2026 · macOS 15+
Apple Silicon
Mac App Store
€4.99 · one purchase

MarkJar

Markdown documents, kept as plain files on your Mac. It opens a .md the way TextEdit opens text - one document, one window, nothing to set up - and makes it stop looking boring.

What it is

MarkJar is a native Markdown editor for macOS. Formatting renders as you type, and the Markdown syntax shows only on the line your cursor is on. Callouts become tinted cards, ==highlights== and clickable checklists just work, footnotes open in a popover, and code blocks are highlighted in nineteen languages.

The file stays ordinary. MarkJar writes no metadata of its own into your .md: it reads the same in GitHub, VS Code or any other editor, and if you delete the app your documents are still there. If the folder lives in iCloud Drive or Dropbox, that service syncs it.

Tables you can actually edit

Other editors leave you the raw pipes; MarkJar renders a grid you edit cell by cell. Click a cell, type with the system caret and spell checker, Tab to the next, add rows and columns from the menu. Underneath, the file still holds a plain Markdown table - the one feature the big names of the niche admit they never solved.

A Markdown table rendered as a grid in MarkJar, with the cell Cocoa, hazelnut open for editing, and a yellow warning callout below. — The table Edited cell by cell

From ⌘N to PDF

⌘N opens a chooser with ready-to-use templates - meeting minutes, README, essay - alongside your own, with date placeholders, and your recent documents. Paper styles typeset the same file with real page furniture: the PDF you export - headers, page numbers, embedded images - is ready to send. Or copy as rich text straight into Mail, Word or Google Docs.

MarkJar's New Document chooser: a shelf of templates - Blank, Meeting Notes, Weekly Report, Letter - and a list of recent documents below. — New document Templates and recents

All included

Slash menuType / on an empty line to insert anything.
ChecklistsClickable, with a progress ring per document.
CalloutsNote, tip, warning - five tinted cards.
Title blockFront matter rendered as a cover card.
Outline sidebarHeadings, tasks and attachments at a glance.
Focus modeDim everything but what you're writing.
ImagesFigures in the document, embedded in the PDF.
FootnotesNumbered, previewed in a popover.
Quick LookPress Space in the Finder, see it typeset.
SummariesOn-device, only when you ask.
Six languagesEnglish, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese.
No network codeThe app can't phone home. Verify it yourself.

What it doesn't do

No iPhone or iPad app.
No library or vault - it edits documents, not collections of notes.
No sync service of its own - your files, your sync.
No plugins or themes. Light, dark, or system.
No Mermaid diagrams or LaTeX math.
No Intel Macs. Apple Silicon and macOS 15 or later.

Fair questions

Why isn't it a subscription?

Because an editor is a tool, not a service. Nothing in MarkJar runs on a server, so nothing costs us money while you write. You pay once, it's yours.

What happens to my files if I stop using it?

Nothing. Your documents are plain .md files wherever you saved them - readable by any app, before, during and after MarkJar.

How is it different from Apple Notes or iA Writer?

Notes keeps your writing inside its own database; MarkJar keeps it in files you can see. iA Writer is a fine app at ten times the price; MarkJar renders tables as editable grids - which even iA describes as Markdown's unsolved problem - and typesets your delivery with templates and paper styles.

Does it need the internet?

No. The app contains no networking code, so it works the same on a plane as at your desk - and your documents can't go anywhere.

Support and privacy

Questions are answered by the people who wrote the app: MarkJar support. What it does with your data - nothing - is documented in the privacy policy.

Get it

€4.99. One purchase. Everything included.

Coming soon to the Mac App Store.