MDXEditor vs ProseMirror

MDXEditor is a web-based React component for writing Markdown in a rich-text editor. It accepts and returns Markdown strings, without converting documents through an intermediate HTML representation. Its editing engine uses Lexical, and developers can add capabilities with plugins or build plugins for additional Markdown constructs. Listed tools include headings, quotes, links, lists, images, tables, code blocks, front matter, shortcuts, directives, JSX components, source editing, diff views, and a customizable toolbar. Table editing covers rows, columns, and alignment, with Markdown allowed in cells but not HTML tables. Images can come from URLs or local devices, be pasted or dropped, and use an integrator-provided upload handler. Code blocks support syntax highlighting and language-aware editing, with CodeMirror available for editable blocks. It is installed from npm in React projects and has setup guides for Next.js, Vite, Remix, and Create React App. It is self-hosted, free at free, and licensed under MIT. Server rendering and changes to font size, color, or family are not supported.

ProseMirror is a toolkit for developers building rich-text editors on the web. It supports structured documents through a WYSIWYG-style interface while letting applications define document shape and content. Instead of treating a document as an HTML blob, it gives application code control over a custom data structure. Schemas and plugins provide ways to customize that structure and extend editor behavior. Four core modules handle the document model, editor state, view, and transformations; additional modules offer commands, key bindings, undo history, input macros, collaboration, and a basic schema. Multiple people can edit together in real time. Examples cover Markdown, image uploads, custom schemas, menus, code editors, footnotes, and track changes. ProseMirror is free, open source, and legally usable commercially; it can be self-hosted and is installed through npm. It works in recent Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Edge versions, as well as Internet Explorer 11. It is a modular toolkit rather than a ready-made editor component, and implementation generally involves a bundler.