Two browser Markdown editors built for sharing
HackMD is the better fit for a team or community that wants a shared Markdown notebook with public notes, GitHub sync, and an API for agents, and mdedit.ai is the better fit when a document needs review states, Pandoc export, and a desktop app that opens local folders.
By Vivek Maskara · Last updated
Choose mdedit.ai when
The document has to be reviewed, exported to PDF or Word, or published, and you want the same workspace to continue in a desktop app on local Markdown folders.
Try mdedit.ai without sign-upChoose HackMD when
You want a shared Markdown notebook for a team or community, with public notes, GitHub sync, and a REST API and CLI for feeding notes to agents.
Visit HackMDRuns in the browser
mdedit.ai
Yes, no sign-up needed
HackMD
Yes, new notes open without sign-in
Desktop app
mdedit.ai
Yes, opens local folders
HackMD
No desktop app documented
Live co-editing
mdedit.ai
Yes, with permissions
HackMD
Yes, with multiple cursors
Comments and suggestions
mdedit.ai
Plus assignments and resolution
HackMD
Comments, mentions, suggest edit
Mermaid and math
mdedit.ai
Yes, in the editor
HackMD
Yes, in the live preview
GitHub
mdedit.ai
Publishes to GitHub
HackMD
Sync; 20 pushes a month on Free
Agent access
mdedit.ai
Hosted MCP server and CLI
HackMD
REST API and CLI return Markdown
Price
mdedit.ai
Free tier, paid from US$6.99 a month
HackMD
Free plan, Prime from US$4 a month
Platforms
mdedit.ai
HackMD
What each editor looks like with a document open. Every frame is cropped to the same shape, so the difference you see is the interface, not the picture.
Every price below is the one published on each product’s own pages. The full mdedit.ai tiers are on mdedit.ai pricing.
Primary model
Starting a document
Collaboration and review
Markdown and visuals
Sync and version history
AI and agents
Export and publishing
Cost
Neither tool wins everywhere. These are the parts worth knowing before you commit.
HackMD notes are Markdown, so moving a note across is a copy of the text rather than a conversion, but HackMD-specific blocks may not render the same way elsewhere.
Copy the note as Markdown
HackMD describes every note as Markdown, and its REST API and CLI can pull a note as Markdown, so the text can go straight into an mdedit.ai document or a local folder the desktop app opens. How the desktop app works.
Check the HackMD-specific blocks
Embeds and slide mode are built into HackMD, so check any note that uses them after pasting. Source material that arrives as PDF, Word, or HTML comes in through the converters first. Markdown converters.
Keep HackMD for public notes if you use them
Notes you publish to the HackMD community, or sync to a GitHub repository there, can stay where they are. Moving the documents that get reviewed, exported, and published is the useful half of the migration.
Yes, there is a free plan with unlimited notes, up to three invitees, three custom templates, Suggest edit, GitHub integration with 20 pushes a month, and images up to 1 MB. Prime is listed at US$4 per month for one person on yearly billing and US$5 per seat per month billed annually for a team, and adds full-text search, PDF export, unlimited versions, and unlimited invites. mdedit.ai has a free tier and a no-sign-up scratchpad, with the paid tiers on mdedit.ai pricing.
Not to start a note: hackmd.io/new opens an editor straight away with Sign in and Share buttons. Signing in is how you import from GitHub, use team features, and keep notes under your own profile. mdedit.ai also opens a no-sign-up scratchpad, which can carry on into a workspace or the desktop app later.
Yes. HackMD describes real-time editing with multiple cursors, in-line and page commenting, mentions, and version history, and its Suggest edit mode is on the Free plan. The difference is less about whether either can co-edit and more about what surrounds it: mdedit.ai adds permissions, assignments, replies, and resolution to the same document, and HackMD adds public notes and GitHub sync.
For a document that is drafted, reviewed, exported, and published, yes. It does not replace HackMD’s public community of notes, its team workspaces with role-based access on Enterprise, or its GitHub-synced note repositories. Teams that use both usually keep HackMD for the shared notebook and mdedit.ai for the documents that leave it.
If mdedit.ai is the better fit for this document, the editor opens in your browser with no sign-up. If HackMD is the better fit, the links on this page go straight to it.
