Alternatives to ghostwriter
Write Markdown in a distraction-free desktop editor. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
ghostwriter
Write Markdown in a distraction-free desktop editor.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as ghostwriter.
Typora
A polished Markdown editor with live in-place rendering, sold as a one-off purchase rather than a subscription.
Typora adds macOS and live in-place Markdown rendering with CSS themes, but it is closed source and sold as a one-time purchase.
MarkText
A Markdown editor that shows formatted text as you type, with no preview pane and no syntax symbols in the way.
MarkText is free and open source under MIT on Windows, macOS and Linux, rendering Markdown in place without a preview pane, though it is Electron-based.
iA Writer
Minimalist Markdown writing app focused on the text.
iA Writer brings minimalist Markdown writing to macOS, Android and iOS with syntax highlighting of filler words, but it is paid and closed source.
Zettlr
Write and organize Markdown documents for publication.
Zettlr is open source under GPL-3.0, adds macOS and focuses on organizing Markdown documents for publication, though some formats need extra export dependencies.
Ulysses
A focused writing app for Mac, iPad and iPhone with project management, sync and export.
Ulysses is a paid distraction-free writing app with a project library, sync and export, but it runs only on Apple devices instead of Windows and Linux.
Also worth comparing
These listings name ghostwriter as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
StackEdit
An in-browser Markdown editor with live preview and sync to Google Drive, Dropbox and GitHub.
ghostwriter is a free, GPL-3.0 distraction-free Markdown editor with preview for Windows and Linux, without StackEdit's cloud sync or publishing.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
QLMarkdown
Preview Markdown files with macOS Quick Look.
HedgeDoc
Collaborative Markdown editor for notes written together in real time.
Obsidian
A notes app that works on a folder of plain Markdown files on your own disk, with links between them.
Scrivener
A writing app for drafting and organising long documents such as novels, screenplays and theses.
Markor
An open-source Android text editor for Markdown notes, todo.txt lists and plain text files.
WriteFreely
A minimalist, self-hosted blogging platform that federates posts to the fediverse via ActivityPub.
