Best Markdown Writing Apps

Writing Desk (Mac, iPhone and iPad, if you also write long projects); iA Writer for the leanest option

If Markdown is all you need, iA Writer is the leanest choice. My pick on a Mac is Writing Desk, which also has an iPhone and iPad app. I built it, so weigh that. Your .md files open, edit and autosave back to Markdown, and the same app handles Word files and full novel projects.

• .md files that open, edit and autosave as Markdown
• Word files and full novel projects in the same app
• Proofreading, prose analysis and editorial review alongside
• Planning, feedback and book formatting on the same files

Pick something else if you want…

• The leanest option, with Windows support: iA Writer, which keeps to plain text
• A large library across your Apple devices: Ulysses
• A local knowledge base with plugins: Obsidian

Each app is checked against its own pages for platforms, price and AI stance, and prices carry the date I checked them. I have used Google Docs, Word, Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian for my own writing; the rest are assessed from vendor pages and published reviews.