Compare HyperText Markup Language and Markdown formats — understand the key differences and when to use each
HyperText Markup Language
HyperText Markup Language (.html) is a document file format.
Markdown
MD (Markdown) is a lightweight markup language created by John Gruber in 2004. Markdown uses plain text formatting syntax (#, *, -, etc.) that converts to HTML. It's the standard format for README files, documentation, technical writing, and note-taking. Markdown is used by GitHub, GitLab, Stack Overflow, Reddit, Discord, and thousands of other platforms. Various flavors exist including CommonMark, GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM), and MultiMarkdown.
| Feature | HTML | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | HyperText Markup Language | Markdown |
| File Extension | .html | .md |
| Category | document | document |
| Free to Convert | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Browser Support | ✓ All Browsers | ✓ All Browsers |
| Convert to Each Other | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
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