Free, open-source alternatives to Typora

Typora edits Markdown documents with a live preview in the same view, so headings, lists and tables appear formatted while you write. The open-source editors below share the core job of writing and editing Markdown files on your Mac without a separate publishing step.

MarkText, Edmund and Textus work most like Typora, rendering formatting inline as you type; Textus also offers an optional AI assistant that uses your own provider. MacDown pairs the source with a side-by-side preview, and MarkEdit is a native source editor with Markdown syntax highlighting, which suits people who prefer to see the markup. Downright opens any .md file in place as formatted text, with a source view for editing, and Zettlr adds a workspace of files, citations and export for longer projects.