State of Markdown Editors 2019
Tags: software, markdown, apps
Published: 2019-03-05 20:11:14

__Update:__

_We have a winner!_ [Alissa McGee](https://dev.to/alissamcgee) suggested [Joplin](https://joplin.cozic.net/), which:
- is 100% completely free (but feel free to [donate](https://www.patreon.com/joplin))
- works on all platforms: Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android
- synchronises notes across your devices*
- has a split markdown preview / editing layout
- provides standard notebooks and tags features
- has language-specific syntax highlighting in code blocks
- supports mass-exporting of notes to multiple formats (markdown, JSON, etc.)

\* by connecting to Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV, or others

I guess I have a new markdown editor! Thanks, Alissa!

---

I've started to grow a bit weary of my current markdown editor, [Simplenote](https://simplenote.com/). While it's fully cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS) and auto-syncs your notes, it's markdown rendering can be a bit ugly and finnicky. So I decided to look for a new markdown editor.

__Requirements:__
- must be cross platform (at minimum: Windows, macOS, Android)
- ideally free
- ideally has a preview pane which updates instantly

I've looked through lots of pages of recommended markdown editors and here are _most_ available markdown editors as of March 2019:

### Cost and Cross-Platform Availability

#### Standalone (App) Editors:

| Editor       | Platforms     | Cost |
| :- | :- | :-: | :-: |
| [Abricotine](http://abricotine.brrd.fr/) | Windows, Linux, macOS<sup>‡</sup> | free |
| [Bear](https://bear.app/) | macOS, iOS | $14.99/year |
| [Byword](https://bywordapp.com/) | macOS, iOS | $10.99 |
| [Caret](https://caret.io/) | Windows, Linux, macOS | $29 |
| [Focused](https://www.codebots.co.uk/) | macOS | $19.99 |
| [Ghostwriter](https://github.com/wereturtle/ghostwriter) | Windows, Linux, macOS<sup>‡</sup> | free |
| [Haroopad](http://pad.haroopress.com/) | Windows, Linux, macOS | free |
| [Inkdrop](https://inkdrop.app/) | Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android | $49.90/year |
| [iA Writer](https://ia.net/writer) | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | free - $28.99<sup>††</sup> |
| [MacDown](https://macdown.uranusjr.com/) | macOS | free |
| [Mark Text](https://marktext.github.io/website/) | Windows, Linux, macOS | free |
| [MarkMyWords](https://github.com/voldyman/MarkMyWords) | Linux | free |
| [Markdown Monster](https://markdownmonster.west-wind.com/) | Windows | $39 |
| [MarkdownPad](http://markdownpad.com/) | Windows | $14.95 |
| [Markdownify](https://github.com/amitmerchant1990/electron-markdownify) | Windows, Linux, macOS | free |
| [Mindforger](https://www.mindforger.com/) | Windows, Linux, macOS | free |
| [Mou](http://25.io/mou/) | macOS** (beta) | free<sup>†</sup> |
| [NeoVim](https://github.com/neovim/neovim) | Windows, Linux, macOS | free |
| [PileMd](https://pilemd.com/) | Windows, Linux, macOS | free |
| [Quiver](http://happenapps.com/) | macOS, iOS | $9.99 |
| [ReText](https://github.com/retext-project/retext) | Linux, macOS | free |
| [Remarkable](https://remarkableapp.github.io/) | Windows, Linux | free |
| [Simplenote](https://simplenote.com/) | Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android | free |
| [Texts](http://www.texts.io/) | Windows, macOS | $19 |
| [Typora](https://typora.io/) | Windows, Linux, macOS (beta) | free* |
| [UberWriter](http://uberwriter.github.io/uberwriter/) | Linux | free |
| [Ulysses](https://ulysses.app/) | macOS, iOS | $39.99/year |
| [WriteApp](https://writeapp.co/) | Windows, Linux, macOS | $24.95 |
| [WriteMonkey](http://writemonkey.com/) | Windows | free |
| [Zettlr](https://zettlr.com/) | Windows, Linux, macOS | free |

\* macOS version is free during beta testing
\** 10.7 through 10.11
<sup>†</sup> free during beta, will be $30 with v1.0
<sup>††</sup> free on Android, $8.99 on iOS, $19.99 on Windows, $28.99 on macOS
<sup>‡</sup> experimental / beta

Note that lots of IDEs / code editors have support for markdown, as well, including Atom, VS Code, Brackets, and more.

#### In-Browser Editors:

In-browser editors, by default, work on all platforms because they run in a web browser. Here are some common browser-based markdown editors:

| Editor       | Platforms     | Cost |
| :- | :- | :-: | :-: |
| [Dillinger](https://dillinger.io/) | all | free |
| [JBT Editor](https://github.com/jbt/markdown-editor/) | all | free |
| [Minimalist Online Markdown Editor](https://github.com/pioul/Minimalist-Online-Markdown-Editor) | all | free |
| [StackEdit](https://stackedit.io/) | all | free |
| [Write Kit](http://writekit.github.io/markdown.note/note.html) | all | free |

### Which one is right for me?

When I say "me", I mean me personally. I need an editor that works on Android, macOS, and Windows, at minimum. That kills most of the options above. What I'm left with is:

| Editor       | Platforms     | Cost |
| :- | :- | :-: | :-: |
| [Inkdrop](https://inkdrop.app/) | Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android | $49.90/year |
| [iA Writer](https://ia.net/writer) | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | free - $28.99<sup>††</sup> |
| [Simplenote](https://simplenote.com/) | Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android | free |
| [StackEdit](https://stackedit.io/) | all | free |

I've removed most of the in-browser options, as well, because they don't offer some features I really need (saving and syncing notes automatically). This doesn't leave much to work with.

__Inkdrop__ is almost $50 _per year_, though they offer a 60% discount to students and educators (which I would avail of). Still, this would cost over $50 by my third year of use and would only continue to rise in price after that.

__iA Writer__ charges for each platform you want to install it on, so it could end up costing me almost $50, though that is for a lifetime installation. The markdown editing works pretty well in it, though I don't like that you have to put an empty line before the beginning of a list.

__Simplenote__ is my current editor. The markdown formatting has a few ugly bugs which cause lists to be spaced weird or not detected. This was the reason I was looking for a new editor in the first place.

__StackEdit__ seems fine but also a bit of work (I need to connect it to a Dropbox account or something similar to sync my notes). I can't be asked to do this on each machine I'm working on. I might as well just edit my notes directly from Dropbox.

### Woe is me

So I'm right back to where I started. Recently, I began playing around with [Boostnote](https://github.com/BoostIO/Boostnote), which is a beautiful editor that _used to be_ available for Android, though they've recalled this support. It is still available for all desktop platforms.

I guess I'm stuck with either Simplenote or Boostnote if I don't want to shell out $50 for a markdown editor. There may be hope for Boostnote, though, as it's currently under very active development. Maybe they'll re-open the Android version soon...