When comparing typora vs Checkvist, the Slant community recommends typora for most people. In the question“What is the best cross-platform note-taking app?” typora is ranked 15th while Checkvist is ranked 42nd. The most important reason people chose typora is:
Typora immediately renders what's typed on the screen in Markdown format. This helps users to have a better understanding of how their document is being formatted.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Live preview
Typora immediately renders what's typed on the screen in Markdown format. This helps users to have a better understanding of how their document is being formatted.
Pro Hybrid interface
The editor and preview dual-pane setup typical of desktop Markdown editors are gone; instead, a singular interface makes for a WYSIWYG experience. This streamlines the workflow and encourages direct manipulation.
Pro Support for LaTeX expressions
It supports LaTeX expressions, with an easy-to-use MaxJax panel.
Pro Syntax highlight for fenced codes
It supports GFM's code fences, with syntax highlight support for C/C++, java, etc.
Pro Custom theme support
Typora has clean yet beautiful built-in themes and allows for users to create new themes using CSS.
Pro Support for tables
It supports tables for Markdown Extra. And also provides a GUI to make it easy to insert and edit them.
Pro Inline images
It won't display image like ![alt](http://image-url)
, But shows the image content inside the editor.
Pro Free during beta
Pro Shows table of contents for the document
It supports an outline for the document, by showing a table of contents on the left side of the screen.
Pro Cross-platform
Currently works on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Pro Natural typing experience
Editing in Markdown, either in WYSIWYG mode or in markdown code mode, feels natural. It never gets in the way.
Pro Make charts and diagrams with Mermaid, FlowChart and Sequence
Use fenced code-blocks to render diagrams using syntax from Mermaid and FlowChart.js.
Pro Sidebar with a list of files
You can open any folder in sidebar and see a list of other markdown files.
Pro Syncs with iCloud
Pro As simple or as complex as you need
Checkvist hits a sweet spot between minimal and complexity. It gives you a host of options and extras to use on your lists, but you can completely ignore them if you don't need them and keep it very simple. This makes Checkvist a one-stop shop, regardless of what type of 'list' you need.
Pro Tasks can be managed with custom tags
Pro vim-like commands
Pro Convenient search by text or tag filtering
Pro Converts incoming emails to todos - this is a way to enter tasks from anywhere.
Pro Great search
Search filters help you search for tasks by tag, due date, assignee, etc.
Pro Very flexible
To-do lists often need to be grouped and regrouped for clarity. The outline-based nature of Checkvist makes it easy to move things across categories, to increase and decrease priority, etc.
Pro Smart parsing of items
Parses markdown, html links, hashtags to become formatted text, clickable links, and tags, respectively.
Pro Generous set of free features
Checkvist offers many free features if you are using this individually.
Pro Supports comments on tasks
Any item can have a free-text comment, which can be shown or hidden as desired.
Cons
Con No mobile (Android/iOS) apps
Con In beta
Typora is still in beta and may be prone to changes or bugs.
Con Unusable image management
Con The immediate rendering of Markdown is hard on the eyes
Having Markdown immediately render causes text to jump into formatted text, which is distracting and hard on the eyes.
Con No portable version (Windows)
You need admin rights on a managed Windows computer to install it. There currently is no portable version available.
Con Limited capability in the android app
Checkvist is primarily a web interface.