MD2PDF vs Pandoc — which to use
Pandoc is the Swiss-army knife of document conversion — but it requires installation, command-line knowledge, and often a LaTeX toolchain for PDF output. MD2PDF is a browser-based alternative: no install, live preview, 11 visual styles, and instant PDF export.
| Feature | MD2PDF | Pandoc |
|---|---|---|
| Install required | No — runs in browser | Yes — CLI + LaTeX for PDF |
| Live preview | Yes | No |
| Visual styles out of the box | 11 styles | Via templates / LaTeX |
| Mermaid diagrams | Built-in | Via filter/plugin |
| CLI / scripting | REST API | Native CLI |
| Output formats | PDF, HTML, PNG | Everything (40+) |
| Custom CSS | Yes, inline in browser | Yes, via templates |
| Free | Yes | Yes (open source) |
| AI-agent ready | Yes — Claude Skill + API | No |
You want to preview and export a Markdown document quickly, with a polished visual style, without installing anything. Ideal for CVs, reports, docs, and sharing with non-technical recipients.
You need batch conversions, EPUB/DOCX/ODT output, or tight integration into a build pipeline. Pandoc is unbeatable for heavy document processing.
Yes. Source code is on GitHub under the MIT license.
Once the page loads, the editor and export run entirely in your browser. Sharing by URL requires network access to save to Cloudflare KV.
Yes. MD2PDF exposes a REST API, an installable Claude Skill, and WebMCP for direct agent interaction.