Kami vs Marp
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
Layout rules and templates that let AI agents export documents as PDF, PNG, or editable PowerPoint.
Open source · MIT
An entry point to the Marp family of tools for making slide decks from plain Markdown.
The short answer
Choose Kami if you need…
- People who use Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor and want polished documents without manual layout work
- Writers or founders who need one-pagers, resumes, or formal letters in a consistent style
- Developers who want technical reports or changelogs rendered as clean PDFs
- Users who write in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean and need proper font handling
Choose Marp if you need…
- People who prefer writing slides as Markdown text rather than in a visual editor
- Developers who want to generate slide decks from code or scripts
- VS Code users who want a live preview of their slides
- Anyone looking for an overview of the Marp ecosystem before choosing a component
Side-by-side
| Kami | Marp | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | AI model / agent | Other |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 12.2k | 12.7k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | See the README |
| Main language | HTML | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 5 days ago | 3 months ago |
What each one is
Kami
Kami is a set of layout rules and document templates for AI coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex. You ask the agent for a one-pager, letter, resume, report, or slide deck, and Kami helps it produce a styled file as PDF, PNG, or editable PowerPoint. The README describes eight built-in document templates plus a landing page system, with English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean support.
Marp
Marp is a set of open-source projects for writing presentations in plain Markdown text and converting them into slides. This repository is mainly a hub that links to the family's parts: the Marpit framework, Marp Core, Marp CLI for exporting to HTML, PDF, PPTX or images, and a VS Code extension for previewing decks. The README also links to the project website and an awesome list of Marp resources.
Best for
Kami
- People who use Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor and want polished documents without manual layout work
- Writers or founders who need one-pagers, resumes, or formal letters in a consistent style
- Developers who want technical reports or changelogs rendered as clean PDFs
- Users who write in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean and need proper font handling
Marp
- People who prefer writing slides as Markdown text rather than in a visual editor
- Developers who want to generate slide decks from code or scripts
- VS Code users who want a live preview of their slides
- Anyone looking for an overview of the Marp ecosystem before choosing a component
Strengths
Kami
- Installs through a single documented command for several major agents
- Covers multiple languages with language-specific font fallbacks
- Optional brand profile file lets you reuse your color, name, and tone settings
Marp
- Slides are plain Markdown files that work with version control and any text editor
- Multiple export formats are supported through the CLI, according to the README
- Released under the MIT license with an active project and a large community
Not ideal for
Kami
- People who need precise pixel-level control in a visual editor, since Kami works through an agent and templates rather than a drag-and-drop interface
- Windows users who do not want to use WSL, because the README says helper scripts are Bash and native Windows needs separate GTK/Pango setup
- Anyone who cannot run an AI agent, since the skill is designed to be triggered by agent requests
Marp
- Users who need a drag-and-drop slide editor, since this project is text-based (reason: the README describes Markdown writing, not a visual editor)
- People who need the classic Marp app, which the README says is archived (reason: the README points to a gravesite for the old app)
Trade-offs
Kami
- Setup depends on external tools such as WeasyPrint, and the README says native Windows needs extra GTK/Pango runtime installation
- Some features, like syntax highlighting, degrade gracefully when optional packages such as Pygments are missing
- Output quality and layout depend on the AI agent driving it, which the README does not fully detail
Marp
- This repository is a directory of links, so you must install the individual components to actually make slides
- The README does not give installation commands for the components, so setup details must come from their own repos
- Some older parts such as Marp Web, Marp React and Marp Vue are listed as outdated or inactive
Getting started
Kami
Install the skill for Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor
npx skills add tw93/kami -a claude-code codex cursor -g -yUpdate the skill
npx skills update -g -yMarp
Clone this repository
git clone https://github.com/marp-team/marpFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Kami and Marp?
Kami: Layout rules and templates that let AI agents export documents as PDF, PNG, or editable PowerPoint. Marp: An entry point to the Marp family of tools for making slide decks from plain Markdown. Kami suits people who use claude code, codex, or cursor and want polished documents without manual layout work, while Marp suits people who prefer writing slides as markdown text rather than in a visual editor.
Are Kami and Marp free?
Kami: Free and open source. Marp: Free and open source.
Is Kami or Marp more popular?
Marp has more GitHub stars (12.7k) than Kami (12.2k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Kami and Marp?
Other options people compare them with include Taste Skill, diagram-design, Humanizer, Ponytail, Hermes Agent.
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.