MacDown was the free answer for Markdown on the Mac for years — a clean, open-source (MIT) split-pane editor, source on the left, preview on the right. A lot of people still have it installed, which is why the question still comes up: is it still a good answer in 2026? I make Peekdown, the paid app in this comparison, so keep that in mind. And for most people, what decides it here is maintenance.
MacDown hasn't been updated since 2020
The last MacDown release is v0.7.3, from January 3, 2020 — before Apple Silicon Macs existed. The last commit to the repository was July 2023, and there are 569 open issues, including a "Project Status? Successor?" issue that's been open since early 2024. None of that is a knock on anyone; open source runs on volunteer time. But it's worth knowing what you're getting.
So I downloaded v0.7.3 and checked. The binary is Intel-only, which means it runs through Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon Macs. And it does still run: as of June 2026, people on the issue tracker are using it, and I couldn't find any Sequoia horror stories. But macOS has started warning MacDown users that the app "will eventually stop working" because it isn't native to Apple Silicon, and Apple has said Rosetta 2 will only stick around through macOS 27. At some point it stops running, and there's nobody around to fix it when it does.
What Peekdown does instead
Peekdown is a native SwiftUI viewer — Apple Silicon native, actively maintained. It also covers things that didn't exist in 2020: a Quick Look extension, so pressing Space in Finder renders .md and .mdx files instantly (MacDown never had this); GitHub-exact rendering for proofing a README before you push; Obsidian syntax — callouts, wikilinks, highlights, tags; MDX files; annotations you can export to an AI; and automatic reload when a file changes on disk. It's a 13MB download and $3.99. It needs macOS 15.0 or later, so if your Mac can't run Sequoia, most of this comparison is moot.
One thing MacDown does that Peekdown doesn't: split-pane editing. That's MacDown's main feature, while Peekdown's side-by-side editor is for quick fixes, not writing sessions. If you want a free split-pane editor and MacDown still runs fine on your machine, keep it. It's free, and it still works today.
Side by side
| Peekdown | MacDown | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free (MIT) |
| Last release | Active (2026) | Jan 2020 (v0.7.3) |
| Apple Silicon | Native (Universal) | Intel-only, runs via Rosetta 2 |
| Quick Look | Yes | No |
| Obsidian syntax | Yes | No |
| MDX | Yes | No |
| Editing | Side-by-side, for quick fixes | Split pane — its main event |
| macOS minimum | 15.0 | 10.8 |
Which one?
- Your Mac can't run macOS 15: stick with MacDown, or look at the free options in the roundup.
- You want free split-pane editing and MacDown still runs for you: keep it.
- You want free and maintained: MDHero or QLMarkdown, both covered in the roundup.
- You want a maintained default app for your Markdown files: Peekdown.