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Markd.ly

The markdown editor that respects your output.

Native on Mac and Windows. On Mac today: Pandoc, PDF, EPUB, slides — plain .md to a real deliverable. Desktop Pro. Free mobile local editors.

Download for MacDownload for Windows

Mac v1.1.18 · Windows v1.1.11 · signed & notarized · one license, both desktops

iOS·Free editorAndroid·Free editor

What Markd.ly is for

Blog posts. README files. Documentation. Technical writing. Free export to HTML and PDF everywhere, plus the deeper DOCX, EPUB, and LaTeX pipeline on Mac Pro today.

Coming from Obsidian?

If you use Obsidian as an editor — not a graph — Markd.ly is lighter. Open any folder, write, export. No vault, no plugins to keep alive, no backlinks or daily notes. Just the document you're writing right now, and a fast way to ship it.

Built for writers who ship

If your writing lives in markdown but leaves the app as a polished deliverable — Markd.ly is built for you.

Technical writers & docs engineers

Write once in markdown, publish as HTML, DOCX datasheets, and versioned PDF reference. Drive the whole pipeline from the CLI.

Consultants & analysts

Client reports branded with your custom CSS. DOCX deliverables with styled headers, footers, and page numbers. No Word fighting required.

Academics & researchers

Pandoc to LaTeX with your journal template, your preamble, your BibTeX bibliography. Math renders live while you draft, PDFs build from the CLI.

Long-form writers

Draft a novel or a 200-page handbook as a folder of markdown files. Merge into one clean DOCX for your editor, or EPUB for ARC readers. No Scrivener lock-in.

See what Markd.ly ships

One markdown file. Real deliverables. Every output below was generated from the same 40-line .md source, exported with Markd.ly Pro.

Styled HTML export — dark theme with tables, headings, and strong highlights

Styled HTML

Custom CSS, your brand colors, shipped as a self-contained file you can host anywhere.

reveal.js slide deck generated from the same markdown source

reveal.js deck

Every H1 becomes a slide. Math, code, and Mermaid render live. Your theme, your fonts.

Microsoft Word DOCX export with formatted headings, tables, and body copy

Word DOCX

Clean headings, working tables, proper styles. Hand it to an editor or drop it into a client deliverable.

Also ships: EPUB for ARC readers, LaTeX for journals, PDF for print. Every Pandoc target, from one editor.

Everything in the editor

Free tier is a complete markdown editor. Mac has the full launch Pro toolset today, Windows is catching up across 1.x updates, and iPhone/Android stay free local editors.

Native editor, not Electron

SwiftUI on Mac, WPF on Windows. Opens instantly. Sips battery. Feels like your OS.

Mermaid + math

Live-render Mermaid diagrams and LaTeX math inline. Export comes out identical.

Folder-based. No vault.

Your files are .md on disk. Open any folder. Git-friendly. No proprietary format, no lock-in.

HTML + PDF export

Ship clean HTML or print-ready PDF from any document. Free tier. Use it today.

Pandoc export with templates

Mac Pro

Mac Pro today: DOCX, EPUB, LaTeX, RTF, reveal.js slides, Beamer decks, your template, your preamble, your bibliography. Batch from the CLI.

Custom CSS editor

Mac Pro

Mac Pro today: write your own export themes, match your brand, and start from curated presets.

Snippets with variables

Mac Pro

Library of reusable blocks. Substitute variables at expansion time. Local to this device.

Full vim mode

Mac Pro

Mac Pro today: not just motions, but registers, macros, ex commands, and visual-block editing.

Encrypted documents

Mac Pro

Mac Pro today: per-document passphrase with AES-GCM, so the file on disk stays unreadable without the key.

markd CLI

Batch export, scaffolds, quick convert. Scripts and AI agents can drive the whole editor.

MCP server

Read-only out of the box so Claude and other agents can browse your notes. Mac Pro unlocks write-mode today.

Cross-file search

Search every document in a folder. Free tier does literal search. Pro adds regex, filters, and saved queries.

vs. Marked / iA Writer

Markd.ly wins on native desktop editing and export depth on Mac, and it still gives you a real Windows build where Marked does not.

Feature
Markd.ly
Marked 2/3
iA Writer
Native editor (not preview-only)
Yes
No — preview only
Yes
Windows build
Yes
No
No
Pandoc export depth
Deep on Mac; Windows catch-up in progress
Basic
Basic
Mermaid + math rendering
Built-in
Via preview processor
Limited
Vim mode
Full (registers, macros, ex)
No
No
MCP server for AI agents
Read free, write Pro
No
No
Pricing
$19 launch / $29 retail (lifetime)
$14.99
$49.99+

Two lanes. No subscription.

Free is a complete editor on every device. Pro is a single lifetime desktop license for Mac and Windows, with the full launch toolset live on Mac today.

Free

$0

forever, no sign-up

  • ✓Full native editor
  • ✓Mermaid + math rendering
  • ✓Code-block syntax highlighting
  • ✓Folder-based (no vault)
  • ✓HTML + PDF export
  • ✓markd CLI
  • ✓MCP read-only server
Download Free
Launch pricing

Pro Lifetime

$19

one-time desktop license, full launch toolset on Mac today

$10 off launch

Windows activation is included now. The deeper Pro toolset below is Mac-first and is rolling into Windows across 1.x.

  • ✓Everything in Free
  • ✓Pandoc export with templates
  • ✓Custom CSS editor
  • ✓Snippet library with variables
  • ✓Full vim mode
  • ✓Encrypted documents
  • ✓Advanced cross-file search
  • ✓Pro themes
  • ✓MCP write-mode
  • ✓CLI batch presets

Free

$0

forever

Complete native markdown editor: live preview, folders, HTML + PDF export, KaTeX/Mermaid.

Download Free
Best Value

Lifetime

$19

launch price · $29 retail

Pay once

One-time purchase. Pandoc export, custom CSS, snippets, advanced search, full vim, MCP write-mode.

Secure checkout on bravely.dev.

Sign in once, then continue to checkout.

Unlocks Mac + Windows desktop builds

Lifetime (retail)

$29

after 1.0 launch

  • ✓Same features as launch Lifetime
  • ✓Same one-time desktop license
  • ✓All future updates included
Future pricing

Buy Lifetime now to lock in $19

Launch pricing. $19 now, $29 after the 1.0 launch. 14-day refund on any desktop lifetime purchase.

Rolling out Markd.ly to a team? Email jeff@bravely.dev for volume licensing.

Questions, Answered

Is Markd.ly a note-graph tool like Obsidian?+

No — and that's on purpose. Markd.ly has no wikilinks, no graph, no vault. It is a markdown editor for documents that ship: writing you publish, docs you export, READMEs you polish. If you need a second brain, use Obsidian. If you need documents to look great when exported, use Markd.ly.

What does Pro actually unlock?+

Desktop Pro is a single lifetime license for Mac and Windows. Mac has the full launch Pro toolset today: Pandoc export with templates, custom CSS editor, snippet library with variables, full vim mode, encrypted documents, advanced cross-file search, Pro themes, MCP write-mode, and CLI batch presets. Windows activation is included, and the deeper toolset is catching up across 1.x updates. iPhone and Android stay free local editors and do not need activation.

Why lifetime-only? Why no subscription?+

Markd.ly is a tool, not a service. Desktop Pro is one purchase, no renewals. iPhone and Android stay free. $19 during launch, $29 retail after.

How is this different from Marked 2/3?+

Marked is a preview window for another editor. Markd.ly is the editor. Write and export from one app, with real editing surface, not just an HTML viewer.

How is this different from iA Writer?+

Same respect for focus and typography, without the tax. Markd.ly adds deep export tooling on Mac, CLI/MCP hooks, and a Windows build that keeps getting deeper across 1.x.

What happened to MacDown?+

MacDown was great. It was also abandoned years ago. Markd.ly picks up the thread: simple, free editor on your Mac, with a Pro tier for people who ship.

Which macOS and Windows versions?+

macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or newer for the Mac build. Windows 10 and newer for the Windows 1.1 desktop beta. Native on each.

Pay once. Write markdown. Ship anywhere.

A native editor for documents that leave the app. Free on every device. Desktop Pro for writers who ship.

See pricing

Compared to

vsiA Writer→vsTypora→vsObsidian→vsBear→

Product updates

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