Overview
Summary
The useful answer before the supporting detail.
HackMD is a real-time, multi-platform collaborative Markdown knowledge base S3. It is used by over one million people to share ideas, build community, and collaborate on documentation S1. The platform provides a shared workspace where teams and agents can work from the same source of truth, with features like version history and GitHub sync S31.
Product identity and positioning
Name, category, positioning, audience, and first-party claims.
- Identity: HackMD is a real-time, multi-platform collaborative Markdown knowledge base S3.
- Core purpose: It solves the problem of sharing ideas and building community through knowledge sharing S1.
- Intended users: Developers, teams, and communities who need to collaborate on Markdown documents S1.
- Product scope: It is a web-based workspace, not a broader platform, with features like real-time editing, comments, and version history S31.
- Positioning: HackMD positions itself as "The Markdown workspace for innovation" S1.
- Claimed distinction: It claims to be built for teams and open to AI agents, keeping humans and agents in sync S31.
Use cases and audiences
Who the product serves and the jobs it is designed to handle.
| Audience | Practical use case |
|---|---|
| Engineering teams | Keep documentation synchronized with repositories by using the API to update release notes and proposals S118. |
| Startups | Use the intuitive Markdown editor to keep the team synchronized and projects on track S138. |
| Research communities | Draft papers, manage project documentation, and publish findings in real-time S103. |
| Open-source projects | Build in the open and share ideas with a community of contributors S31. |
| AI agent developers | Feed agents context and automate note creation via the API S31. |
Features
Features and capabilities
Core functions and evidence-backed product capabilities.
| Capability | What it does |
|---|---|
| Real-time collaboration | Multiple users can edit a note simultaneously with live cursors S31. |
| Comments & mentions | Users can leave comments and mention teammates for asynchronous feedback S31. |
| Version history | Every edit is tracked and recoverable, with named versions for key milestones S31 S3. |
| GitHub sync | Notes can be pushed to GitHub repositories, with up to 20 pushes per month on the free plan S31 S95. |
| Import & export | Users can import notes from Dropbox, Google Drive, Gist, or clipboard S3. |
| API access | Developers can pull any note as Markdown via REST API or CLI S31. |
| MCP support | AI agents can connect via MCP to call tools and trigger workflows S118. |
| Browser extension | An extension provides a command palette for quick access to HackMD S118. |
Integrations and ecosystem
Connected products, exports, APIs, and workflow compatibility.
| Integration or interface | Type | What it enables |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub | Integration | Sync notes with GitHub repositories, including pushing versions S31 S3. |
| GitLab | Integration | Provides GitLab integration for repository sync S95. |
| REST API | API | Pull any note as Markdown and automate workflows S31 S118. |
| MCP | AI interface | Connect AI agents to call tools and trigger workflows S118. |
| Browser extension | Extension | Provides a command palette for quick access to HackMD S118. |
| Discord | Integration | Manage notes via a Discord bot S118. |
| LikeCoin | Integration | Supports creative use cases like sponsorship and embedded media S118. |
| GitHub Actions | Integration | Update HackMD notes via GitHub Actions S118. |
Pricing
Pricing and plans
Published plans, free access, trials, credits, and pricing limitations.
| Plan or offer | Verified price and billing | Included | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Unlimited notes, up to 3 teammates, 10 recent versions, 400 API calls a month S95 | 20 GitHub pushes per month; 1 MB per image S95 |
| Prime | $5 per seat per month, billed annually S95 | Everything in Free, plus PDF export, unlimited versions, 20,000 API calls per month S95 | Not established |
| Enterprise | Request a demo S95 | SSO (SAML, LDAP, customized) login, self-hosting, custom domain S95 | Not established |
Trust and proof
Customers, proof, and reviews
Published proof, customer signals, and review evidence.
Independent reviews
| Platform | Page | How it was found | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product Hunt | HackMD - Your Collaborative Markdown Workspace for Knowledge Sharing | Grounded web search | # HackMD - Your Collaborative Markdown Workspace for Knowledge Sharing by Rachel ... HackMD gives you a real-time Markdown editor for collaborative work. Working with Markdown files in HackMD is simple, straightforward, and fun. See launch →9mo ago 19 142 |
| Slant | What is the best online Markdown editor? | Grounded web search | ## hackmd.io ... ### Custom grammar and spell checker ... Very nice tool with many advantages : Collaborative with permissions Pretty light Fully featured (math support, tables, slide show, etc.) With a few drawbacks: Tries to be smart (it guesses what you want to do and tries to help, often in a wrong and annoying way, for example it when working with list items) whereas Markdown was built to solve those problems (you format yourself with simple codes and it just works), Custom grammar and spel |
| SaaSworthy | HackMD - Features & Pricing (October 2026) | Grounded web search | markdown. It allows you to collaborate on notes with others on your cell ... and capture transitory thoughts. You can use the team workstation for a bird's ... final papers centralized. You can access your notes and export them with a single click |
Customer proof
| Proof type | Named customer or source | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Testimonial | Titus Brown | testimonial — HackMD files can be public or private, and multiple collaborators can work on the files simultaneously. (Three ways to collaborate on writing / News / Nature Index) |
Independent mentions
- Ask HN: Why are there no good note taking apps / Hacker News — hmrtn on June 6, 2022 / prev / next – hackmd.io is an excellent markdown editor with github integration, sharing, and all of the features I have ever needed. Highly recommend for those looking. ... paid version of the open source hackmd right? the self
- HackMD: Your Collaborative Markdown Workspace for Knowledge Sharing — HackMD: Your Collaborative Markdown Workspace for Knowledge Sharing Real-time Markdown collaboration for teams communities projects docs ... Everything your team already counts on, every day. - Live editing with multiple cursors - Comments & mentions
- HackMD Hub · GitHub Marketplace · GitHub — HackMD is a real-time collaborative Markdown editor that syncs with GitHub. Join Kuberenetes, Ruby-lang, Matplotlib, Microsoft and many others in collaborating on markdown docs! ... ️⃣ Sync HackMD Markdown files with GitHub repository 3️⃣ Let the community
- HackMD: Collaborative Markdown (Google Docs for Obsidian) — , multi-platform collaborative Markdown editor. You can use HackMD to write notes with other people on your computer, tablet ... or phone. HackMD provides a variety of document templates and allows users to push documents to GitHub. You can import and
- features — Introduction === HackMD is a realtime, multi-platform collaborative markdown knowledge base. You can write notes with other people on your desktop, tablet or even on the phone. ... you can either choose: Owners, Signed-in users or
External links were grounded in one live web search. Search snippets are leads, not independently scraped page content; rejected links remain available in Review evidence.
Company, security, and trust
Ownership, policies, security signals, and public trust evidence.
| Signal | Finding | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Company and ownership | Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder | source |
| Contact and support | Follow us on For media inquiries, please contact us at press@hackmd.io. | source |
| Legal and privacy | Clear Cancel Import | source |
| Security and compliance | SSO (SAML, LDAP, customized) login | source |
| Uptime and status page | Not published on the collected pages. | — |
Not found on the collected pages: uptime and status page. This only means Scout did not find it on the pages it read; it says nothing about the company itself.
Documentation and product updates
Help resources, product guidance, and visible changes over time.
Not established in the collected sources.
Technical
Technical and delivery signals
Delivery model, platforms, API, data ownership, reliability claims and release activity.
| Signal | Finding | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery model (cloud, self-hosted, desktop, browser extension) | HackMD is a web-based application, with self-hosting available on the Enterprise plan S3 S95. | S3 S95 |
| Platforms and apps | HackMD is accessible via web browser, with a browser extension available S3. | S3 |
| API and extensibility (API, SDK, webhooks, MCP, plugins) | HackMD offers a REST API, MCP support, and extensions gallery S31 S118. | S31 S118 |
| Data ownership and export | Notes can be imported from and exported to various sources, and GitHub sync allows pushing content to repositories S3. | S3 |
| Performance and reliability claims | Not published on the collected pages. | — |
| Release activity | Release notes are available for new versions S3. | S3 |
Measured infrastructure
Domain, certificate, and hosting signals, measured directly.
| Signal | Finding |
|---|---|
| TLS certificate | Amazon, valid, expires 2027-02-02 |
| Security headers | HSTS, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy |
| Headers not served | CSP |
| Mail handled by | aspmx.l.google.com, alt1.aspmx.l.google.com |
| Nameservers | ns-221.awsdns-27.com, ns-845.awsdns-41.net |
Not measurable: wayback: rate limited by archive.org, ladder stopped after 1 probe(s); rdap: exceeded the overall budget; wayback: exceeded the overall budget; tls: exceeded the overall budget; dns: exceeded the overall budget; headers: exceeded the overall budget. A gap here means the lookup was unavailable, not that the finding is negative.
Limits and method
Limitations and open questions
Known constraints and missing evidence from the collected pages.
The collected pages do not mention any competitors by name. Evidence gaps include lack of detailed security certifications, uptime statistics, and independent review ratings. Open questions remain about the exact capabilities of the Enterprise plan beyond SSO and self-hosting, and the specifics of the MCP integration.
Sources, method, and limitations
Evidence inventory, collection method, provider use, and constraints.
This report is based on 14 collected pages from hackmd.io, including the homepage, about, features, pricing, solutions, and developer pages. The evidence catalog includes 169 entries from static and rendered page captures. External proof search was used to verify the existence of a Nature Index article mentioning HackMD, but its content was not used for claims. Limitations include incomplete feature page content and potential marketing bias in vendor pages.
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/Verified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/aboutVerified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/featuresVerified
- Pricing Pagehttps://hackmd.io/pricingVerified
- Pricing Pagehttps://hackmd.io/ja/pricingVerified
- Pricing Pagehttps://hackmd.io/zh/pricingVerified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/features-jpVerified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/features-twVerified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/solutionsVerified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/ja/solutionsVerified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/s/featuresVerified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/zh/solutionsVerified
- Documentationhttps://hackmd.io/developersVerified
- Official Websitehttps://hackmd.io/s/how-to-use-commentsVerified
- Articlehttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31645045Verified
- Review Sitehttps://www.producthunt.com/p/hackmd/hackmd-5Verified
- Review Sitehttps://www.slant.co/topics/2196/~best-online-markdown-editorVerified
- Articlehttps://www.nature.com/nature-index/news/three-ways-to-collaborate-on-writingVerified
- Articlehttps://github.com/marketplace/hackmd-hubVerified
- Review Sitehttps://www.saasworthy.com/product/hackmd-ioVerified
- Articlehttps://www.ssp.sh/brain/hackmd/Verified