A beautiful Markdown editor that feels like it shipped with macOS.
Meet MarkEdit
MarkEdit is a native macOS writing app built for pure Markdown. It follows Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines to the letter—standard controls, system shortcuts, built-in dictionary, link previews, spell-as-you-type—so everything behaves exactly like the TextEdit you already know.
Why you’ll like it
- Zero tracking: no analytics, no phoning home, no account.
- Truly native: looks, feels and performs like a stock Apple utility.
- Open 10 MB+ files (or 100 MB+) without beach-balling.
- 3 MB download—starts instantly, sips RAM.
- Extensible: plug in your own scripts via the new MarkEdit-API (CodeMirror 6 under the hood).
Real-world use
Speed first
Most Markdown editors choke on anything over 2 MB once syntax-highlighting is on. MarkEdit is written in Swift and uses native Core Text, so a 10 MB file opens instantly—even on an M1 Mac mini. Users routinely edit 50 MB+ logs without stutter.
No learning curve
The developer’s mantra: “Time spent learning a text editor is time not spent writing.” If you already know Markdown, you’re done—toolbars, Find & Replace, Services menu, Touch Bar, system spell-check all work the way you expect.
Privacy built-in
Works fully offline. The only network call is an optional version check (can be disabled). Your files stay plain text on disk—no proprietary bundles, no cloud lock-in.
Make it yours
Add custom commands through macOS Services, or drop JavaScript/TypeScript scripts into the MarkEdit-API folder to tweak the editor theme, add snippets, or pipe text through external tools. Full docs are in the repo.
Quick notes
Not MarkEditor
There’s a similarly-named Chinese commercial app—don’t confuse the two.
macOS requirements
Latest builds require macOS Sonoma or Sequoia. Older Intel versions still run but are no longer updated.
Binaries are signed & notarized and live on GitHub; grab the dmg from the Releases page.
License
MIT. No ads, no upsell, no feature gates—just code. The authors built it for themselves, then open-sourced it for anyone who wants a lightweight, honest Markdown editor.