Ghostwriter vs Smarkup
Ghostwriter
ghostwriter.kde.orgSmarkup
smarkup.comSide by side
| Figure | Ghostwriter | Smarkup |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Markdown editors | 8.4 (#9) | 7.7 (#22) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Local file support | Yes | Yes |
| Supported platforms | Windows,Linux,macOS | Downloads are listed for macOS Universal (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows (.exe installer), and Linux (AppImage and .deb). |
| Themes | It includes light and dark themes and lets users create their own themes. | The editor supports light and dark modes and can follow the system setting. |
Plans
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.