MacDown vs Zettlr (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MacDown and Zettlr share a 2.8 GPA, both are free, so the choice depends on whether you care more about ease of use, where MacDown grades higher, or platforms, where Zettlr does.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick MacDown if
- Fits if you write Markdown on a Mac and want a preview beside it
- Works for blog or Jekyll writers
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you're not on a Mac, as other platforms aren't planned
- Watch out: the latest release is 0.7.3 and the footer says 2014 to 2021, so updates are infrequent
- Watch out: the app is unsigned, and macOS asks you to open it manually the first time
- Too light for long documents, as it's an editor with a preview
Pick Zettlr if
- Fits if you write papers or a thesis in Markdown and keep your references in Zotero
- Works for people who keep a Zettelkasten of linked notes on their own computer
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you write on a phone or in a browser, as it's desktop only
- Not for you if you want sync built in, because files stay on your computer with no cloud service of its own
- Too light for grammar checking out of the box, since anything past the spellchecker means connecting LanguageTool
- Watch out: citations need a library kept in Zotero, JabRef or Juris-M, and exports run through Pandoc profiles
- Tight if your computer is older, as downloads are listed for Windows 10 or newer and macOS 12 or newer
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAMacDownGood | 2.8GPAZettlrGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree under the MIT License, with no account. | AFree and open source, with no paid tier at all, in a category where paid plans start around $8.33 a month in the middle. Development runs on voluntary donations through Patreon, PayPal, GitHub Sponsors or Ko-fi. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe whole app is free and open source, with nothing to cap. | AThe whole app is free on Windows, macOS and Linux. There's no paid tier, so nothing is held back and there's no cap to reach. |
| Features | CLive preview, syntax highlighting, math, task lists and Jekyll front matter. A Markdown editor and not a full writing suite. | CIt covers academic Markdown by leaning on other programs: citations come from a library you keep in Zotero, JabRef or Juris-M, export runs through Pandoc, and grammar past the spellchecker means connecting LanguageTool. Its own parts are Zettelkasten links and a graph view. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record, but it's a Mac app with a preview pane and nothing to set up. macOS asks you to open it manually the first time. | CNo store rating on record, and the academic parts take wiring: citations come from an outside reference manager, export profiles run on Pandoc, and grammar checks need LanguageTool connected. The editor itself can show anything from raw Markdown to rich text. |
| Platforms and integrations | DMac only, and the FAQ says other platforms are not planned. | CWindows 10 or newer, macOS 12 or newer and Linux. It hooks up to Zotero, JabRef, Juris-M, LanguageTool and Pandoc, but those are other desktop programs: this is computers only, with no mobile or web app and no cloud sync of its own. |
| Best for | a Markdown editor for Mac | free academic writing in Markdown |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: MacDown and Zettlr. How we grade
Price against what you get
MacDown has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zettlr has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other writing tools on the chart, none scores higher than MacDown for less, and none scores higher than Zettlr for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Zettlr also covers linked notes, citations and long-form writing.
In commonFree planmacOSOpen sourceMarkdown
At a glance
| MacDown | Zettlr | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | MacDown is open source under the MIT License and free to download, with no account. | The whole app is free and open source, with no paid tier. Development is funded by voluntary donations through Patreon, PayPal, GitHub Sponsors or Ko-fi. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Tzu-ping Chung | Hendrik Erz |
| Price read from | macdown.uranusjr.com | zettlr.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MacDown
- It runs on macOS only; the FAQ says other platforms are not planned for now.
- The latest release on the site is 0.7.3 and the footer says 2014 to 2021, so updates have been infrequent.
- The app is not signed with an Apple developer certificate, so macOS asks you to open it manually the first time, according to the FAQ.
Zettlr
- Desktop only: downloads are listed for macOS 12 or newer, Windows 10 or newer and Linux, with no mobile or web app.
- It has no cloud service of its own: files stay on the computer, with no built-in cloud synchronization.
- Citations draw on a library kept in an external reference manager such as Zotero, JabRef or Juris-M.
- Grammar and style checking beyond the spellchecker relies on connecting LanguageTool.
Key features
MacDown
- Live preview
- Hoedown renders Markdown to HTML as you type, and the rendering options can be changed in Preferences.
- Syntax highlighting
- Fenced code blocks with a language name are highlighted using Prism.
- Math and task lists
- It renders TeX-like math such as $$...$$ blocks and GitHub-style task lists.
- Jekyll front matter
- Jekyll front matter is among the additional rendering tools the features page lists.
- Auto-completion
- The features page describes auto-completion built for the author's own needs, and says it can be turned off.
Zettlr
- Citations from a reference manager
- Loads a library from Zotero, JabRef or Juris-M, previews citations in the text and formats them in any of more than 9,000 citation styles.
- Export profiles with Pandoc
- A profile pairs an export format with a template, so a paper can be exported for a journal or conference in one click. Beamer, reveal.js and PowerPoint slides are supported too.
- Zettelkasten tools
- Supports note IDs, wiki-style links between notes, related files and a graph view for building a personal knowledge base.
- Adjustable Markdown rendering
- The editor can show anything from raw Markdown to rich text. LaTeX math and Mermaid charts render inline, and the look can be changed with custom CSS.
- Spelling, grammar and style checks
- Includes a spellchecker and a Markdown linter, and can connect to LanguageTool for grammar and style checking.
- Projects, snippets and statistics
- Project support groups the files of a longer work, snippets insert reusable text with variables and tab stops, and writing statistics track progress.
Plans
MacDown
Free$0
The full Markdown editor for macOS, also installable with Homebrew.
Zettlr
Free$0
The full editor for Windows, macOS and Linux, free and open source, with optional donations to support development.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, MacDown or Zettlr?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both MacDown and Zettlr are free to use.
Which has a free plan, MacDown or Zettlr?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both MacDown and Zettlr have a free plan.
Which platforms do MacDown and Zettlr run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zettlr lists Windows and Linux apps. Both list a macOS app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.