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Short answer
Typora is a $14.99 WYSIWYG editor for people who write Markdown for hours. MDHero is a free, open-source viewer with a built-in editor, for people who mostly read Markdown and edit it occasionally. If you searched for a “free Typora alternative”, the honest question is which of those two you actually are.
Typora shows up in nearly every “best Markdown app” list, and deservedly — it did something genuinely novel by making the preview disappear. You type ## Heading and it becomes a heading as you finish the line. No split pane, no toggle, no raw symbols left on screen.
That design is also the reason it may not be what you want.
At a glance
| Typora | MDHero | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 one-time (3 devices) | Free |
| Licence | Proprietary | Open source (MIT) |
| Size | ~90MB | ~8MB |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows (Linux from source) |
| Primary mode | WYSIWYG editor | Viewer + editor |
| Editing | Full WYSIWYG | View / Split / Edit switcher |
| Export | PDF, HTML, Word, ePub, more | None built in |
| Themes | Extensive, CSS-customisable | Light / dark |
| Tabs | Yes | Yes |
| AI paste handling | No | Yes |
| Presentation mode | No | Yes — Marp |
What Typora is better at, plainly
Writing. This is not a close contest. If you’re drafting a long document in Markdown, Typora’s WYSIWYG editing is more pleasant than any split-pane arrangement, including MDHero’s. The formatting appears as you type and never interrupts you.
Export. Typora exports to PDF, HTML, Word, ePub and more. MDHero exports to nothing at all. If your workflow ends in “send this as a PDF”, Typora does that and MDHero does not.
Theming. Typora’s theme ecosystem is deep and CSS-customisable. MDHero gives you a well-made light and dark theme and no further choice.
Maturity. Typora has been developed for years and it shows in the details. MDHero is at v0.2.8.
For $14.99, one-time, across three devices — if you write Markdown daily, that is not a hard purchase to justify, and you should probably just buy it.
What MDHero is better at
It’s free and open source. MIT licence, code on GitHub, no purchase and no trial expiry. For many people searching “free Typora alternative”, this is the entire question.
Size and start-up. Roughly 8MB against roughly 90MB. When you double-click a README.md to check one thing, an 8MB viewer opens before a 90MB editor has finished deciding to.
Reading is the default, not a mode. Typora is an editor that renders. MDHero is a renderer you can edit in. If most of your Markdown time is spent reading — READMEs, docs, notes, AI output — the difference in posture matters more than the feature comparison suggests. MDHero can also be set as the default handler for .md files, so every Markdown file opens rendered on double-click.
AI output. Paste mode (Cmd+Shift+V) renders Markdown straight from the clipboard and unescapes the literal \n characters AI responses often carry. Typora has no equivalent. See copying ChatGPT output with formatting intact.
Extras Typora doesn’t have: Marp presentation mode, pinned folders, right-click AI Lookup, and vim keybindings.
So is MDHero a Typora replacement?
Honestly: for some people, and not for others.
It replaces Typora if you bought it — or were about to — mainly to read Markdown comfortably. That’s a common story: people buy an editor because it has the nicest preview, then use it 90% of the time as a viewer. If that’s you, you’re paying $14.99 and 90MB for a preview pane, and a free 8MB viewer covers it.
It doesn’t replace Typora if you write long-form Markdown daily, need PDF or Word export, or have built a workflow around custom themes. MDHero’s editor is deliberately light — good for fixing a line in a file you’re reading, not for drafting a specification.
Which to pick
| You mostly… | Use |
|---|---|
| Read Markdown, edit occasionally | MDHero |
| Write Markdown for hours | Typora |
| Need PDF / Word / ePub export | Typora |
| Work across Mac and Windows for free | MDHero |
| Read a lot of AI output | MDHero |
| Want deep theme customisation | Typora |
Disclosure
I build MDHero, so weigh the framing accordingly. I’ve tried to keep the facts straight in both directions — Typora is better at writing, export and theming, and I’ve said so. If you write Markdown all day, buy Typora; it’s good software and it’s cheap for what it does.
Other options worth a look
If neither fits, the 2026 roundup of free Markdown viewers covers MarkView, QuickMD, Marked and the rest. For a closer like-for-like on the free-and-native side, see QuickMD vs MDHero. Platform setup lives on the Mac and Windows pages.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to Typora?
Yes. MDHero is free and open source under the MIT licence, around 8MB, and runs on macOS and Windows. It renders Markdown and includes a built-in editor with a split live preview. It is not a full replacement for Typora's WYSIWYG writing experience, but for reading and light editing it covers the same ground at no cost.
How much does Typora cost?
Typora is a one-time purchase of $14.99, which covers up to three devices. There is a free trial. It is not open source.
What is the difference between Typora and MDHero?
Typora is a WYSIWYG editor: you type Markdown and it transforms into formatted text as you write, with no separate preview. MDHero is a viewer first, with a View, Split and Edit switcher, so you read rendered output and can edit the raw source when needed. Typora is roughly 90MB; MDHero is roughly 8MB.
Which is better for writing long documents?
Typora. Its WYSIWYG editing, export formats and mature theming are built for sustained writing, and that is where the $14.99 earns itself. MDHero's editor is deliberately lightweight, aimed at quick edits to a file you are already reading.