Markd.ly vs Caret — honest comparison

Looking for a Caret alternative? Here is an honest Markd.ly vs Caret comparison of two buy-once markdown editors. Markd.ly costs $19.99 once, $9.01 less than Caret's $29, and the same purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Android, where Caret has no app. On Mac, Windows and Linux, Markd.ly adds Word, EPUB, LaTeX and reveal.js slide export, vim mode, snippets and AES-256-GCM encrypted documents, and its latest builds shipped in September 2026. If you want focus mode, multiple cursors and math rendered right in the editor, Caret is built for that.

Get Markd.ly See Markd.ly

$19.99 once, no subscription. Try it free for 24 hours first, no card.

Markd.ly vs Caret at a glance

At a glance	Markd.ly	Caret
Entry price	$19.99 one-time	$29 one-time license
Next plan up	$0 for 7 days, then $95.99/yr	$29 one-time license
Lifetime license	$399 once	$29 USD one-time purchase (verified caret.io, 2026-09-24) — $9.01 more than Markd.ly's $19.99 one-time
Platforms	Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android	Mac, Windows, Linux

Where Markd.ly and Caret each win

Pick Markd.ly if

$9.01 less, with phone and tablet apps. $19.99 once unlocks Markd.ly on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android; Caret is $29 for Mac, Windows and Linux and makes no phone or tablet app.
More export formats. On Mac, Windows and Linux, Markd.ly exports Word, EPUB, LaTeX and reveal.js slides as well as HTML and PDF. Caret has no Word, EPUB, LaTeX or slide export.
Vim mode, snippets and AES-256-GCM encrypted documents, on Mac, Windows and Linux. Caret has none of the three.
Current builds. Markd.ly's latest releases shipped September 20–22, 2026, on all six platforms; the Caret download on caret.io is 4.0.0-rc23, a release candidate from February 2019.

Pick Caret if

Focus and typewriter modes. Caret has a focus mode for the current block and a typewriter scrolling mode; Markd.ly has neither.
Multiple cursors. Caret makes ten edits at once instead of one edit ten times; Markd.ly has no multiple cursors.
Math inside the editor. Caret renders LaTeX math inline as you type; Markd.ly renders math in Preview and Split.
Auto-completion. Caret completes file paths, emoji, code and HTML as you type; Markd.ly completes none of them.

Markd.ly vs Caret, feature by feature

Verified 2026-09-24. Source linked at the bottom.

Feature	Markd.ly	Caret
Price	$19.99 once	$29 once
Runs on Mac, Windows and Linux	Yes: macOS 14 or later, Windows 10 (1809) or later, Linux x64 (.deb and AppImage)	Yes; its 2019 Linux .deb and .rpm are x64 only and need GConf, which Ubuntu 24.04 and Debian 13 no longer ship
Runs on older Macs	No: macOS 14 Sonoma or later	Yes: OS X 10.8 or later
Built as	Native on each desktop: SwiftUI, WPF, GTK	Electron 2.0 (2018)
iPhone, iPad and Android	Yes, in the same purchase	No
Account needed	Yes: one Bravely Account sign-in (Apple, Google or email)	No: a license you enter in the app
Latest public release	September 20–22, 2026, on every platform: Mac 1.6.16, Windows 1.12.4, Linux 0.7.4, iPhone and iPad 1.11.4, Android 1.7.7	4.0.0-rc23, a release candidate from Feb 22 2019, is caret.io's download; the last stable release is 3.4.6, Aug 25 2017
File format	Plain .md files	Plain .md files
Preview	Editor, Preview and Split views	Live preview with scroll sync; math also renders inline in the editor
Focus and typewriter modes	No	Yes
Multiple cursors	No	Yes
Auto-completion (file paths, emoji, code, HTML)	No	Yes
Vim mode (normal/insert/visual, core motions + operators)	Yes (Mac, Windows, Linux)	No
Pandoc export (DOCX/EPUB/LaTeX/Reveal.js)	Yes (desktop): Linux converts on your computer; Mac and Windows convert on our server, so they need a connection	No (Caret exports HTML and PDF)
Encrypted documents (AES-256-GCM)	Yes (desktop)	No
Snippet library (date, time, cursor placeholders)	Yes (desktop)	No
Preview themes / custom CSS	Three preview themes plus your own CSS (desktop)	Custom preview themes and a dark preview theme
Search across files	Yes (desktop; current folder, plain text)	Yes (find in files)
Mermaid diagrams and LaTeX math	Yes (every platform)	Math; Mermaid only in its 2017 3.x releases, not the 4.0 release candidate

Markd.ly vs Caret FAQs

Is Markd.ly cheaper than Caret?

Yes. Markd.ly is $19.99 once and Caret is $29 once, and Markd.ly's purchase also covers iPhone, iPad and Android.

Does Markd.ly run on Linux like Caret?

Yes. Markd.ly ships x64 Linux builds, a .deb and an AppImage, and on Linux it converts Word, EPUB, LaTeX and slide exports on your own computer.

Does Markd.ly have vim mode and Pandoc export?

Yes, both on Mac, Windows and Linux. Pandoc export covers Word, EPUB, LaTeX and reveal.js slides: Linux converts them on your computer, and Mac and Windows convert them on our server, so there you need a connection.

Can I open my Caret files in Markd.ly?

Yes. Caret writes plain .md files, and Markd.ly opens them wherever you keep them.

Is Caret still maintained?

Its newest download is 4.0.0-rc23, a release candidate from February 22, 2019, and its last stable release is 3.4.6, from August 25, 2017.

Sources

More Markd.ly comparisons

All comparisons

Markd.ly

Native markdown editor

Get Markd.ly All comparisons

$19.99 once, no subscription. Try it free for 24 hours first, no card.

Pricing verified 2026-09-24. Caret pricing (archived). Subject to change.