20 Lightweight and Free Markdown Editors & Tools

When it comes to writing without any obstructions, the choices are plenty. There are many users who prefer the good old visual editor — however, most of the time, writers and developers tend to struggle when writing proper text using HTML markup. Similarly, even though the visual editor is easy to use, it can appear limiting to many users.

It is in cases such as these that Markdown comes in handy. You can easily write without any obstructions, distractions, and formatting text using Markdown is fairly simple as well. In this post, we have put together some of the best Markdown tools and editors for you to use.

Free Markdown Editors

Online Markdown Editor

Dillinger is a cloud-based Markdown editor based on Twitter Bootstrap and Node.js

Online Markdown Editor →

MarkdownPad (Windows)

MarkdownPad is a Markdown editor for Windows users. The free version offers basic functionality, and if you need additional features such as syntax highlighting, tabbed interface and spell-check, you can opt for the Pro version.

MarkdownPad for Windows →

WriteMonkey (Windows)

WriteMonkey is a stripped-down editor that offers a no-frills interface for writing. It is available only for MS Windows, and is backed by a number of useful plugins, most of which are premium upgrades.

WriteMonkey for Windows →

Mou (Mac)

Available only for Mac users, Mou is a Markdown editor that focuses entirely on developers. It offers features such as syntax highlighting, sync scroll, custom themes, PDF export and enhanced CJK support. Mou also has a separate iPad version.

Mou for Mac →

LightPaper (Mac)

LightPaper is a simple editor for Mac users that offers a distraction-free writing interface. It offers several in-built fonts, and you can also export your content in HTML, PDF or audio files.

LightPaper for Mac →

Free Markdown Tools

Markdown.css

Markdown.css makes HTML markup look like plain text Markdown.

Markdown.css →

DAUX.IO

DAUX.IO is a documentation generator based on Bootstrap. It uses a simple folder structure and Markdown files to create documentation on the fly. DAUX.IO is fully responsive and comes with custom themes of its own.

DAUX.IO →

Flatdoc

Flatdoc can fetch Markdown files and render them as proper pages. As such, you can use it to create documentation for your projects.

Flatdoc →

Markdown Here

Markdown Here lets you format your emails using Markdown. It supports most of the popular web browsers and email clients.

Markdown Here →

Remark

Remark is an in-browser slideshow tool that comes with Markdown formatting.

Remark →

Scribble – Simple Markdown Wikis

Scribble lets you create simple wikis and collaboration projects using Markdown.

Scribble →

Slidify

Slidify lets you create presentations and slideshows using a Markdown syntax. You can export your work to Dropbox or GitHub.

Slidify →

Strapdown.js

Strapdown.js lets you create Markdown documents without the need of server-side compilation. You can easily document your tutorials and other projects using this tool.

Strapdown.js →

EpicEditor

EpicEditor is an embeddable JavaScript Markdown editor. It offers features such as fullscreen editing, live preview, autosave and offline support.

EpicEditor →

markItUp!

markItUp! is a JavaScript plugin that lets you transform any area into a markup editor region. You can implement HTML, Textile, BBCode and of course Markdown.

markItUp! →

demarcate.js

Demarcate.js is a jQuery based editor for Markdown that lets you directly edit in a page and generate Markdown from the HTML elements.

demarcate.js →

html2text

html2text is a simple Python text that can convert any HTML page into ASCII-compliant text which is clean, easy to read and fully valid Markdown.

html2text →

Socrates

Socrates is a simple editor that lets you write and edit Markdown in realtime.

Socrates →

Free Minimal Writer Friendly Editors

Editor

Editor is a minimal editor for writers (well, doh!).

Editor →