Glance

Glance renders Markdown the moment you need it. Select a .md file in Finder and press Space for a clean, fully formatted preview, or open files in the standalone app. There is no WebView anywhere — a native engine draws the page, so it appears instantly and scrolls smoothly.

Why it makes the list

Most Markdown previewers either spin up a browser engine or make you keep a heavy editor open. Glance is a ~10 MB download that hooks straight into Quick Look, works entirely offline, and ships zero telemetry. It handles what technical writing actually uses — Mermaid diagrams, LaTeX math, syntax-highlighted code, tables — without a plugin zoo.

Standout features

• Quick Look preview for .md files — just press Space in Finder

• Native rendering, no WebView, for instant display and smooth scrolling

• Mermaid diagrams and LaTeX math rendered inline

• Find in file with highlighted matches, plus smart pinch-to-zoom

• Syntax highlighting for code blocks and for plain text, JSON, and YAML

• Glance Pro adds inline text formatting, table editing, and diagram editing

Pricing

Reading Markdown is free forever. Glance Pro is a one-time $9.99 (14-day trial, no card required) and covers up to three Macs with a year of updates. Apple Silicon, macOS 14 or later.