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MacDown alternative · macOS 14+ · free and open source

A MacDown alternative that is still being built

MacDown served Mac developers well for a decade, and its development has slowed. Hem is free and open source too, built for current macOS, with one formatted view you edit directly and a preview in Finder

Download for macOS

Version 1.2 · 5.7 MB · macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple silicon

A README.md open in Hem: one formatted view with a heading, a shell snippet, a table of commands and highlighted code.

Hem and MacDown, side by side

HemMacDown
Price and licenceFree, MITFree, MIT
LayoutOne formatted page you editSource on the left, preview on the right
You typeText; the app writes the MarkdownMarkdown source
Finder preview (Quick Look)IncludedNot included
Diagrams and mathsMermaid and KaTeX, offlineMathJax for maths
ExportWord, PDF, HTMLPDF, HTML
Themes and custom CSSLight and dark, two typefaces, text size and line widthEditor themes and preview stylesheets
Built formacOS 14+, Apple siliconOlder macOS; runs on current Macs

As of autumn 2026. Community forks of MacDown exist and may differ

What changes when you move

One pane instead of two

There is no source pane. You read and edit the rendered page, which suits files you review more than files you compose

Your source stays your source

Hem saves only the blocks you edit, in the style they were written in. Files you wrote by hand in MacDown keep their formatting

How minimal-diff saving works →

Previews everywhere

Press Space in Finder and the file shows as a page. The page in the window follows the file on disk as other tools change it

Quick Look for Markdown →

When to stay with a split-pane editor

If you want to type Markdown and see the symbols, a source editor is the right tool, and Hem is not one. MarkEdit is a free, native, actively maintained choice; VS Code with its preview is another

A workable pairing: write in the source editor you like and keep Hem open on the same file as the preview. It reloads on every save

Nine Markdown apps for Mac, compared →

Questions about moving on from MacDown

Is MacDown still maintained?

Its last official release was several years ago and development has been quiet since. It still runs for many people, and community forks continue the work

What is a good MacDown alternative?

For a split-pane or source-first editor, MarkEdit or VS Code. For a single formatted view you can edit, with Finder previews, Hem. All three are free

Can Hem show the Markdown source next to the preview?

No. Hem has one view, the formatted page. Use it beside a text editor if you want both; it follows the file on disk

Will my MacDown files open in Hem?

Yes. They are plain Markdown files, and Hem renders GitHub Flavored Markdown, code highlighting, Mermaid and LaTeX

Which Macs does Hem run on?

macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or newer). The download is 5.7 MB

Related guides

A free Markdown app made for the Mac you have now

Download for macOS

Version 1.2 · 5.7 MB · macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple silicon