The short answer
For a quick look at a README or a plan without leaving the shell, or on a server over SSH, use Glow. For a document with diagrams, math or images, anything long, or anything you will print or hand to someone who does not use a terminal, open it in MarkdownPaper.
Where Glow is the better choice
- You never leave the terminal. Read a file in the pane beside your agent or editor, in tmux, or on a remote machine over SSH, where no window can open at all.
- It follows the file too. Glow's full screen reader watches the open
file and reloads it when it changes, and
rreloads by hand. The MarkdownPaper desktop app does the same in a window. - It finds your Markdown. Run it in a repository and it lists every Markdown file there to browse. It also reads from standard input, from a URL, and from a GitHub or GitLab repository by name.
- It fits into scripts. Pipe into it, set the wrap width with
-w, send the output through your pager with-p, or pick a style with-s, including your own. - Every system, free. Mac, Linux and Windows, through Homebrew, apt, winget, Scoop and more, under the MIT license.
Where MarkdownPaper is the better choice
- Diagrams, math and images. A terminal draws characters, not pictures. Glow's issue tracker has open requests for Mermaid diagrams, for math and for images, and a diagram written in Markdown reaches the terminal as its source. MarkdownPaper draws Mermaid diagrams, typesets KaTeX math and shows images, including ones stored beside the file when you read it in the desktop app.
- A page rather than a screen of text. Text is set in a proportional serif at a measure counted in characters, 74 by default, with the contents in the page margin so a long plan can be read section by section.
- Handing it on. Print gives real page margins for a PDF, a rendered page copies into Google Docs with its tables intact, and a share link carries the whole document inside the link.
- People who do not use a terminal. A product manager or a client can read the same file in the free web reader, with no install and no account.
Side by side
| Glow | MarkdownPaper | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Any terminal, including over SSH | A window, or any browser |
| Type | The terminal's monospaced font | A proportional serif, width set in characters |
| Follows file changes | Yes, in its full screen reader | Yes, in the desktop app |
| Diagrams | Shown as source | Mermaid, drawn |
| Math and images | Not rendered | KaTeX and images |
| Finds files | Lists every Markdown file in a repository | Opens files and folders you choose |
| Print and export | Terminal output | Print to PDF, self contained HTML, rich text |
Opening a file in MarkdownPaper from the terminal
The desktop app registers for .md files, so the shell can hand a file over
in one command. On the Mac:
open -a MarkdownPaper PLAN.mdOn Windows, once MarkdownPaper is the default app for .md files:
start PLAN.mdThe window then follows the file as your agent or editor rewrites it, the same as Glow's reader does in the terminal.
Price
Glow is free and open source. The MarkdownPaper web reader is free too, with no account and no limits.
The MarkdownPaper desktop app: Coming soon to the Mac App Store and the Microsoft Store. $6.99 launch price, paid once, with no subscription. About the desktop app.
Using both
Keep Glow for the quick look: a README in a repository you just cloned, a plan in the pane beside your agent, anything on a server. When a document has a diagram, an equation or real length, or needs to reach someone else, open it in MarkdownPaper. If you read Markdown in an editor rather than a terminal, the VS Code comparison covers that.
Questions
Does Glow render Mermaid diagrams?
No. Support for Mermaid has been an open request on Glow's issue tracker since 2022, and a diagram arrives in the terminal as its source. MarkdownPaper draws it.
Does Glow reload when the file changes?
Yes, in its full screen reader: it watches the open file and reloads it when
it is saved, and r reloads by hand. Output printed straight to the terminal
is a snapshot.
What is a good way to read the plans Claude Code or Codex write?
For a glance while the agent works, Glow in a split pane is hard to beat. For reading the plan properly, especially one with a diagram, open it in the MarkdownPaper desktop app and leave it open: the page follows the file as the agent rewrites it.