Ghostwriter vs MarkdownPad
Ghostwriter
ghostwriter.kde.orgMarkdownPad
markdownpad.comSide by side
| Figure | Ghostwriter | MarkdownPad |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $14.95/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Markdown editors | 8.4 (#9) | 8.0 (#14) |
| Export | The project site lists Pandoc, MultiMarkdown, and commonmark for export to multiple formats. | The product page describes creating HTML documents and exporting directly to PDF. |
| Export formats | HTML,Pandoc,MultiMarkdown,commonmark | HTML,PDF |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | The project site says ghostwriter is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. | The Pro license follows one end user, who may use it on multiple computers provided they are the only person using it at any time. |
| Live preview | It previews Markdown documents as HTML and lets users copy the HTML or export to another format. | LivePreview shows HTML as you type and automatically scrolls to the current editing location. |
| Local file support | Yes | Yes |
| Supported platforms | Windows,Linux,macOS | windows |
| Purpose | ghostwriter is a distraction-free text editor for Markdown. | MarkdownPad is a full-featured Markdown editor for Windows. |
Plans
MarkdownPad
- MarkdownPad FreeFree
- MarkdownPad Pro$14.95 a month
- MarkdownPad Pro$14.95, paid once
In their own words
Ghostwriter
Ghostwriter is a free Markdown text editor for distraction-free writing, available on Linux and Windows, with unofficial community-provided macOS support. It stores documents as local files and previews Markdown as HTML, which can be copied or exported. GitHub-flavored Markdown is supported, and export options include HTML, Pandoc, MultiMarkdown, and commonmark. Focus Mode highlights a selected area around the cursor, such as a line, sentence, paragraph, or three lines. Full-screen mode and Hemingway Mode provide other writing setups; Hemingway Mode disables backspace and delete. The editor includes light and dark themes, with options to create custom themes. Writers also get live word counts, document and session statistics, a document outline, autosave, and file backups. Linux installation instructions cover Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch Linux. The Windows download page lists a portable 64-bit version for Windows 10. On macOS, users must compile the source because an installer is not available. Ghostwriter is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 3.0.
MarkdownPad
MarkdownPad has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.