Best Markdown Editors for WordPress Publishing in 2026

Compare the best markdown editors that publish to WordPress — Notipo, Ulysses, iA Writer, MarsEdit, and Jetpack. Features, pricing, and which one fits your workflow.

If you write in markdown and publish to WordPress, the Gutenberg editor is not your friend. It's a block editor designed for drag-and-drop page building, not for writing long-form content in plain text. Pasting markdown into Gutenberg is a guaranteed formatting headache.

The good news is there are dedicated tools that let you write in markdown and publish to WordPress without touching Gutenberg. I've used most of them over the past few years. Here's how they compare.

What to Look For

Before the comparison, here are the features that actually matter:

• Native WordPress publishing — can it publish directly via the REST API, or do you need to copy-paste?
• Image handling — does it upload images to your WordPress media library?
• Code block support — does it convert fenced code blocks to syntax-highlighted blocks?
• SEO metadata — can you set focus keywords, meta descriptions, and titles?
• Featured images — does it handle featured image creation?
• Gutenberg output — does it create proper Gutenberg blocks, or raw HTML?

1. Notipo

Notipo is built specifically for the markdown-to-WordPress pipeline. Full disclosure: I built it, so I'm biased. But I built it because nothing else did what I needed.

What it does: Write in the browser-based markdown editor (or sync from Notion, or use the API). Notipo converts to Gutenberg blocks, uploads images to your media library, generates AI featured images, sets Rank Math SEO metadata, and publishes. One click.

Code blocks: Converted to Prismatic plugin blocks with automatic language detection.

Pricing: Free (5 posts/month). Pro at $19/month for unlimited posts, AI featured images, and webhook triggers.

Best for: Developers and technical writers who want the full pipeline automated — especially if your posts include code.

2. Ulysses

What it does: A polished writing app for Mac and iOS with built-in WordPress publishing. Write in a markdown-like syntax, organize with folders and tags, and publish directly.

Code blocks: Basic support. Standard HTML code blocks, not syntax-highlighted.

Image handling: Uploads to WordPress media library. No AI generation.

SEO: No built-in SEO metadata support.

Pricing: $5.99/month or $49.99/year. Apple platforms only.

Best for: Writers who want a beautiful native Mac writing experience.

3. iA Writer

What it does: The gold standard for distraction-free markdown writing with WordPress publishing built in.

Code blocks: Standard HTML code blocks. No syntax highlighting integration.

Image handling: Uploads inline images. Featured images need to be set manually.

SEO: None. Metadata is handled in WordPress.

Pricing: One-time purchase — $49.99 (Mac), $29.99 (iOS/Android/Windows).

Best for: Writers who want a minimal, focused editor and handle SEO in WordPress.

4. MarsEdit

What it does: Desktop blog editor for Mac. Connects to WordPress and lets you write and publish from a native app.

Code blocks: Raw HTML.

Image handling: Uploads to WordPress media library.

SEO: Supports custom fields for SEO plugin integration.

Pricing: $59.95 one-time. Mac only.

Best for: Mac users who want a traditional desktop blogging client.

5. Jetpack

What it does: Adds markdown support directly to the WordPress editor.

Code blocks: Standard WordPress code blocks.

SEO: Separate Jetpack SEO tools available.

Pricing: Free markdown module.

Best for: People who want to stay inside WordPress but write in markdown.

Quick Comparison

My Recommendation

If you're a developer or technical writer whose posts include code, Notipo is the obvious choice. Nothing else converts fenced code blocks to syntax-highlighted WordPress blocks automatically. And nothing else handles the full pipeline — images, SEO, featured images, and publishing — in one step.

If you're a non-technical writer who wants a beautiful native app and doesn't need code highlighting, iA Writer or Ulysses are both excellent. iA Writer wins on pricing (one-time purchase), Ulysses wins on organization features.

If you want to stay inside WordPress and just need markdown syntax, Jetpack's markdown module is free and works fine.

The real question is: how much of the publishing pipeline do you want automated? If the answer is "all of it," there's only one option.

Kjetil Furås builds automations with AI agents and infrastructure as code. Follow along on X or join the Build & Automate community on Skool.