Typora is a Markdown editor. Peekdown is a Markdown viewer. They do different jobs, so this comparison mostly comes down to one question: do you spend your day writing Markdown, or reading it? I make Peekdown, so keep that in mind.
Typora is for writing
Typora is WYSIWYG: type **bold** and the asterisks disappear, leaving bold text. There's no split pane or preview window. You're editing the rendered document. If you write long-form Markdown all day (documentation, a book, course notes), Typora is probably the better choice, and I say that as the guy selling the other app.
It also has in-place table editing, math via MathJax, Mermaid diagrams, and export to PDF, docx, LaTeX, and EPUB. It's $14.99 for up to 3 devices with a 15-day free trial, it runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and it's actively maintained. It's built on Electron, which is how it handles the cross-platform part.
What it doesn't have: Quick Look, Finder integration, or GitHub-style rendering. Everything renders in Typora's own look. Nothing wrong with that; an editor doesn't need those things.
Peekdown is for reading
Most of the Markdown you deal with these days is stuff you didn't write: AI output, READMEs, docs, changelogs, Obsidian notes. You don't need an editor for those. You just need them to open and look right.
That's Peekdown's job. Set it as your default and .md files open in a reading window when you double-click; press Space in Finder and the Quick Look extension renders them GitHub-style without launching anything. Rendering matches GitHub exactly for pure Markdown, so a README will look the same after you push it. Obsidian syntax works too: callouts, wikilinks, highlights, tags. Files reload automatically when something else writes to them, which is handy when that something is an AI. You can also annotate rendered text (strike it, comment on it) and export the markup to your AI. There's a side-by-side editor for quick fixes too. It's a 13MB download, uses about 70MB of RAM, and costs $3.99 one-time. It does need macOS 15.0 or later.
What it doesn't have: WYSIWYG editing or Typora's export formats. It's a viewer.
Side by side
| Peekdown | Typora | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 one-time | $14.99, up to 3 devices |
| What it is | Viewer / default opener | WYSIWYG writing environment |
| Quick Look | Yes | No |
| Obsidian syntax | Yes | No |
| Annotations | Yes | No |
| MDX | Yes | No |
| WYSIWYG editing | No | Yes |
| Export (PDF/docx/LaTeX/EPUB) | No | Yes |
| Built with | Native SwiftUI | Electron |
| Platforms | macOS 15.0+ | macOS, Windows, Linux |
Same standard as the full roundup: "No" means I couldn't find the feature in the app's own documentation.
Which one?
- You write Markdown all day: Typora. The 15-day trial will settle it.
- You mostly read Markdown: Peekdown.
- You do both: get both. Write in Typora, set Peekdown as the default so double-clicked files open in a viewer instead of an editor. Together they're $18.98.
- Not sure: the roundup covers seven apps, including the free ones.