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Markdown vs. HTML

When to write content in Markdown versus raw HTML, and the tradeoffs of each format.

A

Markdown

Pros
  • ✓ Human-readable even as plain text
  • ✓ Concise — less to type
  • ✓ Easy to version control
  • ✓ Widely supported: GitHub, Notion, Slack, CMSs
Cons
  • ✗ Limited — not all HTML elements have Markdown equivalents
  • ✗ Multiple incompatible flavors (CommonMark, GitHub Flavored, etc.)
  • ✗ Complex layouts impossible without raw HTML
  • ✗ Rendering required for final output
BEST FOR
Documentation, README files, blog posts, wiki pages, content that editors will write and maintain
B

HTML

Pros
  • ✓ Full control over structure and semantics
  • ✓ No ambiguity
  • ✓ Direct browser output
  • ✓ Supports every possible layout and element
Cons
  • ✗ Verbose and hard to read as source
  • ✗ Easy to create invalid HTML
  • ✗ Bad for non-developer content editors
  • ✗ Slower to write
BEST FOR
Web pages requiring precise layout, email templates, content with custom styling needs, components in web applications
Verdict

Use Markdown for content that humans write and read. Use HTML for web pages and layouts requiring full control. Most modern projects use Markdown for content and convert it to HTML at build time.

Try these tools

T
Markdown Previewer
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HTML Beautifier
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HTML to Markdown
T
Text Diff Checker

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