Free Markdown editors for Mac, and what the catch is

Checked November 2026 against each project's official page or repository, linked below. Prices can change. I make Coffee, a paid editor, so read this with that in mind. Coffee isn't affiliated with any of these projects.

The strongest free Markdown editors for a Mac are Obsidian for linked notes, Zettlr for academic writing, VS Code for working beside code, and MarkText, MarkEdit or MacDown 3000 for something simple. All of them are free to use with no time limit, and you may never need to pay for an editor at all.

The differences are in what's around the editor, such as sync, how notes are stored, and how much you need to set up.

At a glance

App	Good for	The catch
Obsidian	Linked notes, plugins	Sync and Publish are paid
Zettlr	Papers, citations	Much of it is aimed at academic work
VS Code	Markdown beside code	A code editor first, and it sends usage data unless you turn that off
MarkText	Writing in a formatted page	Describes itself as a simple editor, so don't expect a notes system
MarkEdit	A small, fast Mac editor	Preview comes through an extension
MacDown 3000	Text beside a live preview	Describes itself as a lightweight editor, so don't expect a notes system
Joplin	Notes across every device	A notes app rather than a plain editor, and its hosted sync is paid
Bear	Notes in a polished app	Sync is paid, and notes aren't files

Obsidian

If you want one answer, this is it. Obsidian calls itself "free without limits" and needs no sign-up. Notes are plain Markdown files in a local folder, and it has thousands of plugins and themes, a graph and a canvas, on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

You pay only for extras. Sync costs $4 a month billed yearly, and Publish $8 a month per site billed yearly. A commercial licence is optional, and using it at work doesn't require one.

Zettlr

Zettlr is free and open source, run by its community with no paid staff. It's aimed at people writing for publication. It loads your library from Zotero, JabRef or Juris-M, handles thousands of citation styles, and exports with Pandoc profiles. It also renders maths and Mermaid, and checks grammar through LanguageTool. Its site says it has no forced cloud sync or telemetry, and connects to the internet only to check for updates, which you can turn off.

If you don't cite anything, much of this will sit unused.

VS Code

VS Code is free for private or commercial use, and its Markdown support is built in: a live preview, an outline, path completion, link checking, Mermaid and KaTeX. Press ⇧⌘V for the preview or ⌘K V to put it beside the text.

It's a code editor first, and spell checking is an extension. It supports the macOS versions that still get Apple security updates, typically the latest and the two before it. It also collects usage data, which you can turn off, though extensions collect their own under separate control. There's more in Coffee vs VS Code.

MarkText

MarkText renders formatting as you type, so you work in the page rather than beside a preview, and there's a source mode when you want it. It's under the MIT Licence and supports tables, maths, Mermaid and Vega diagrams, footnotes and front matter, with 33 themes and export to PDF or HTML. It needs macOS 13 or later, and you pick the Apple silicon or Intel build. You can also install it with brew install --cask mark-text.

If you've looked at paid editors that work in the formatted page, this is the free one to compare them with.

MarkEdit

MarkEdit says it's "just like TextEdit on Mac but dedicated to Markdown". It's free, open source and Mac only, at about 4 MB, and doesn't collect user data. It follows GitHub Flavored Markdown strictly and supports Shortcuts and AppleScript.

The current version asks for macOS 26, with separate builds linked for macOS 12 to 15. Previews and hiding syntax come through official extensions, so out of the box you're editing text.

MacDown 3000

MacDown 3000 gives you text with a live preview, and describes itself as "essentially MacDown Continued". It's free under the MIT Licence, needs macOS 11 or later, and its README lists GitHub Flavored Markdown, code highlighting, maths, a folder sidebar and export to HTML or PDF.

The original MacDown is also still online. Its repository shows its last stable release in January 2020, as Coffee vs MacDown sets out, so check the record before you rely on it.

Joplin

Joplin is a notes app more than an editor. Its repository describes it as free and open source, with notes in Markdown format. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, offers a Rich Text or a Markdown editor, and syncs through Dropbox or OneDrive as well as Joplin Cloud. Joplin Cloud is the paid part, from €2.99 a month, or €2.40 a month billed yearly.

Bear's free version

Bear has a free tier, with several features held back for Pro. Free gets you the app, document scanning, 3 themes and local notes. Pro adds iCloud sync and search inside PDFs and images, among other things, at $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year.

Notes sit in a SQLite database rather than in files. The free version can still export them as Markdown, so you aren't stuck, but without Pro there's no iCloud sync between your devices.

How to choose

If you want linked notes and a phone app, start with Obsidian. If you cite sources, Zettlr. If you already use VS Code, try it before you install anything else.

For plain writing, it comes down to how you like to work. MarkText shows you the formatted page. MacDown 3000 puts a preview beside your text. MarkEdit is a text editor with extensions, if your Mac can run a supported version.

Most of these work on ordinary files, so nothing stops you trying several on a copy of your notes. There's a quick test for checking how an app stores notes.

A note about Coffee

Coffee, which I make, isn't free. It costs €3 a month, €29 a year or €79 once, with a 14-day trial and no card, so it doesn't belong on this list. If one of the apps above does what you need, use it. How paid editors compare is in the best Markdown editors for Mac.

Questions

What is the best free Markdown editor for Mac?

For most people, Obsidian: it's free without limits, keeps plain Markdown files and has a large plugin library. Zettlr is the better choice for academic writing, and VS Code for Markdown beside code.

Is Obsidian really free?

Yes. Its pricing page says free without limits, with no sign-up. Sync and Publish are optional paid services, and a commercial licence is optional too.

Does the Mac have a built-in Markdown editor?

TextEdit is the closest thing. Its help page describes plain text, rich text and HTML documents and doesn't mention Markdown, so expect to edit a Markdown file there as plain text.

Is MacDown still free and maintained?

MacDown is open source, but its repository shows no stable release since January 2020. MacDown 3000 is a free, separately run continuation with current releases.

Is Coffee free?

No. Coffee has a 14-day trial, then costs €3 a month, €29 a year or €79 once.