Our take
Activeregular commits and releases- Activity
- 58
- Community
- 81
- Issues
- 55
- Pull requests
- 51
+2 stars in the last 15 days
- More contributors than 77% of the projects we track
An established, actively maintained Markdown library with broad contributor participation and regular releases, though its stated known compliance issues are worth checking against your syntax needs.
Good fit if
- Your Python project needs Markdown-to-HTML conversion and the documented syntax meets your requirements.
- You want extension support and are comfortable using a library that requires Python 3.11 or later.
- You value an active project with regular commits and releases, broad contributor participation, and ongoing issue and pull-request handling.
Look elsewhere if
- You require complete compliance with the Markdown reference implementation, since the project acknowledges known issues.
- Your environment cannot run Python 3.11 or later.
- Your application needs a renderer for a language other than Python.
All health signals
| Last commit | 2026-10-16 (3 days ago) |
|---|---|
| Commits, last 90 days | 28 |
| Releases, last 12 months | 6 (latest 3.11.1, 2026-10-13) |
| Contributors | 100+ (top contributor: 46% of commits) |
| Issues closed, last 90 days | 23 (typically closed in 37 days) |
| Pull requests merged, last 90 days | 26 (typically merged in 1 day) |
| Project age | 16 years |
Checked on 2026-10-19 with the GitHub API.
Overview
Python-Markdown is a Python implementation of John Gruber’s Markdown, the format it converts to HTML. It is intended for developers who need to render Markdown in Python applications, with extensions available when the core syntax is not enough.
The project describes itself as almost completely compliant with the reference implementation, while noting some known issues. Its extension system offers a way to add features beyond the core implementation.
Key Features
- Converts Markdown text to HTML from Python.
- Provides an extension system for additional Markdown features.
- Aims for near-compliance with John Gruber’s reference implementation.
- Documents supported and unsupported features on the project website.
- Offers a Python API for rendering text in applications.
Use Cases
- Python web applications that need to render user-authored Markdown as HTML.
- Documentation tools that turn Markdown source into HTML output.
- Content workflows that need Markdown rendering with selected extensions.
What you need
Detected in the repository
- Python >=3.11 (from pyproject.toml)
- A test suite and automated checks on GitHub Actions
License in plain words
BSD-3-Clausepermissive
- Commercial use: yes
- Modify and redistribute: yes
- You must keep: the copyright and license notice; the authors' names cannot endorse your product
- Share your changes: no
A summary, not legal advice: the LICENSE file is what applies.
Getting Started
Install the package:
pip install markdown
See the README and project documentation for usage and installation details.
Alternatives
- mistune: Mistune is another Python Markdown-to-HTML parser, with configurable renderers and plugins rather than Python-Markdown’s extension-based architecture.
| Project | Language | License | Stars | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| markdown | Python | BSD-3-Clause | 4.3k | Active |
| mistune | Python | BSD-3-Clause | 3.1k | Active |
Considerations
The project acknowledges that it has known differences from the reference implementation, so check its feature documentation if exact syntax behavior matters. The package requires Python 3.11 or later. It is distributed under the BSD-3-Clause license.
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