
GetMD
Typora
iA Writer
MacDown
Bear
Markdown by DaringFireball
Marked
Caret
FocusWriter
Scrivener
iA Writer
Typora
WriteMonkey
Byword
WriteRoom
OmmWriter
FocusWriter is particularly recommended for writers, authors, bloggers, and anyone who needs a distraction-free environment to focus on their writing tasks. It is ideal for users who prefer a lightweight, simple application and do not require advanced formatting or publishing features.
GetMD's answer
Independent software developers Open source contributors Technical writers and documentation teams
GetMD's answer
MDViewer is a pure Markdown viewer, not an editor. While most Markdown apps focus on writing, MDViewer focuses on reading. It's built with native SwiftUI — no Electron, no web views for the UI — which means instant launch, minimal RAM usage, and native macOS feel. It also has built-in Git history browsing, so you can see how a Markdown file changed over time without leaving the app.
GetMD's answer
It's native and lightweight. Typora costs $15 and is built on Electron. Marked 2 costs $14 and hasn't been updated in a while. MDViewer launches in under 100ms, uses ~30MB of RAM, and supports Mermaid diagrams out of the box. Core features are free — viewing, Mermaid, Git history, tabs. If you need to read .md files — not edit them — MDViewer does that one job better than any editor can.
GetMD's answer
Software developers and technical writers on Mac who work with Markdown daily — reading README files, documentation, changelogs, API docs, and AI-generated output from tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or GitHub Copilot. Also useful for anyone who receives .md files and just needs to read them without installing a full editor.
GetMD's answer
I kept opening Markdown files in VS Code just to read them — a full code editor for a 2-second task. Every "Markdown app" on Mac was really an editor, not a viewer. So I built what I actually needed: a fast, native viewer that opens .md files like Preview.app opens PDFs. No editing toolbar, no distraction — just rendered Markdown.
GetMD's answer
Swift, SwiftUI, and Apple's native frameworks. Markdown rendering uses a custom pipeline. Mermaid diagrams are rendered via an embedded engine. The app is fully native Apple Silicon — universal binary, no Electron, no bundled Chromium.
Based on our record, FocusWriter seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 27 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.
Https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/#download is Qt based so that'd get you most of it, last time I compiled it the deps where Qt/SDL. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
I like https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/ and have used it for years and years, you can configure the look and feel pretty extensively. Lots of ways to skin that cat (especially if like me you are a linux user) but focuswriter does everything I need, very little I don't and there is a frame/mindset shift to using the same tool for a specific task. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
Reminds me of the (dead) RoughDraft mac app by 43 Folders(?). There is also FocusWriter - opensource and multi-platform. https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
FocusWriter - Price: Free Distraction-free writing app for Mac that allows you to focus on your writing. Source: about 3 years ago
You can get it here: https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/. Source: about 3 years ago
Typora - A minimal Markdown reading & writing app.
Scrivener - Scrivener is a content-generation tool for composing and structuring documents.
iA Writer - Minimal Design, Maximum Focus
MacDown - MacDown is an open source Markdown editor for OS X, released under the MIT License.
Bear - Bear.app is a note-taking and content writing app that helps you boost productivity with its intuitive tools.
WriteMonkey - Software for full screen distraction free creative writing. No whistles and bells, just empty screen, you and your words. WriteMonkey is light, fast, and perfectly handy for those who enjoy the simplicity of a typewriter but live in modern times.