anydoc vs MarkItDown
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
Converts Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF and other documents into clean Markdown, built in Rust.
Open source · MIT
Python tool that converts files like PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint into Markdown.
The short answer
Choose anydoc if you need…
- Developers who need document text in Markdown for an app or pipeline
- People building AI agents that must read office files
- Teams converting many Word or PowerPoint files into one consistent format
- Anyone who wants to convert files locally in the browser without uploading them
Choose MarkItDown if you need…
- Developers building LLM or text analysis pipelines that need document text
- People who want to convert a batch of PDFs or Office files to Markdown from the command line
- Projects that need a Python library to add document conversion to existing code
Side-by-side
| anydoc | MarkItDown | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 23.3k | 193k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Rust | Python |
| Last code update | 14 days ago | 9 days ago |
What each one is
anydoc
anydoc is a library that reads office and document files such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OpenDocument, RTF, EPUB, CSV and PDF and turns them into GitHub-flavored Markdown. The README says it is written in Rust with bindings for Node.js, Python and the browser via WebAssembly, and it can also be used as a command-line tool. It is built by Firecrawl, and the README describes its output as LLM-ready Markdown.
MarkItDown
MarkItDown is a Python utility that turns many common file types, such as PDFs, Office documents, HTML, images, audio and YouTube links, into Markdown text. It keeps structure like headings, lists, tables and links. People use it mainly to prepare documents as plain text for large language models and text analysis pipelines.
Best for
anydoc
- Developers who need document text in Markdown for an app or pipeline
- People building AI agents that must read office files
- Teams converting many Word or PowerPoint files into one consistent format
- Anyone who wants to convert files locally in the browser without uploading them
MarkItDown
- Developers building LLM or text analysis pipelines that need document text
- People who want to convert a batch of PDFs or Office files to Markdown from the command line
- Projects that need a Python library to add document conversion to existing code
Strengths
anydoc
- The README says one shared document model and serializer give the same Markdown style across formats
- Content-based format detection reads the file bytes, so mislabeled files can still convert
- Runs locally for text-based files, with no ML models or external services needed for that path
MarkItDown
- Preserves document structure such as headings, lists, tables and links
- Supports many formats from one tool, with optional dependencies you can install selectively
- Has a Python API and command line interface, plus optional third-party plugins
Not ideal for
anydoc
- Scanned or image-only PDFs without OCR, since the README says anydoc does no OCR itself and such pages fail with NeedsOcr unless you opt into the hosted Parse service
- People who need pixel-perfect layout preservation, which the README does not claim
- Users who want a point-and-click desktop app; the README focuses on CLI and code bindings
MarkItDown
- Anyone needing high-fidelity layout for human reading, since the README says output is meant for text analysis tools and may not be the best for human consumption
- Untrusted environments without input sanitizing, because the tool runs with the current process's file and network access
- Users who need video conversion from the built-in converters, since the README says only the Azure Content Understanding option supports video
Trade-offs
anydoc
- Scanned pages need the hosted Parse service for OCR, which sends the whole document off the machine and may need an API key for higher limits
- The README reports performance numbers and a benchmark against other converters, but the benchmark table is cut off in the provided text, so comparisons cannot be verified here
- Output is Markdown, so complex layouts and formatting may be simplified
MarkItDown
- The README says output is designed for machines and may not suit high-fidelity human reading
- Some conversions, such as cloud-based Azure options, are billable and require external endpoints
- Converting with untrusted inputs requires care because it accesses resources the process can reach
Getting started
anydoc
Node.js package
npm install @firecrawl/anydocPython package
pip install firecrawl-anydocMarkItDown
Install with pip (all optional dependencies)
pip install 'markitdown[all]'Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between anydoc and MarkItDown?
anydoc: Converts Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF and other documents into clean Markdown, built in Rust. MarkItDown: Python tool that converts files like PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint into Markdown. anydoc suits developers who need document text in markdown for an app or pipeline, while MarkItDown suits developers building llm or text analysis pipelines that need document text.
Are anydoc and MarkItDown free?
anydoc: Free and open source. MarkItDown: Free and open source.
Is anydoc or MarkItDown more popular?
MarkItDown has more GitHub stars (193k) than anydoc (23.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to anydoc and MarkItDown?
Other options people compare them with include Docling, pdfplumber, pdf-inspector.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.