Pandoc is the most powerful document converter in existence. It supports 50+ formats, offers deep customization through templates and Lua filters, and has been the standard for document conversion since 2006. It's free, open-source, and used by thousands of developers, academics, and documentation teams worldwide.
Craft Markdown is a browser-based converter that turns documents into clean markdown with a drag-and-drop interface. No installation, no terminal, no configuration. It handles 12 input formats and produces clean markdown output — all in your browser, with complete privacy.
Both tools process files locally. Both produce quality output. But they're built for fundamentally different users and workflows. This comparison helps you decide which one to use — or whether to use both.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Craft Markdown | Pandoc |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Browser — drag and drop | Command-line terminal |
| Installation | None — works in any browser | Requires installation + dependencies |
| Learning curve | Zero — drag, drop, done | Moderate to steep |
| Time to first conversion | 3 seconds (open page, drop file) | 10-30 minutes (install, learn syntax) |
| Privacy | Browser-based — files stay local | Local processing — files stay local |
| Input formats | 12 (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, XLS, ODS, HTML, CSV, JSON, XML, TXT, RTF, MD) | 40+ input formats, but not PDF |
| Output formats | Markdown from 12 formats; from Markdown: PDF, DOCX, HTML, plain text, rich text | 50+ (Markdown, PDF, HTML, DOCX, EPUB, LaTeX, and more) |
| Batch processing | Multi-file drop (manual) | Full scripting and automation |
| Customization | Default optimized output | Extensive (templates, Lua filters, variables) |
| AI-optimized output | Clean, noise-free Markdown by default | Possible with configuration |
| Output | A .md file download (ZIP for several files) | A file or standard output |
| Data files | CSV and Excel become tables; JSON becomes a code block | CSV, TSV and XLSX (3.8.3 and later) become tables; no JSON reader |
| PDF input | Yes, with headings, lists and simple tables recovered | No — Pandoc has no PDF reader |
| Citations and bibliography | No | Yes (Citeproc, BibTeX, CSL) |
| Cost | Free | Free (open-source) |
| Best for | Most users, quick conversions, AI workflows | Developers, automation, academic publishing |
Bottom line: Craft Markdown is the better choice for most users who want quick, private, no-setup conversion to markdown. Pandoc is the better choice for developers and power users who need maximum flexibility, batch automation, non-markdown output, or academic features.
Two Fundamentally Different Approaches
Craft Markdown: The Browser Approach
Craft Markdown converts documents to markdown directly in your web browser:
- Open the website
- Drag and drop your file
- The file converts in your browser
- Download the .md file
No installation. No terminal. No configuration. No account. No learning curve. It works exactly like you'd expect a modern web tool to work — because it is one.
Under the hood, all processing happens via JavaScript in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to any server. This isn't a privacy policy — it's an architectural decision. There is no server-side processing code. The file goes from your disk to your browser's memory to the conversion engine to your screen, and nowhere else.
Pandoc: The Command-Line Approach
Pandoc is a command-line application written in Haskell. It's the Swiss Army knife of document conversion:
pandoc report.docx -t gfm -o report.md
pandoc article.html -f html -t markdown_strict -o article.md
pandoc data.xlsx -t gfm -o data.md # pandoc 3.8.3 or later
It's installed locally, runs in your terminal, and can be scripted for batch processing and automation. It supports over 50 input and output formats, handles citations and bibliographies, and offers deep customization through templates and Lua filters.
Pandoc is excellent. It's also complex. It requires installation, assumes terminal comfort, and has a learning curve that ranges from "moderate" (basic conversions) to "steep" (custom templates, filters, and academic workflows).
When Craft Markdown Wins
1. Zero Setup Required
Craft Markdown: Open browser → drop file → done. Works on any device with a modern browser. Nothing to install, configure, update, or maintain.
Pandoc: Install Pandoc (varies by OS and package manager). For PDF support, install a LaTeX distribution (500MB+) or wkhtmltopdf. Learn the command syntax. Configure output options. Deal with dependency conflicts on some systems.
For someone who needs to convert a document right now — a contract, a report, a PDF for a meeting in 10 minutes — Craft Markdown is ready in 3 seconds. Pandoc setup takes 10-30 minutes, longer on Windows or if you need PDF output.
2. No Technical Skills Needed
Craft Markdown: Anyone can use it. Drag a file, get markdown. The interface is self-explanatory. There are no commands to memorize, no flags to learn, no error messages to decode.
Pandoc: Requires terminal/command-line comfort. The basic syntax is straightforward (pandoc input -t markdown -o output), but real-world use quickly introduces format-specific flags, filter options, metadata injection, and template configuration.
If you're recommending a conversion tool to a non-technical colleague — a marketing manager, a lawyer, a project manager, a researcher — Craft Markdown is the answer. You can't casually suggest Pandoc to someone who has never opened a terminal.
3. AI-Optimized Output
Craft Markdown: Output is designed for AI and LLM workflows from the ground up. Clean, token-efficient markdown with preserved heading hierarchy that's optimized for RAG chunking, ChatGPT conversations, Claude Projects, and LLM training data preparation.
Pandoc: Default output is good but not specifically optimized for AI consumption. Pandoc can produce clean markdown, but getting the ideal output for LLM workflows requires understanding which flags to use (--wrap=none, --markdown-headings=atx, --strip-comments, etc.) and potentially writing custom filters.
For users preparing documents for AI assistants or building RAG pipelines, Craft Markdown produces the right output by default. With Pandoc, you need to know what "right" means and how to configure it.
For a deeper understanding of why markdown format matters for AI, see our guide on why LLMs love markdown.
4. PDF Input
Craft Markdown: Drop a text-based PDF and get paragraphs rejoined, headings guessed from font size, lists, bold and simple aligned tables as Markdown, with repeating headers and footers dropped. Complex tables come out as plain text and there is no OCR, but you get a usable file in seconds without installing anything.
Pandoc: Has no PDF reader at all. pandoc file.pdf fails. You need pdftotext from Poppler (or another extractor) first, and the result is plain text with no headings or tables.
5. Data Files
Craft Markdown: Drop a CSV or an Excel workbook (XLSX, XLS, ODS) and get a pipe table per sheet. Drop a JSON or XML file and get it pretty-printed in a fenced code block.
Pandoc: Reads CSV and TSV, and since version 3.8.3 (December 2025) XLSX, into tables. It has no JSON data reader (its json input is Pandoc's own AST format) and reads XML only as DocBook or JATS.
When Pandoc Wins
1. Output Format Flexibility
Pandoc supports 50+ output formats:
- Markdown → PDF (via LaTeX, wkhtmltopdf, or Chromium)
- Markdown → DOCX (Microsoft Word)
- Markdown → HTML (standalone pages or fragments)
- Markdown → EPUB (ebook publishing)
- Markdown → LaTeX (academic publishing)
- Markdown → PPTX (PowerPoint presentations)
- Markdown → ODT (LibreOffice)
- Markdown → RST (reStructuredText)
- Markdown → AsciiDoc, MediaWiki, Textile, DocBook, JATS, TEI, and many more
Craft Markdown also turns Markdown into PDF, Word, HTML and plain text, one document at a time in the browser. For EPUB, LaTeX, slides, custom templates, or conversions between two non-Markdown formats such as DOCX to HTML, Pandoc is the tool.
2. Batch Processing and Automation
Pandoc can be scripted for industrial-scale conversion:
# Convert every Word file in a folder
for file in documents/*.docx; do
pandoc "$file" -t gfm -o "output/$(basename "$file" .docx).md"
done
# CI/CD pipeline step: rebuild all docs
pandoc docs/manual.md -o dist/manual.pdf --template=custom.tex
pandoc docs/manual.md -o dist/manual.html --template=custom.html
pandoc docs/manual.md -o dist/manual.epub --metadata title="User Manual"
This converts hundreds of files unattended. It integrates into CI/CD pipelines, documentation build systems, and scheduled automation. Craft Markdown is manual — you drop files individually (multiple files at once is supported, but it's still interactive).
For converting 5 files, Craft Markdown is faster. For converting 500 files, Pandoc is the only option.
3. Deep Customization
Pandoc offers fine-grained control over every aspect of conversion:
- Custom templates for any output format — control the exact HTML, LaTeX, or DOCX structure
- Lua filters for programmatic content transformation — modify the document AST during conversion
- Metadata injection — add title, author, date, and custom variables
- Bibliography support — Citeproc engine with BibTeX, CSL, and cross-references
- Custom readers and writers — define entirely new input/output formats in Lua
- Variables and conditional logic — template logic for dynamic content
If you need your markdown output to follow a specific template, transform content during conversion, or inject metadata automatically, Pandoc's system is unmatched.
4. Academic and Publishing Workflows
Pandoc is the gold standard for academic document production:
- Citations — BibTeX/CSL citation support with thousands of citation styles
- Cross-references — Numbered figures, tables, equations, and sections
- LaTeX equations — Full LaTeX math rendering in output
- PDF generation — Professional typography via LaTeX
- EPUB generation — Publish ebooks from markdown
- Beamer presentations — Academic slides from markdown
Craft Markdown doesn't handle citations, cross-references or publishing workflows, and it renders equations only in the viewer and HTML output, not typeset in a PDF. If you're writing academic papers or producing professional publications, Pandoc is the right tool.
Privacy Comparison
Both tools process files locally — a genuine tie:
Craft Markdown: Files processed in-browser via JavaScript. Nothing touches a server. This is architecturally guaranteed — there's no server-side processing code. Even if the server were compromised, it couldn't access your files because the conversion never involves the server.
Pandoc: Files processed locally on your machine via a locally installed application. Nothing leaves your computer. As an installed application, it never contacts any server during conversion.
Verdict: Tie. Both tools offer real privacy through local processing. The difference is convenience — Craft Markdown requires no installation to get that privacy. If you're on a computer where you can't install software (corporate lockdown, shared machine, borrowed laptop), Craft Markdown gives you local-processing privacy from any browser.
Conversion Quality Comparison
Both tools produce high-quality markdown output, but with different strengths:
PDF to Markdown
- Craft Markdown: Reads the text layer of each page, rejoins paragraphs, turns clearly larger fonts into headings, picks up lists, bold and simple tables, and drops repeating headers and footers. Complex tables come through as text. No OCR.
- Pandoc: Cannot read PDF. With
pdftotextfirst you get plain text only, and then Pandoc adds nothing unless you are converting onward to another format.
DOCX to Markdown
- Craft Markdown: Headings, bold, italic, lists, links, footnotes and tables convert cleanly; tables become pipe tables (merged cells and nested tables are flattened). Images are extracted into an images/ folder in a ZIP, or embedded as data URIs if you choose.
- Pandoc: Excellent DOCX conversion — this is one of Pandoc's strongest capabilities. Pipe tables, tracked changes, comments, footnotes, and complex formatting features that other tools miss.
HTML to Markdown
- Craft Markdown: Good for article content. Strips scripts and styles; headings, links, images, lists and code blocks convert well. Navigation and footer text is kept as text; HTML tables become pipe tables.
- Pandoc: Excellent HTML parsing with real tables and configurable stripping options. Better at handling edge cases and malformed HTML.
Overall: For clean Word docs and article HTML, both produce good output, including pipe tables. Pandoc has an edge on complex edge cases, deeply nested structures, and documents with academic formatting. Craft Markdown has the edge on PDFs (Pandoc cannot read them), on JSON and XML, and on getting a result without installing anything.
Side-by-Side Feature Matrix
| Capability | Craft Markdown | Pandoc |
|---|---|---|
| PDF → Markdown | Yes (headings, lists, simple tables) | No (use pdftotext first) |
| DOCX → Markdown | Yes (pipe tables, images to a folder) | Yes (excellent) |
| HTML → Markdown | Yes | Yes |
| CSV → Markdown | Yes | Yes |
| JSON → Markdown | Yes (fenced code block) | No |
| Excel → Markdown | Yes (XLSX, XLS, ODS) | XLSX, since 3.8.3 |
| XML → Markdown | Yes (fenced code block) | DocBook and JATS only |
| TXT → Markdown | Yes | Yes |
| RTF → Markdown | Paragraphs, bold, italic, bullets (no tables or images) | Yes |
| Markdown → PDF | Yes, in the browser (Markdown to PDF) | Yes |
| Markdown → DOCX | Yes (Markdown to Word) | Yes |
| Markdown → HTML | Yes, fragment or full document (Markdown to HTML) | Yes |
| Markdown → EPUB | No | Yes |
| Markdown → LaTeX | No | Yes |
| Markdown → Slides | No | Yes (Beamer, reveal.js) |
| Batch conversion | Multi-file drop | Full scripting |
| Custom templates | No | Yes (extensive) |
| Lua filters | No | Yes |
| Citations (BibTeX) | No | Yes (Citeproc) |
| Cross-references | No | Yes |
| Math/LaTeX | Renders $…$ math with KaTeX in the viewer and HTML; the PDF shows TeX source | Yes |
| Visual interface | Yes | pandoc.org/app in the browser; third-party GUIs |
| Installation | None | Required (or use pandoc.org/app) |
Who Should Use Which Tool?
Choose Craft Markdown If:
- You want to convert a file right now without installing anything
- You're not comfortable with command-line tools or don't want to use one
- You're converting files to Markdown, or one Markdown document to PDF, Word, HTML or plain text
- You're preparing documents for AI, ChatGPT, Claude, or RAG systems
- You need the text out of a PDF
- You need to convert CSV or Excel files to markdown tables
- You're recommending a tool to non-technical colleagues, clients, or team members
- You need occasional conversions, not automated pipelines
Choose Pandoc If:
- You're a developer comfortable with the terminal
- You need to convert between non-markdown formats (DOCX → PDF, Markdown → EPUB)
- You need batch processing for hundreds or thousands of files
- You need custom templates, Lua filters, or output transformation
- You're building automated documentation pipelines or CI/CD workflows
- You need academic features — citations, cross-references, LaTeX math
- You want maximum control over every aspect of conversion
Use Both If:
- You use Pandoc for batch automation and CI/CD, but want a quick browser tool for one-off conversions
- Your team includes developers (Pandoc) and non-developers (Craft Markdown)
- You use Pandoc for non-markdown output but prefer Craft Markdown's AI-optimized output for converting to markdown
- You need PDF text extraction (Pandoc cannot read PDF) alongside Pandoc's document conversion
Verdict
Pandoc is the more powerful tool. It supports more formats, offers deeper customization, and can be automated at scale. If you're a developer building conversion pipelines, an academic producing publications, or a documentation team with CI/CD integration, Pandoc is exceptional and irreplaceable.
Craft Markdown is the more accessible tool. It requires zero setup, has a visual interface, produces clean output, reads PDFs and JSON, which Pandoc doesn't, and anyone can use it. For the vast majority of people who need to convert a document to markdown, Craft Markdown is the better experience.
The honest answer: Most users don't need Pandoc's power. They need to convert a PDF, Word doc, or spreadsheet to markdown, and they need it done in 10 seconds without installing anything, reading documentation, or opening a terminal. That's Craft Markdown.
If you're one of those users:
If you need Pandoc's full power, install it from pandoc.org — it's free and excellent. We recommend it without reservation for the use cases where it shines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Craft Markdown built on Pandoc?
No. They're completely separate tools with different architectures. Craft Markdown uses browser-based JavaScript libraries (Turndown, pdf.js, Mammoth, and others) for conversion. Pandoc is a Haskell application that runs locally. They share no code.
Can Pandoc do everything Craft Markdown does?
For DOCX and HTML, yes, and usually better on complex documents (tracked changes, comments, equations). Pandoc cannot read PDF at all (you need pdftotext first) and has no JSON data reader. It does read CSV, TSV and, since 3.8.3, XLSX.
Is Craft Markdown as accurate as Pandoc?
For clean Word docs and article HTML, both keep headings, lists, links, emphasis and pipe tables. Pandoc wins on complex documents with nested structures, tracked changes and academic formatting. For PDFs, Craft Markdown gives you the page text with headings, lists and simple tables recovered; Pandoc cannot open them.
Can I use both tools together?
Absolutely, and many users do. A common setup: Craft Markdown for quick, one-off conversions when you need markdown from a document in 10 seconds. Pandoc for batch processing, automated pipelines, and formats Craft Markdown does not write, such as EPUB and LaTeX. They complement each other well.
Does Pandoc have a GUI?
Not officially, but several options exist. Pandoc.org now offers a browser-based interface at pandoc.org/app for simple conversions. Third-party GUIs like PanWriter (markdown editor with Pandoc export) also exist. None are as polished or purpose-built as Craft Markdown's interface for the specific task of converting files to markdown.
Which is better for converting PDFs to markdown?
Pandoc has no PDF reader, so it is not an option on its own; pdftotext from the Poppler library does the extraction and gives plain text. Craft Markdown reads text-based PDFs in the browser and also guesses headings from font size, picks up lists, bold and simple tables, and drops repeating headers and footers. For a quick conversion, Craft Markdown is faster to start and gives more structure. For batch PDF processing, a pdftotext script is more efficient. Neither does OCR or complex tables.
Which handles Word documents better?
Pandoc has stronger DOCX support for tracked changes, comments, equations and complex formatting. For everyday Word documents (headings, lists, bold/italic, links, tables, images), both produce clean output, and both write tables as pipe tables. Choose Pandoc if your documents use advanced features; choose Craft Markdown if you want the fastest path from DOCX to markdown.