The short answer. Marked 2 is the long-standing previewer with the deepest set of tools for writers: multiple processors, statistics, and export. MarkViewer is the viewer-and-editor with AI assistance. Imark is the open-source reader that stores comments inside the document as HTML comments, which is an unusual and genuinely portable idea. Pixley Reader is aimed at a specific new genre: Markdown specs, docs and changelogs generated by AI tools, which is a reading problem rather than an editing one. The dividing question is whether you are checking your own formatting or reading someone else’s document, because a previewer that watches a file you are editing and a reader that renders a file you were handed are different tools that look identical.
This guide covers 4 markdown preview apps for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment.
Quick comparison
| App | What it is | Pricing | Licence | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imark | productivity app | Open source | MIT | 0.6.5 |
| Marked 2 | productivity app | not published | not published | — |
| MarkViewer | productivity app | Free | not published | 1.8.12 |
| Pixley Reader | productivity app | Open source | MIT | 3.1 |
What actually decides this
- Watching a file or opening one. A previewer that re-renders on save is part of an editing loop. A reader that opens a document is a one-off. The first needs a file watcher and the second needs a good typographic default.
- Which Markdown dialect. CommonMark, GitHub-flavoured, MultiMarkdown and the various footnote and table extensions produce different output from the same text. A previewer that only does one will render someone else’s document wrong, which looks like a mistake in the document.
- Whether it can export. A preview is for reading. An export to PDF, DOCX or HTML is for sending. If the preview is the last step before someone else reads it, the export path is the feature that matters.
- What it does with code and tables. Syntax highlighting and table alignment are the two places where a renderer is visibly good or bad. Both are also the two things most technical documents are made of.
- Whether comments survive. Annotations stored in a sidecar file are lost with the file. Annotations stored inside the document as HTML comments travel with it. For review work, that difference is the whole product.
- What it does with a broken document. Generated Markdown often has an unclosed fence, a malformed table or a heading level that skips. A renderer that shows the raw text where it failed is diagnosable; one that silently drops a section is not.
Our picks
- Marked 2 — Its record describes a Markdown preview with an elegant and powerful set of tools for writers, which is the writer case. Choose it when you want a previewer with statistics, processors and export.
- MarkViewer — Its record describes a Markdown viewer and editor with AI-assisted editing, which is the combined case. Choose it when you want viewing and editing in one window.
- Imark — Its record describes storing comments inside the document as HTML comments, which is the annotation case. Choose it when comments have to travel with the document.
- Pixley Reader — Its record describes a reader for Markdown specs, docs and changelogs generated by AI tools, which is the reading case. Choose it when the document was generated by a tool and you just need to read it.
The apps
Imark
Imark is a productivity app for macOS. Open-source Markdown reader that stores your comments inside the document itself as HTML comments. It is released under MIT.
Imark is listed with current version 0.6.5.
Full profile and verified facts for Imark →
Marked 2
Marked 2 is a productivity app for macOS. This is the Markdown preview with an elegant and powerful set of tools for all writers. Its pricing is not published.
What it does. Marked is a Markdown preview with an elegant and powerful set of tools for all writers.
Full profile and verified facts for Marked 2 →
MarkViewer
MarkViewer is a productivity app for macOS. Markdown viewer and editor for macOS with AI-assisted editing. It is free.
What it does. Free Markdown viewer and editor for Mac. Open .md files instantly on macOS, render GitHub-flavored Markdown with live WYSIWYG. Native, offline, lightweight.
MarkViewer is listed with current version 1.8.12.
Full profile and verified facts for MarkViewer →
Pixley Reader
Pixley Reader is a productivity app for macOS. Reader for Markdown specs, docs, and changelogs generated by AI tools. It is released under MIT.
What it does. Folder tree sidebar — NSOutlineView-backed file browser, handles large trees without lag. Live file watching — a reload pill appears when the file changes on disk (e.g., when your AI tool writes to it). Quick Switcher (Cmd+P) — fuzzy file search, like VS Code but native. Syntax-highlighted rendering — 7 theme families with light/dark variants.
Pixley Reader is listed with current version 3.1.
Full profile and verified facts for Pixley Reader →
How to choose
- Free of charge. MarkViewer — no payment is required.
- No licence fee, source available. Imark and Pixley Reader — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
- Pricing not published in our data. Marked 2 — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.
Open source: Imark and Pixley Reader (2 of 4).
Common mistakes
- Previewing GitHub-flavoured Markdown in a renderer that does not support tables.
- Keeping review comments in a sidecar and sending only the Markdown file.
- Judging a document by its preview when the destination is a different renderer.
- Using a previewer as an editor and losing the ability to undo across files.
- Trusting a preview of a generated document without checking that every section survived.
How this guide was put together
Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.
A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.
The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose between these markdown preview apps?
There is no single answer — it depends on what you need. This guide covers 4 markdown preview apps: Imark, Marked 2, MarkViewer and Pixley Reader. They differ mainly in pricing model, licence and the trade-offs each one carries. Pick by the trade-off you care about rather than by rank.
Are these markdown preview apps free?
Pricing across this group: open source (Imark and Pixley Reader), not published (Marked 2) and free (MarkViewer). Where we list pricing as not published, the developer does not state a model we could verify — check their own site before assuming anything about cost. We quote a price only where the record carries one from a stated source, and we never estimate one. Prices change and vary by region and by store, so always check the developer’s own page for the current figure.
Which of these markdown preview apps are open source?
Imark (MIT) and Pixley Reader (MIT) are open source.
Do these markdown preview apps support Apple Silicon?
Our data does not carry an explicit Apple Silicon statement for any app in this group, so we do not claim one. The absence of a statement is not the same as the absence of support.
How do I choose between them?
Start with how you pay: the guide groups these apps by pricing model, because the budget is the constraint most people actually have. Then check the trade-offs listed for each app: the limitations are the part that decides most people’s choice, because they describe what the app will not do for you.
