Editor.md vs react-markdown
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
An embeddable Markdown editor component for web pages, built on CodeMirror, jQuery and Marked.
Open source · MIT
A React component that renders Markdown text as React elements, without raw HTML injection.
The short answer
Choose Editor.md if you need…
- Web developers who want a Markdown input box inside their own site or admin panel
- Projects that already use jQuery and want a drop-in editor
- Sites that need Markdown with KaTeX formulas, flowcharts, or sequence diagrams
- Teams that need a Markdown editor with image upload and a live preview
Choose react-markdown if you need…
- React developers who need to display Markdown content such as comments, docs, or posts
- Beginners who want safe Markdown rendering without writing HTML parsing code
- Projects that want to replace rendered tags like h2 with custom React components
- Teams that need GitHub Flavored Markdown tables, task lists, or strikethrough via a plugin
Side-by-side
| Editor.md | react-markdown | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 14.3k | 15.9k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last code update | 3 years ago | 33 days ago |
What each one is
Editor.md
Editor.md is a JavaScript component you add to a web page so visitors get a Markdown editor with a live preview. It is built on CodeMirror for the editing area, jQuery, and Marked for rendering. It also includes a function to convert Markdown text into HTML for display on a page.
react-markdown
react-markdown is a React component you give a string of Markdown, and it turns that text into React elements on the page. It avoids dangerouslySetInnerHTML, so it is designed to be safe by default against XSS. You can add plugins to change how Markdown is processed and swap normal HTML tags for your own React components.
Best for
Editor.md
- Web developers who want a Markdown input box inside their own site or admin panel
- Projects that already use jQuery and want a drop-in editor
- Sites that need Markdown with KaTeX formulas, flowcharts, or sequence diagrams
- Teams that need a Markdown editor with image upload and a live preview
react-markdown
- React developers who need to display Markdown content such as comments, docs, or posts
- Beginners who want safe Markdown rendering without writing HTML parsing code
- Projects that want to replace rendered tags like h2 with custom React components
- Teams that need GitHub Flavored Markdown tables, task lists, or strikethrough via a plugin
Strengths
Editor.md
- Gives a full Markdown editor with live preview, code folding, and search and replace
- Supports GFM and CommonMark, plus extras like table of contents, emoji, and task lists
- Has many configuration options and a plugin system with AMD/CMD module loading
react-markdown
- Safe by default, with no dangerouslySetInnerHTML needed according to the README
- Lets you replace rendered elements with custom React components
- Supports plugins from the unified ecosystem such as remark-gfm
Not ideal for
Editor.md
- Projects that do not use jQuery or JavaScript, since the README describes a jQuery-based component
- Anyone needing HTML-to-Markdown conversion, which the README says is not supported
- Teams wanting an actively maintained editor, since the latest push shown is from April 2024 and the README does not describe current maintenance
react-markdown
- People who want JavaScript or JSX embedded inside Markdown files; the README points to MDX for that
- Developers who already know unified well and want a hooks-based alternative; the README points to react-remark or rehype-react
- Projects that are not using React
Trade-offs
Editor.md
- Depends on jQuery and older browser-era libraries, so it may not fit modern JavaScript stacks
- The README shows no recent release activity, and the last push date is April 2024
- The README is truncated, so some setup and feature details could not be verified
react-markdown
- The package is ESM only, which may need configuration in older build setups
- Async plugins need MarkdownAsync or MarkdownHooks rather than the basic synchronous component
- Full GFM support requires adding a separate plugin
Getting started
Editor.md
Install with npm
npm install editor.mdInstall with Bower
bower install editor.mdreact-markdown
Install with npm
npm install react-markdownFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Editor.md and react-markdown?
Editor.md: An embeddable Markdown editor component for web pages, built on CodeMirror, jQuery and Marked. react-markdown: A React component that renders Markdown text as React elements, without raw HTML injection. Editor.md suits web developers who want a markdown input box inside their own site or admin panel, while react-markdown suits react developers who need to display markdown content such as comments, docs, or posts.
Are Editor.md and react-markdown free?
Editor.md: Free and open source. react-markdown: Free and open source.
Is Editor.md or react-markdown more popular?
react-markdown has more GitHub stars (15.9k) than Editor.md (14.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Editor.md and react-markdown?
Other options people compare them with include Milkdown, Vditor, Showdown, Turndown, GraphiQL.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.