Typora is probably the most recommended markdown editor on any platform, and it earned that reputation: it pioneered the “seamless” editing style where your **bold** turns into bold the moment you finish typing it. So when people ask why they’d use mdMD instead, it deserves a straight answer rather than marketing spin.
We build mdMD, so read this with that in mind. We’ve tried to keep every claim about Typora fair and accurate as of this writing.
The short version
Use Typora if you work across Windows, Linux, and Mac, want deep theme customization, or rely on its Pandoc-powered export pipeline.
Use mdMD if you’re on a Mac, want a native app that opens instantly, and would rather not pay for the basics of reading and writing markdown.
Price
Typora costs $14.99 as a one-time license (covering multiple devices), with a free trial period. That’s honest, sustainable pricing — no subscription, no upsell.
mdMD is free to download from mdmd.app. There’s also a $4.99 Mac App Store version that’s the identical app — buying it there just supports development. Either way, nothing is locked behind a purchase.
Native vs cross-platform
This is the real fork in the road.
Typora is a cross-platform app. That’s its superpower — one editor, same behavior, on every OS you touch. The tradeoff is that cross-platform apps carry a web-rendering runtime with them, which shows up in launch time and memory use.
mdMD is built with SwiftUI and AppKit and runs only on macOS (15 Sequoia or later). It launches in a blink, idles at a small memory footprint, and behaves like a Mac app is supposed to: proper toolbar, native find, system appearance, Quick Look integration. If you only write on a Mac, you give up nothing by choosing the native tool.
Editing experience
Typora renders markdown inline: the syntax disappears as you type and you see only the styled result. Many people love this. Some find it disorienting when the cursor enters a formatted region and the syntax suddenly reappears.
mdMD styles your document as you type too — headings, bold, lists, tables, and code blocks format themselves in real time — but it keeps a synced split view one shortcut away (⌘T), so you can see the raw markdown and the rendered result side by side, scrolling together. You never have to guess what the underlying text looks like. There’s a longer piece on why we think split view matters.
Both editors handle GitHub-flavored tables. mdMD edits them live in place, with real clickable checkboxes for task lists.
Mermaid, math, and extras
Both apps render Mermaid diagrams. mdMD bundles mermaid.js inside the app, so diagrams render entirely offline — no network request ever fires. Typora also supports math blocks (KaTeX-style), which mdMD doesn’t currently render; if you write LaTeX-heavy notes, that’s a genuine point for Typora.
Export
Typora’s export story is broader: PDF, HTML, and — with Pandoc installed — Word, OpenOffice, and more. If your documents end their life as .docx files, Typora plus Pandoc is hard to beat.
mdMD focuses on two exports people actually use daily: print/PDF, and a one-shortcut rich copy (⌘⇧C) that pastes cleanly into Notion, Obsidian, Google Docs, and Confluence with headings, code blocks, and checkboxes intact.
Head to head
| mdMD | Typora | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (or $4.99 on the App Store) | $14.99 one-time |
| Platforms | macOS 15+ | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Architecture | Native SwiftUI/AppKit | Cross-platform |
| Editing | Live styling + synced split view | Inline WYSIWYG |
| Tables | Live WYSIWYG editing | Supported |
| Mermaid diagrams | Yes, fully offline | Yes |
| Math blocks | No | Yes |
| Export | PDF, rich copy for Notion/Docs/Confluence | PDF, HTML, Word via Pandoc |
| Custom themes | System light/dark | CSS themes |
Try both
Typora has a free trial and mdMD is free outright, so the cheapest way to decide is to open the same messy README in both and see which one you stop noticing first. Download mdMD here — it’s a 30-second install.