MacDown vs Typora: What are the differences?

1. Interface and Design: MacDown has a minimalistic and straightforward user interface with a focus on simplicity. It provides a clean and distraction-free writing environment perfect for Markdown editing. On the other hand, Typora offers a more visually appealing and modern interface with live preview options, table of contents, and customizable themes.

2. Navigation and Organization: MacDown offers a sidebar for file navigation and quick access to various options like preferences and formatting styles. It also allows users to toggle between different headers for better organization. In contrast, Typora has a comprehensive file tree system with a sidebar that allows users to effortlessly navigate and organize their Markdown documents.

3. Live Preview and Real-time Sync: Typora has a unique feature of live preview, which means it instantly updates the rendered output as the user types, providing a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) experience. MacDown, however, lacks a live preview option and requires the user to manually refresh the preview each time changes are made.

4. Customization Options: Typora offers a wide range of customization options, including customizable themes, font styles, and even writing modes like focus and typewriter mode. On the other hand, MacDown has limited customization options, mostly focusing on the overall appearance through themes.

5. Export and Compatibility: MacDown provides a variety of export options, including HTML, PDF, and RTF, allowing users to share their Markdown files in different formats. In contrast, Typora offers even more export options, including Word documents, ePub, and LaTeX, making it more versatile in terms of compatibility.

6. Advanced Features and Extensions: Typora comes with several advanced features like math typesetting, diagrams, and code syntax highlighting. It also supports various Markdown extensions for additional functionalities. While MacDown supports basic Markdown syntax and some minor extensions, it lacks the advanced features and extensive support for extensions that Typora offers.

In Summary, MacDown is a simple and minimalistic Markdown editor with a focus on straightforward editing and navigation, while Typora provides a more visually appealing interface with live preview, extensive customization options, advanced features, and broader compatibility.