Typora for Mac: Is It Free? Price & an Alternative (2026)

Typora for Mac: The Short Verdict#

If you want one app to write Markdown in, buy Typora: it is a good native Mac editor, it is $5 cheaper, and you can try it free for 15 days. If you already write in VS Code, Cursor, Obsidian or Vim and want a better way to read the result, pair that editor with a reader instead — that is what I built MacMD Viewer for. It is $19.99 one-time, and the pricing page has the details. For the wider field, see the Mac Markdown app roundup.

Every Typora fact on this page was verified 9 October 2026 against typora.io, its store and its release notes.

What Is Typora?#

Typora is a cross-platform Markdown editor that renders your text inline as you type. Instead of a split pane with raw Markdown on one side and a preview on the other, Typora merges both into one editing surface: you type Markdown syntax and it turns into formatted text in place.

It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. On the Mac it needs macOS 11 Big Sur or later, and the current stable release is 1.14.10. It is a native Cocoa application that updates through Sparkle, not an Electron app (more on that below).

How Much Does Typora Cost? Is Typora Free?#

Typora is not free. It costs $14.99 one-time (before tax), after a 15-day free trial. Those are the figures on typora.io and on Typora's store, checked 9 October 2026.

• Free trial: 15 days, no licence needed to start.
• Price: $14.99, one-time. The store states there is no subscription or renewal fee. Picking another country at checkout changes the currency and tax.
• Devices: one licence activates up to 3 devices at a time, for the same user. Mac, Windows and Linux are all covered.
• Refunds: the store FAQ mentions a 30-day refund window.
• Free version: none. Typora was free while it was in beta; that ended when 1.0 shipped and the app went paid.

MacMD Viewer, for comparison, is $19.99 one-time for one Mac at a time, with no trial and a 14-day refund window in the terms. On price alone, Typora wins: cheaper, three devices, and a trial before you pay.

What Is MacMD Viewer?#

MacMD Viewer is a native macOS app built with SwiftUI. It does one thing: render Markdown files for reading. There is no editor. You open a .md file and it displays with proper headings, code blocks, tables, Mermaid diagrams, and syntax highlighting across about 34 languages.

It is a universal binary, a 5.4 MB download, and it includes a QuickLook extension so you can press Space on any .md file in Finder to see it rendered without opening the app.

Correction: Typora Is Not an Electron App#

This page used to say Typora was built on Electron and bundled Chromium and Node.js. That was wrong. On 29 July 2026 I downloaded the official Typora-1.14.6.dmg (SHA-256 identical to the one Homebrew publishes) and opened the bundle:

• One bundled framework: Sparkle. No Electron Framework.framework, no embedded Chromium, no Node.js, no .asar archive, no helper processes.
• A universal binary (x86_64 + arm64) linking Apple's system WebKit.framework, Cocoa.framework and AppKit.framework.
• Built with Xcode, not electron-builder.
• WKWebView paths, not Chromium ones: the Homebrew cask cleans up ~/Library/WebKit/abnerworks.Typora, which a Chromium app never creates.

Typora was an Electron app back in its 0.9.x days, which is where the claim you still see online comes from. Both apps render through the WebKit that ships with macOS, so "native versus Electron" does not apply to this pair. I have not re-opened the 1.14.10 bundle; the 1.14.6 inspection is the latest I did by hand.

QuickLook: The One Thing Typora Does Not Ship#

Press Space on a .md file in Finder with MacMD Viewer installed and you see it rendered — headings, code blocks, tables, Mermaid diagrams — without opening any app. The same preview appears in Spotlight results and Open/Save dialogs.

Typora does not ship a QuickLook extension: the 1.14.6 bundle had no Contents/PlugIns directory and no .appex. That is a shipping decision, not a technical limit. A QuickLook extension is a self-contained .appex, and Typora could add one.

Where Typora Is Genuinely Ahead#

If any of these matter to you, buy Typora:

• Editing. Inline WYSIWYG, focus mode, typewriter mode, a file tree and an outline panel. MacMD Viewer does not edit at all.
• Export. Typora exports PDF with bookmarks, plus docx, OpenOffice, MediaWiki, Epub and more. MacMD Viewer exports PDF, and that is the whole list.
• Math. Typora renders math (MathJax) with most extensions built in. MacMD Viewer has no math notation.
• Syntax highlighting breadth. Typora advertises around 100 languages; MacMD Viewer covers about 34.
• Older Macs. Typora runs on macOS 11 Big Sur; MacMD Viewer needs macOS 14 Sonoma.
• Price and trial. $5 cheaper, three devices, 15 days free.
• Other platforms. Typora runs on Windows and Linux. MacMD Viewer is Mac-only.

Pair a Reader With Your Editor#

This is where MacMD Viewer earns its place. Edit a .md file in VS Code, Vim, Sublime Text or any other editor, and MacMD Viewer re-renders it in a read-only window that stays out of the way. Your editor keeps focus, and the file cannot be changed by a stray keystroke in the viewer.

Typora also reloads a file changed on disk — this page once claimed it did not, which was wrong. What users report is that the reload takes the foreground: open issue typora-issues#6578 is titled "Window focus is claimed by Typora when open file is changed externally". The structural difference is where the reload lands: Typora reloads into its own editing buffer, because that is the only kind it has. MacMD Viewer reloads into a preview.

If you already have an editor you like, a second editor is the part that does not make sense. A reader next to it does.

Mermaid Diagram Support#

Both apps render Mermaid diagrams from a fenced mermaid code block — flowcharts, sequence diagrams, Gantt charts and more. MacMD Viewer bundles Mermaid 11.13.0; which Mermaid version Typora bundles was not verified, so I make no claim about it. The difference is where the diagram shows up: MacMD Viewer renders Mermaid inside the Finder QuickLook preview too.

Size on Disk#

The Typora 1.14.10 DMG is 15.1 MB, per Typora's download server on 9 October 2026. MacMD Viewer is a 5.4 MB DMG that installs to about 16 MB. On any recent Mac, neither size is a reason to choose; what each app does is.

Who Should Choose Which?#

Choose Typora if you need an all-in-one editor (it is one of my Mac apps for writers), want WYSIWYG editing, export to docx or Epub, write math, work across Mac, Windows and Linux, run macOS 11 to 13, or want to try before paying.

Choose MacMD Viewer if you already have an editor you like, read and review more Markdown than you write, want QuickLook previews in Finder, want a window that cannot modify the file you are reading, and run macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Plenty of people end up using a reader next to an editor — including next to Typora.

Methodology details#

I build and sell MacMD Viewer, so weigh this page accordingly. Here is how it was put together:

• Typora facts (price, trial, device limit, refund terms, math, export formats, syntax-highlighting count, minimum macOS) were read on typora.io, store.typora.io, the stable release notes and Typora's macOS support page on 9 October 2026. The 1.14.10 download size comes from the HTTP headers of the official DMG on the same day.
• Typora's architecture and missing QuickLook extension come from opening the official 1.14.6 bundle on 29 July 2026. I have not re-inspected 1.14.10.
• Typora's reload behaviour comes from the public issue tracker, not from my own timing.
• MacMD Viewer facts come from the app's own build and the site's product facts file.
• Anything I could not verify at its source was removed rather than estimated, which is why this page no longer gives Typora's installed size.

More Questions About Typora#

Does Typora have a QuickLook extension?#

No. Typora's bundle contains no Contents/PlugIns directory and no .appex, so pressing Space on a .md file in Finder gives you no rendered preview from Typora. MacMD Viewer installs a QuickLook extension that renders Markdown, including Mermaid diagrams, in Finder, Spotlight and Open/Save dialogs.

Can I keep using my own editor with MacMD Viewer?#

Yes. MacMD Viewer re-renders when you save a .md file in VS Code, Vim, Sublime Text or any other editor — your editor on one side, a read-only live preview on the other that never takes focus and cannot alter the file. Typora also reloads externally changed files, but into its own editing buffer, and users report it pulling focus (open issue typora-issues#6578).

Why does MacMD Viewer cost more than Typora?#

It is the more expensive of the two: $19.99 one-time for one Mac against Typora's $14.99 for up to three devices, and Typora adds a 15-day free trial where MacMD Viewer offers a 14-day refund. The $5 buys a QuickLook extension for Finder previews and a read-only viewer designed to sit beside the editor you already use. If you want one app that both writes and reads Markdown, Typora is cheaper and does more.