Markra vs PanWriter

Markra is a local-first, open-source Markdown workspace with native AI review, offered as a desktop app and web editor. It supports WYSIWYG and source editing, with inline rendering for links, images, tables, tasks, callouts, code, math, and Mermaid diagrams. Users can open files or folders and keep local files, tabs, and rich editing together; documents remain ordinary Markdown files, and writing does not require an account. AI can answer questions, rewrite or summarize text, and propose edits, but users must approve changes before they are applied. AI features require at least one configured provider, including cloud providers, Ollama, or OpenAI-compatible endpoints. Provider API keys and custom headers are stored in local settings, and exported settings can include them. Notes can optionally sync through WebDAV, which preserves conflict copies. Desktop downloads are available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Desktop exports include HTML, PDF, and Pandoc formats when configured; the web editor supports HTML download and browser print or PDF. Core features are free; AI use requires a configured provider.

PanWriter is a free, open-source Markdown editor for preparing documents, with versions for Linux, macOS and Windows. It uses a text-focused workspace: write plain-text Markdown on one side while a live preview appears alongside it. A paginated preview helps review page layout for print or PDF, and CSS changes are reflected in the preview as they are made. Users can drag in a DOCX file to convert it to Markdown, edit the text and export it back to DOCX. Publishing options include HTML, DOCX, EPUB, LaTeX, PDF, PowerPoint, InDesign ICML and other Pandoc formats. Pandoc must be installed to export to most formats. PanWriter supports local files, and Pandoc scripts and integrations can automate workflows or connect it with web services and other applications. The editor supports CommonMark. Questions and feedback are handled through GitHub issues.