SimpleMDE
A simple embeddable JavaScript Markdown editor with a toolbar, live syntax styling, autosave and spell checkinsparksuite/simplemde-markdown-editor
- Stars
- 10.1k
- Forks
- 1.1k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- JavaScript
- Last update
- 2.4 years ago
- Type
- Library
No commits in over a year — check for forks or alternatives before adopting.
What it is
SimpleMDE is a JavaScript component that replaces a plain textarea on a web page with a Markdown editor. It offers toolbar buttons and keyboard shortcuts, and it styles Markdown syntax while you type, so headings look larger and links look underlined. It can also autosave text and check spelling, and it is aimed at people who are new to Markdown.
- Add a Markdown editor to a comment or content form on your website
- Save a writer's draft automatically every few seconds using the autosave option
- Customize the toolbar to show or hide specific buttons
- Use a custom preview function to render Markdown with your own parser
Great for
- Web developers who want a ready-made Markdown input box inside their own site or form
- Non-technical users who need to write Markdown and benefit from toolbar buttons
- Projects that need autosaved drafts stored between page loads
- Developers who want to customize toolbar icons, status bar items or preview rendering
Not ideal for
- Teams looking for a standalone desktop or web app, since this is a component to embed rather than a finished product
- Projects that need active maintenance guarantees, since the last push shown is from June 2024 and the README does not describe ongoing support
- Anyone needing rich features beyond the README's described options, such as collaborative editing, which the README does not mention
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
Install via npm
npm install simplemde --save - 2
Run it
- Install the package with npm or include the jsDelivr script and stylesheet tags on your page.
- Add a textarea to your HTML page.
- Add a script that runs var simplemde = new SimpleMDE(); to load the editor on the first textarea.
- Call simplemde.value() to read the content.
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Enable autosave with a unique uniqueId and a delay to keep drafts between visits
- Use blockStyles and insertTexts to change how bold, italic, code and links are inserted
- Include highlight.js and set renderingConfig.codeSyntaxHighlighting to true for highlighted code in previews
- Use hideIcons or showIcons and the status option to tailor the toolbar and status bar
Downloads
Strengths
- Simple to add: a single script call on an existing textarea
- Syntax is shown styled while editing, which helps less experienced Markdown users
- Built-in autosave and spell checking, with many options to configure
Trade-offs
- The README describes it as a component, so you must build any surrounding app yourself
- Some features such as code highlighting need an extra library (highlight.js) included on the page
- The README is truncated, so some details of the toolbar and shortcuts are not visible here
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| simplemde-markdown-editor (this) | 10.1k | Library | beginner | 2.4 years ago | Web developers who want a ready-made Markdown input box inside their own site or form |
| editor.md | 14.3k | Library | beginner | 2.5 years ago | Web developers who want a Markdown input box inside their own site or admin panel |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.