Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review.

Markdown provides a convenient way to add formatting to a plain text document, while leaving it in plain text. It’s simpler and faster than adding HTML markup, and doesn’t have the lock-in of using something like Microsoft Word.

The syntax was created by John Gruber way back in 2004, and seems to become more widely used every year, especially in blogs and forums. It’s an easy and efficient way to create online content, and has a number of benefits for writers and bloggers.

Because Markdown is just plain text, you can create it with any text editor. That’s part of its appeal. But using an editor designed for writing in Markdown has a lot of advantages, depending on your needs.

Here are some features you might expect to find in a Markdown editor:

Syntax highlighting and a preview pane to show you how your final document will look.
Familiar keyboard shortcuts, like command-B for bold.
Export and conversion features that easily transform your document from Markdown to HTML, PDF, DOCX or a number of other formats. Some Markdown editors can publish directly to WordPress, Medium and more.
A distraction-free mode that takes advantage of features like full-screen editing, dark mode and typewriter mode.
Features that appeal to writers, including word count, readability scores, and versions.
A document library to organize your content and sync between devices. Some editors have an iOS version so you can keep working while you’re on the move.
Advanced formatting, including tables and mathematical expressions.

There’s a rich landscape of Mac options, and the best choice for me may not be the best choice for you. Not all Markdown editors will support all of those features, so the trick is to find the editor with the features you need.

When you look at the PDF editor for Mac (macOS 10.14 Mojave, macOS 10.13 High Sierra and 10.12 macOS Sierra), the iSkysoft PDF Editor 6 Professional for Mac stands tall as one of the most popular and competitive programs ever. This is the reason why the free Mac PDF Editor is only available for use within a specific time period.
Bottom Line: Byword, an inexpensive writing app for Mac and iOS, publishes your work directly to Medium, WordPress, and other platforms. It's not ideal for long-form writers, however.

So let’s have a good look at the options, then we’ll make some recommendations.

Looking for more on Markdown? Check out these great links:

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1. Use Your Favorite Text Editor

If you already have a favorite Mac text editor, you might prefer to use that for writing Markdown as well. Of course, Markdown is really just text, so any text editor will do. But many text editors have additional support for Markdown, either natively or through an extension or plugin. These may give syntax highlighting, a preview pane and other features.

Here are some examples:

BBEdit 11 has a Markdown Extension Package that includes helper commands, transformation commands, paste as Markdown and MultiMarkdown support.
Sublime Text 2 can be turned into a full-featured Markdown editor. We show you how here.
TextMate 2 has a Markdown bundle that includes features like convert, preview, cheat sheet and “generate output and open in browser”.
Chocolat provides Markdown syntax highlighting and preview out of the box.
Atom supports Markdown out of the box, with features like syntax highlighting and preview. This functionality can be expanded by several community-generated packages, including Markdown-Writer, Markdown-Scroll-Sync and Markdown-Format.
Brackets has a Markdown extension with syntax highlighting and a preview pane.
Textastic includes Markdown syntax highlighting and preview out of the box.
MacVim has a Vim-Markdown plugin that features syntax highlighting and folding.
GNU Emacs has a Markdown Mode for Emacs package that includes shortcut keys and syntax highlighting.

2. Ulysses

Cost: Starts at US$4.99 per month or $39.99 per year, or subscribe via SetApp
Demo: Yes
Other platforms: iOS

The ultimate writing app for Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Ulysses is a full-featured Markdown app designed for writers. It’s designed to keep you focused on the writing task at hand, organize all your projects in one place, provide comprehensive writing features in a simple interface, and export your documents beautifully in a number of formats.

Distraction-free features include typewriter mode, dark themes, and full-screen editing. All of your documents can be accessed in a single library, whether they’re contained in Ulysses’ database or in files elsewhere. Filters can be used to create smart folders that update according to the flexible criteria you specify.

Writers will appreciate features like word and character count, writing goals that indicate when you reach the desired word count, notes and attachments for your reference information, and keywords. You can export your documents to a variety of text and rich text formats, HTML, ePub, PDF and DOCX. Or you can publish directly to WordPress or Medium.

My take: I purchased Ulysses on the day it was released, and I’ve been using it ever since. It has become my writing tool of choice. It’s not cheap, but it’s been worth every penny. If you do a lot of writing, professionally or otherwise, take a good look at this app.

3. Quiver

Cost: $9.99
Demo: Yes
Other platforms: iOS (coming)

The programmer’s notebook

Quiver is designed for developers, and can combine text, code, Markdown and LaTeX in a single note. It’s more than just a document editor: it’s a complete reference library for your documentation.

The editor gives you syntax highlighting and a live preview of your rendered Markdown, and offers cloud syncing, team collaboration, version control and backup. Programmers will appreciate code editing and the ability to write scripts to integrate Quiver with your other tools.

The document library can organize your notes by tag or notebook (including shared notebooks), and has instant, full-text search. Images are saved locally with notes, and displayed inline.

My take: Quiver is the ultimate Markdown (and code and LaTeX) editor for devs. Its document library can be synced to your other computers and devices via Dropbox. It’s a geekier alternative to Ulysses, designed with a completely different audience in mind, at an affordable price point.

4. LightPaper

Cost: $16.49
Demo: 14-day free trial
Other platforms: No

Simple, beautiful yet powerful text editor for your Mac

LightPaper is designed for creating documents, articles and blog posts. It’s suitable for writers and bloggers, developers, scholars and students.

This tab-based app features both syntax highlighting and a preview pane. A document pane on the left lists your favorites, folders, scratch notes and shadow notes.

The shadow note feature is very handy: the app will associate a note with a specific app, file, folder or URL, which is entered in a popup window over the other app.

Other features include quick open, math and table support, custom styles, and distraction-free mode.

My take: This is a Ulysses alternative without quite the same range of features. It does some things that Ulysses can’t, including tables and math. While not as expensive, it’s certainly not cheap. If its range of features matches what you need in a Markdown editor, it’s worth considering.

5. MWeb

Cost: $14.99
Demo: 14-day trial
Other platforms: iOS

Pro Markdown writing, note taking and static blog generator app

MWeb is a tab-based Markdown editor for writers and academics. It has a document library, but can also edit external files from anywhere on your Mac. Its clean interface supports advanced syntax, including TOC, tables, code blocks, LaTeX and footnotes.

The app features syntax highlighting, live preview, and drag and drop for adding images. It also includes some nice distraction-free features, including typewriter mode and a dark theme.

Getting your text out of MWeb is easy. It can export to PDF, HTML, RTF, DOCX and i

Editor For Writers For Mac