Choose a Markdown Editor ⭐

Note: This is an early excerpt from my upcoming Markdown book. –Paul
Markdown editors vary wildly, and the app you choose will directly impact the writing experience. This can be confusing, and you should experiment with at least a few options to find the app that makes the most sense for you.
Types of Markdown editors
Virtually everyone switching to Markdown or considering doing so has used Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages, or a similar word processor app. And that comes with some baggage in the form of interface and functionality expectations. I make the case in this book that writing requires a distraction-free environment that's a far cry from the typical word processor. But change can be difficult, and so you may be tempted to experiment with or choose a Markdown editor that looks and works like the word processors you're familiar with.

There's some value in that, but even the most basic Markdown editors support keyboard shortcuts like those in word processors--like Ctrl/Cmd + C for Copy, Ctrl/Cmd + B for bold, and so on--and that can help ease the transition too. If you're just getting started with Markdown, it might make sense to begin with a more minimalist text-based Markdown editor so you can focus on learning the syntax first. But if that feels too daunting, there are word processor-like apps with WYSIWYG editors too.

There are four basic types of Markdown editors, though some apps blur the line by offering hybrid experiences.
Plain text editor
This is the simplest way to edit Markdown but it requires that you understand Markdown syntax. Some plain text editors don't provide a way to preview (render) documents with formatting and styles applied. But text editors that natively support Markdown will often display syntax highlighting--meaning, Markdown syntax will appear in colors and/or have light formatting like some bold and italic effects applied for readability.

Side-by-side editor and preview
Because of the unique nature of Markdown, some editors offer a permanent or temporary side-by-side layout in which the plain text editor is on the left and a live preview of the rendered HTML view is on the right. There are different variants of this type of Markdown editor, too, including versions in which you can toggle between the text editor and the live preview using a single view.

WYSIWYG editors
The most advanced Markdown editors provide a WYSIWYG display similar to that found in word processing apps. This types of editor combines Markdown writing and editing with a live preview, essentially. You can write using Markdown syntax and the editor will style and format the text correctly as you can go. Or, you can skip the Markdown syntax and use the app's menus and toolbar to apply styles and formatting to text.

Notetaking and other more complex apps
Many note-taking apps and a growing collection of so-called "everything apps" that support Markdown but also do other things. These types of apps...