Typora alternative for Mac: 4 picks, free to one-time

Why look past Typora?#

Typora is a lovely Markdown editor. It hides the Markdown symbols as you type, so a heading looks like a heading straight away, and it has a file tree for a folder of notes. It costs $14.99 once, covers up to 3 devices on macOS, Windows and Linux, and has a 15-day free trial.

People look for a Typora alternative for three reasons: they want something free, they want links between notes like a wiki, or they do not want to write in Typora at all and just need to read Markdown, such as docs, READMEs and the .md files AI coding tools produce. Those are different jobs, so the right swap depends on which one is yours.

The alternatives at a glance#

Prices were checked on each maker's site on October 13, 2026.

1. Obsidian: free, for linked notes#

Obsidian's pricing page says it is "free without limits" for personal use, with no sign-up. A commercial license is optional at $50 per user per year. You pay only for extras: Sync at $4 a month billed yearly, and Publish at $8 a month billed yearly.

It works on a folder of plain .md files, so nothing is locked in. The big difference from Typora is links: type [[ and you link one note to another, and a graph shows how everything connects. The editor shows formatting as you type, though it keeps more of the Markdown visible than Typora does.

2. VS Code: free, if you live in an editor#

If you write code, you may already have the best free Typora alternative. Visual Studio Code opens any .md file and previews it: press ⇧ ⌘ V to switch to the preview, or ⌘ K then V to open the preview next to the file, updating as you type. It is not as calm as Typora for long writing, but it costs nothing and handles code blocks well.

3. Marked: a previewer for any editor#

Marked does not replace your editor; it sits beside it. Write in any app, save, and Marked refreshes a polished preview, then exports to HTML, PDF or Word. Marked 2 is still sold for $14.99 once. Marked 3 is newer and sold as a plan: the site lists introductory pricing of $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year, or a permanent unlock. It needs macOS 11 or later and has a free trial.

4. Markdown Everywhere: for reading a folder of .md files#

Disclosure: we make Markdown Everywhere. It is not an editor, and if you want to write long documents, pick one of the apps above. It is for a different job: you have a folder full of Markdown, such as project docs, notes or the plans and skills that AI tools like Claude Code write, and you want to see it all at once.

Point Markdown Everywhere at a folder and it lists every Markdown file as a table, or as a map of which file links to which. Click any file to read it formatted. It is free for Mac (macOS 11 or later, Apple silicon and Intel) and Windows, with no account. We explain the reading workflow in a Markdown viewer for Claude Code plans, and compare general readers in the best Markdown viewer for Mac.

Which one should you pick?#

• You love Typora's look and only mind the price: $14.99 once for 3 devices is fair; keep it.
• You want free and linked notes: Obsidian.
• You are a developer: VS Code's built-in preview.
• You write in one app and want a beautiful preview or export: Marked.
• You mostly read Markdown that others or AI tools write: Markdown Everywhere.

More side-by-side guides are in Compare Mac apps.