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Comparison

markdown-it vs markdownlint

MarkdownPackage data 25 Sept 2026
markdown-itv15.0.2, 11 Sept 2026

Markdown-it - modern pluggable markdown parser.

$ npm install markdown-it
markdownlintv0.41.1, 13 Jul 2026

A Node.js style checker and lint tool for Markdown/CommonMark files.

$ npm install markdownlint
Metricmarkdown-itmarkdownlintDifference
Weekly downloads20,702,5932,172,841markdown-it 9.5x higher
12-month download growth+143%+127%markdown-it +15 pts
Gzip size---
Minified size---
Dependencies69markdownlint 3 more
Unpacked size1.9 MB821 kBmarkdownlint 2.3x smaller
Latest release15.0.2, 11 Sept 20260.41.1, 13 Jul 2026markdown-it 2 months more recent
Releases, last 12 months84markdown-it 4 more
First published19 Dec 201415 Mar 2015markdown-it 3 months earlier
GitHub stars21,9406,357markdown-it 3.5x higher
Open issues882markdownlint 74 more
Open pull requests20markdown-it 2 more
Contributors---
Commits, last 52 weeks123368markdownlint 3.0x higher
TypeScript typesBundledBundledSame
Module formatESM + CommonJSESM onlyDiffers
Runtimes---
LicenseMITMITSame

Green marks the smaller size or the more recent release. Bold marks the higher count, with no judgement implied. Sizes are for the whole package per Bundlephobia. Growth compares the average of the last 4 weeks with the first 4 weeks of the 52-week series.

markdown-it20.7m latest weekmarkdownlint2.2m latest week
Week of 23 Sept 2025Week of 15 Sept 2026
Weekly npm downloads, 52 weeks. Y axis starts at zero. Values are not smoothed.

markdown-it

Major versions
  1. 2.0.019 Dec 2014
  2. 3.0.04 Jan 2015
  3. 4.0.012 Mar 2015
  4. 5.0.05 Oct 2015
  5. 6.0.010 Feb 2016
  6. 7.0.022 Jun 2016
  7. 8.0.016 Sept 2016
  8. 9.0.09 Jul 2019
  9. 10.0.010 Sept 2019
  10. 11.0.019 May 2020
  11. 12.0.014 Oct 2020
  12. 13.0.022 Apr 2022
  13. 14.0.08 Dec 2023
  14. 15.0.030 Jul 2026
Last 5 releases
  1. 14.3.212 Sept 2026
  2. 15.0.211 Sept 2026
  3. 15.0.127 Aug 2026
  4. 14.3.127 Aug 2026
  5. 15.0.030 Jul 2026
87 releases in total, 8 in the last 12 months

markdownlint

Major versions
  1. 0.0.115 Mar 2015
Last 5 releases
  1. 0.41.113 Jul 2026
  2. 0.41.010 Jun 2026
  3. 0.40.04 Dec 2025
  4. 0.39.013 Oct 2025
  5. 0.38.03 May 2025
80 releases in total, 4 in the last 12 months
markdown-it

-

markdownlint

-

markdown-it

-

markdownlint

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  • Need both ESM and CommonJS entry pointsmarkdown-it (markdown-it: ESM + CommonJS; markdownlint: ESM only)
  • Need to load it with require()markdown-it
  • Need TypeScript types in the package itselfBoth
  • Node.js version requirementmarkdown-it: none declared; markdownlint: >=22 (engines field in package.json)
  • Need the more recent releasemarkdown-it (15.0.2 on 11 Sept 2026 vs 0.41.1 on 13 Jul 2026)
  • Higher weekly npm downloadsmarkdown-it (20.7m vs 2.2m)

Each line is generated from the data above.

Indexability: Indexed.