What is Typora?
Typora is a Markdown editor that takes away the split view. There is no source pane and no preview pane: formatting renders in place as you type, so a heading looks like a heading and a table looks like a table while you are still editing it. That single decision is the whole product, and it is why the editor suits people who write in Markdown rather than people who program in it. Beyond that it supports maths through MathJax, diagrams through Mermaid, flowcharts and sequence diagrams, YAML front matter, an outline panel, a file tree, and export to PDF, Word, LaTeX and ePub through Pandoc. It is a paid app at $14.99 with a 15-day trial, covering up to three devices, and it is closed source.
Verified product facts
- Type
- Markdown editorEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Pricing
- One-time purchaseDeveloper-stated
- Price
- USD 14.99Developer-stated
- Developer
- AppmakesDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Licence
- proprietary
- Current version
- 1.14Developer-stated
- Official website
- typora.io/
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What Typora does at a glance.
Seamless live preview
Markdown renders in place with no separate source or preview pane
Focus mode blurs everything but the current line, and typewriter mode keeps the active line centred
Maths support
Through MathJax, including mhchem, AMSmath and bbox extensions, with optional equation auto-numbering
Diagrams from text
Mermaid for flowcharts, sequence diagrams and Gantt charts, plus flowchart.js and js-sequence-diagrams
Tables edited
By dragging, with keyboard shortcuts to insert a table of a given shape
File tree and outline panels
For organising and navigating a folder of Markdown files
Import and export
Through Pandoc, covering PDF with bookmarks, Word, LaTeX, MediaWiki and ePub
Image handling
With drag and drop, custom sizing, relative paths and upload to a cloud service on macOS
Custom CSS themes, and a YAML front matter panel for document metadata
Word count
In words, characters, lines or reading time
What you can use Typora for
- Writing long-form documents where the Markdown source gets in the way
- Taking notes that mix prose, maths and diagrams in one file
- Drafting in Markdown and exporting to PDF or Word for someone else
- Keeping a folder of Markdown files with a file tree and outline for navigation
- Writing technical documentation that needs Mermaid diagrams
Who is Typora for?
- Writers who want Markdown without looking at Markdown syntax
- Students and researchers who need maths and diagrams in the same document
- Anyone who drafts in Markdown and has to hand over a PDF or a Word file
Who is Typora not for?
- Anyone who wants a linked knowledge base — Obsidian, Logseq and Joplin are built around connections between notes, which Typora is not
- Users who need a free Markdown editor, since MacDown and MarkText are open source and cost nothing
- People on macOS 10.15 or earlier: the newest build that runs there is a discontinued 1.4.8, and macOS 10.13 and older stop at a 0.9.9.x beta
Limitations
- Requires macOS 11 Big Sur or later. macOS 10.14 and 10.15 are limited to a discontinued 1.4.8 build, and anything older to a discontinued 0.9.9.x beta
- One licence activates at most three devices at a time, so it is not a per-machine licence for a large household or team
- The 15-day trial is the only free tier; unlike some paid editors there is no permanently free limited mode
- Typora publishes no machine-readable release feed and its macOS download link is versionless, so only the release line can be recorded: 1.14, dated 19 July 2026. The exact point release cannot be checked automatically
- The EULA names Qiyun (Shanghai) Technology Ltd as the licensor and sets governing law and jurisdiction in Shanghai, China
- Apple Silicon support is not stated on the product, support or download pages, so Nuanyue does not record it
- Typora is a single-file editor with no vault, graph view or plugin ecosystem
Strengths and trade-offs
What Typora does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Live preview happens in place, removing the source-and-preview split that most Markdown editors keep.Developer-stated
- Maths through MathJax and diagrams through Mermaid are built in rather than added by plugins.Developer-stated
- Export through Pandoc covers PDF with bookmarks, Word, LaTeX, MediaWiki and ePub.Developer-stated
- One licence covers macOS, Windows and Linux, and is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription.
- Themes are plain CSS, so the editor can be restyled without a theme marketplace.Developer-stated
Trade-offs
- A licence activates at most three devices at a time.
- There is no permanent free tier; the free option is a 15-day trial.
- Requires macOS 11 or later, with older systems limited to a discontinued build.Developer-stated
- No vault, graph or plugin system, so it does not serve as a linked note-taking system.Editorially reviewed
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Download the disk image from typora.io and drag Typora into Applications. The vendor's own support pages list `https://download.typora.io/mac/Typora.dmg` as the current macOS download.
- First launch
- Typora opens in a 15-day trial with no account required. The licence is entered later from the activation dialog, and one code covers up to three devices.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Registers a Markdown file association and can open a folder as a workspace with a file tree and outline. macOS builds can upload images to a cloud service, and there is a VS Code extension for opening the current file in Typora.
What it is
Typora is a Markdown editor built around one decision: there is no preview pane. Most editors show Markdown source on one side and rendered output on the other. Typora renders the formatting in place as you type, so a heading appears as a heading and a table as a table while the cursor is still in it, and the syntax characters appear only when you are editing the element they belong to.
That choice is why the editor divides people. If you write in Markdown and want to see the document rather than the markup, it removes a whole mode of working. If you want to see the raw source while you write, it takes something away.
What it handles
Beyond the basics, Typora covers the things that usually force a switch to something heavier. Maths runs through MathJax with the mhchem, AMSmath and bbox extensions, and equations can be auto-numbered. Diagrams are generated from text through Mermaid, flowchart.js and js-sequence-diagrams, so a flowchart or a sequence diagram lives in the document as a code block. Tables are edited by dragging rather than by aligning pipes.
For a folder of files there is a file tree and an outline panel, and the document can be exported through Pandoc to PDF with bookmarks, Word, LaTeX, MediaWiki or ePub. Pandoc has to be installed separately. Themes are plain CSS, so the editor can be restyled without a theme marketplace, and there is a YAML front matter panel for metadata.
What it costs
Typora is a one-time purchase: $14.99 excluding tax, with a 15-day trial. One licence activates at most three devices at a time and covers the macOS, Windows and Linux builds, so a single purchase is enough for a laptop and a desktop.
There is no permanently free mode, which is the main difference from MacDown and MarkText. The 15-day trial is generous enough to decide with, but anyone who wants to keep using it pays.
Two details from the licence agreement are worth reading before buying. It names Qiyun (Shanghai) Technology Ltd as the licensor and sets governing law and jurisdiction in Shanghai, China. And the licence covers updates within the current major version: a 1.x to 2.x jump counts as a Major Update and may carry an extra fee.
Requirements and limits
macOS 11 Big Sur or later. For older macOS releases the vendor offers a discontinued 1.4.8 build that no longer receives updates.
Apple Silicon support is not stated on the product page, the support site or the download page, so Nuanyue does not record it. The vendor’s own support pages list a single macOS download with no separate architecture builds.
One further gap worth knowing: Typora publishes no machine-readable release feed, and its macOS download link is versionless. The newest release that can be established from the vendor’s own pages is therefore the 1.14 line, dated 19 July 2026, and the exact point release cannot be checked automatically. The licence is a one-time purchase, so this matters less than it would for a subscription.
Typora is not a linked note system. It edits individual files. If you want a vault, a graph view or plugins, Obsidian, Logseq and Joplin are the tools for that.
Release history
Dated releases recorded for Typora, newest first, each with the source it was read from.
1.14
Adds a floating editor toolbar, options for which files and folders appear in the sidebar, a context menu for setting styles on macOS, and keyboard navigation in the file tree.
Source: Documentation
1.13
Previous release line, published roughly three months before 1.14.
Source: Documentation
1.12
Release line that preceded 1.13, published six months earlier.
Source: Documentation
Questions about Typora
How much does Typora cost?
A one-time licence is $14.99 excluding tax. There is a 15-day free trial, and one licence can activate at most three devices at a time. The same licence covers the macOS, Windows and Linux builds.
Is Typora a subscription?
No. It is a one-time purchase. The licence covers the current version rather than a term of service.
Which macOS version does Typora need?
macOS 11 Big Sur or later. For older macOS the vendor offers a discontinued 1.4.8 build, which no longer receives updates.Developer-stated
Does Typora support maths and diagrams?
Yes. Maths is handled by MathJax with the mhchem, AMSmath and bbox extensions, and diagrams come from Mermaid, flowchart.js and js-sequence-diagrams.Developer-stated
Can Typora export to Word or PDF?
Yes, through Pandoc. Exports include PDF with bookmarks, Word, LaTeX, MediaWiki and ePub. Pandoc has to be installed separately.Developer-stated
Does Typora have a knowledge graph like Obsidian?
No. Typora edits individual Markdown files and offers a file tree and outline, but there is no vault, graph view or plugin ecosystem. Obsidian and Logseq are the tools for a linked note system.Editorially reviewed
Competitors
Direct competitors: overlapping features aimed at the same users.
MacDown
Open-source Markdown editor for macOS, unmaintained since 2020.
Both are Markdown editors for macOS with live preview, but MacDown is free and open source with a side-by-side layout while Typora renders formatting in place and charges for a licence.
Joplin
Open-source markdown notes with end-to-end encryption and sync you control.
Both handle Markdown files, but Joplin is a free, open-source note organiser with sync and notebooks while Typora is a paid single-document editor.
Similar apps
Related in purpose, but not a straight swap.
Obsidian
Local-first Markdown notes, with optional paid sync.
Both edit Markdown on macOS, but Typora is a single-file editor with no vault graph or plugin ecosystem.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
- Typora — official websiteGrade B
- Appmakes — developer websiteGrade B
- Typora — documentationGrade C
