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Two browser editors with different workflow depth

mdedit.ai vs StackEdit for browser-based Markdown

StackEdit is the better fit when your Markdown already lives in Drive, Dropbox, or GitHub and open source matters more than upkeep, and mdedit.ai is the better fit when the document needs live review, publishing, and a project that is still shipping.

By Vivek Maskara · Last updated

mdedit.ai

Choose mdedit.ai when

You need one workspace for drafting, permissions, comments and suggestions, AI review, export, and publishing.

Try mdedit.ai without sign-up
StackEdit

Choose StackEdit when

You want an open-source in-browser editor and your workflow already revolves around Google Drive, Dropbox, or GitHub synchronization.

Visit StackEdit

At a glance

  • Runs in the browser

    mdedit.ai

    Yes, no sign-up needed

    StackEdit

    Yes

  • Desktop app

    mdedit.ai

    Yes, opens local folders

    StackEdit

    No, self-hosting instead

  • Collaboration

    mdedit.ai

    Live, plus comments and suggestions

    StackEdit

    Merged edits, inline comments

  • Sync targets

    mdedit.ai

    Cloud workspaces, local folders

    StackEdit

    Drive, Dropbox, GitHub

  • Publishing

    mdedit.ai

    GitHub, WordPress, Ghost, more

    StackEdit

    Blogger, WordPress, Zendesk

  • Project activity

    mdedit.ai

    Actively developed

    StackEdit

    No code changes since July 2023

  • Platforms

    mdedit.ai

    • Web
    • macOS
    • Windows
    • Linux

    StackEdit

    • Web
    • Self-hosted

See them side by side

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.

mdedit.ai
The mdedit.ai editor with a deployment runbook open in split view: Markdown source with a bash code block on the left, and the live preview on the right rendering the document heading, a Mermaid flowchart, and a table.
StackEditvia stackedit.io
The StackEdit browser editor in split view, with the Welcome document’s Markdown source on the left and its rendered preview on the right.

Where do they differ?

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

mdedit.ai
Browser plus desktop. A browser workspace with an optional local-first desktop app.
StackEdit
Browser, or self-hosted. An open-source in-browser editor that can also run on your own server.

Storage and sync

mdedit.ai
Local-first, then cloud. Local-first drafts, account workspaces, cloud sync, and local desktop folders.
StackEdit
Your own cloud accounts. A browser workspace synchronized with Google Drive, Dropbox, and GitHub.

Collaboration

mdedit.ai
Live, with review states. Live co-editing with permissions, plus comments, suggestions, assignments, replies, and resolution. Sharing and collaboration.
StackEdit
Merge-based sharing. Shared workspaces merge concurrent edits, and collaborator comments can be embedded in files.

Markdown and visuals

mdedit.ai
GFM plus diagrams. A GFM-oriented preview with math, Mermaid, Graphviz, Markmap, and dedicated conversion tools.
StackEdit
Configurable flavors. Markdown Extra, GFM, and CommonMark support, plus LaTeX, UML diagrams, scores, and emoji markup.

Publishing

mdedit.ai
Hosted links and destinations. Public links plus configured destinations including GitHub, DEV, Hashnode, WordPress, Ghost, X Articles, Gists, and webhooks. How publishing works.
StackEdit
Three documented targets. Blogger, WordPress, and Zendesk, with Markdown, HTML, or Handlebars-templated output.

Project activity

mdedit.ai
Shipping across surfaces. Active development on the browser workspace, desktop app, mobile apps, CLI, and editor extensions. The mdedit.ai CLI.
StackEdit
Quiet since July 2023. Open source and self-hostable; its GitHub repository shows no code changes since then, while the hosted editor stays online.

What each one gives up

Neither tool wins everywhere. These are the parts worth knowing before you commit.

  • StackEdit does support offline writing, shared workspaces, merge-based collaboration, and inline comments; calling it a basic or non-collaborative editor would be inaccurate.
  • StackEdit’s GitHub repository shows no code changes since July 2023 and no releases since then, though the hosted editor at stackedit.io remains available. Weigh that against how long the workflow needs to last.
  • mdedit.ai and StackEdit connect to different publishing destinations, so the right choice depends on where the document must land.
  • This comparison does not claim that either renderer matches every Markdown flavor or destination exactly.

Switching from StackEdit?

StackEdit documents are plain Markdown, and so are mdedit.ai documents, so nothing has to be rewritten to move between them.

  1. Start from the files you already sync

    Whatever StackEdit keeps in Google Drive, Dropbox, or GitHub is readable Markdown. Paste a document straight into the browser editor, or point the mdedit.ai desktop app at the synced folder on your disk. How the desktop app works.

  2. Convert anything that is not Markdown yet

    PDF, Word, HTML, PowerPoint, Excel, and EPUB source material goes through the Markdown converters before it lands in a document. Markdown converters.

  3. Leaving again is symmetric

    Pandoc-backed export takes a finished document back out to PDF, DOCX, HTML, EPUB, and more, and the Markdown files stay yours either way.

Common questions

The hosted editor at stackedit.io is still up and the project is still open source, but its GitHub repository shows no code changes and no releases since July 2023. Treat continued development as uncertain rather than promised, and remember that self-hosting means you inherit the upkeep.

Yes, up to a point. Shared workspaces merge concurrent edits and collaborators can embed inline comments in a file, which works well when people write at different times. What it does not give you is a review state: nobody can accept a suggestion, assign a thread, or mark it resolved. mdedit.ai adds live same-document co-editing with permissions and that full review loop.

StackEdit documents Blogger, WordPress, and Zendesk. mdedit.ai publishes hosted public links plus configured publishing destinations including GitHub, DEV, Hashnode, WordPress, Ghost, X Articles, Gists, and webhooks. Only WordPress sits on both lists, so if your destination appears on one side alone, that usually settles the choice.

Yes. The mdedit.ai scratchpad opens the editor with no sign-up, and the draft stays in your browser until you decide otherwise. An account adds cloud workspaces, review, and publishing; paid tiers start at US$6.99 per month on mdedit.ai pricing.

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Seen enough? Open the editor and try it on a real document.

If mdedit.ai is the better fit for this document, the editor opens in your browser with no sign-up. If StackEdit is the better fit, the links on this page go straight to it.

Open the editor without sign-up