Glow
Render Markdown in the terminal.
Read rendered Markdown in the terminal from local files, standard input, or supported remote sources. Glow offers a terminal interface for discovering Markdown in a directory, filtering the file list, and paging through documents, with configurable styles for different terminal backgrounds. It is a reader rather than an authoring editor.
Product preview
See Glow in action

What is Glow best for?
Glow is a free Markdown tool best suited to reading readme files and documentation from a terminal. It is available as CLI on macOS, Windows, Linux, CLI, and its source status is open source.
Verified editor profile
Reviewed September 27, 2026
MarkdownList independently checked these facts against the product, its official documentation, or its public source. Missing items mean not verified, not necessarily unsupported.
Editing experience
Files and offline use
- Local Markdown files
- Folder or workspace support
At a glance
- Pricing
- Free
- Source
- Open source
- Best for
- Reading README files and documentation from a terminal
Availability
Platforms
Surfaces
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