PDF
- Ulysses — full-featured writing app for Mac, iPad and iPhone with markup-based editor, built-in grammar and style checker, iCloud sync, writing goals, and direct publishing to WordPress, Ghost, Medium and Micro.blog (subscription)
- Typora — WYSIWYG Markdown editor that renders formatting inline rather than showing raw syntax
- Byword — lightweight Markdown editor with focus mode, syntax highlighting, and publishing to WordPress and Medium
- Paper — minimal macOS Markdown editor with a clean, distraction-free interface
🧰 Simple editors
Section titled “🧰 Simple editors”- MacDown — free and open-source split-pane Markdown editor with live preview
- MarkText — open-source WYSIWYG Markdown editor for Linux, macOS, and Windows
🌐 Online
Section titled “🌐 Online”- Mak — in-browser plain-text notepad with Markdown support; no install required
💻 Dev centric
Section titled “💻 Dev centric”- GitJournal — mobile Markdown note app with Git-backed storage; integrates with desktop editors
- Visual Studio Code — general code editor with built-in Markdown preview and extensions for enhanced editing