Markdown vs Word: Which One Should You Use?

How I Went from Word to Markdown

Funny story—three years ago I was a Word die-hard. Wrote my thesis in Word, reports in Word, even shopping lists in Word. Then one day a programmer friend saw me writing technical docs in Word and literally laughed.

"Why aren't you using Markdown? Look at your Word doc—you can't even see diffs in Git."

I was clueless: "What's diff? What's Markdown?"

That night, I spent an hour learning Markdown basics. The next three years, my workflow completely changed. Now 80% of my writing—tech docs, blogs, meeting notes—is in Markdown.

But I haven't abandoned Word entirely. For client proposals and formal contracts, I still use Word. These two tools really have their own battlefields.

The Core Difference

Word: What You See Is What You Get

Word is WYSIWYG—What You See Is What You Get.

Want to bold a word? Select it, click B in the toolbar, done. Adjust font size, change colors, insert images—all point-and-click.

Advantages:

• Almost zero learning curve
• Visual formatting adjustments
• Print looks like screen

Markdown: What You Write Is What You Get

Markdown is different. It's plain text plus symbols. You write **bold**, and in the editor you see exactly **bold**—it only renders as bold in preview or export.

Takes getting used to. But once you know the syntax, your hands never leave the keyboard. And because it's plain text, files are tiny, open instantly, and never have weird formatting corruption.

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Technical Documentation

My real experience: Last year I helped write API docs using Word. Three months in, the doc was 200+ pages. Word took 10 seconds to open, saved with lag. Worse, when a colleague fixed a wrong parameter, we couldn't see what exactly changed—Word's track changes with code blocks is a disaster.

After migrating to Markdown + Git, a colleague changed one line, and git diff shows:

- "timeout": 30
+ "timeout": 60

Crystal clear.

Verdict: Use Markdown for tech docs, especially with version control.

Scenario 2: Business Proposals

Once I tried writing a business proposal in Markdown. Client feedback: "This format is too ugly, can you make it look better?"

What clients want: Beautiful covers, company logos, fancy headers and footers, elaborate color schemes. Word (or Office suite) excels at this.

I got smarter:

• Draft content in Markdown (faster typing)
• Convert to Word with doc2markdown.com then beautify

Verdict: Formal documents needing beautiful formatting—final delivery in Word.

Scenario 3: Blogging

My personal blog uses Hugo, all articles are Markdown.

Benefits:

• Blog migration is trivial (plain text files, just copy)
• Native code highlighting
• Write, git push, auto-deploy

You've seen Markdown technical blogs and Word-style WeChat articles. But you rarely see programmers blogging in Word—it's just too painful.

Verdict: Technical blogs and long-term content creation—Markdown is the choice.

Scenario 4: Daily Notes

This comes down to personal preference.

I use Obsidian for notes—all Markdown files. Benefits: bidirectional linking, local storage, data in my hands.

My wife uses OneNote (also Microsoft). She finds handwriting, pasting images, recording audio more convenient than typing.

No right or wrong. Whatever works for you.

Verdict: Depends what you value—plain text control or rich media convenience.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Markdown	Word
Learning curve	Medium (syntax required)	Low (everyone knows it)
Version control	Excellent (plain text, Git-friendly)	Poor (binary format, diff nightmare)
Collaborative editing	Needs external tools	Native support (online version)
Code display	Native code blocks	Manual font adjustment
Complex layout	Limited	Strong (styles, TOC, footnotes)
File size	Tiny (KB level)	Large (MB common)
Opening speed	Instant	Large files slow
Format corruption	Non-existent	Common weird issues
Export formats	HTML, PDF, Word all work	Mainly PDF
Portability	Any text editor	Needs Office software

When to Use Markdown?

1. Tech docs: API docs, manuals, READMEs
2. Blogging: Especially with static site generators
3. GitHub: Issues, PRs, Wikis
4. Notes: Journals, reading notes, meeting notes
5. Drafts: Anything needing later format conversion

When to Use Word?

1. Formal business docs: Proposals, contracts, reports
2. Complex layout needs: Multi-column, text wrapping, precise positioning
3. Collaborating with traditional industries: They only accept .doc/.docx
4. Comments and revisions: Word's annotation features are solid
5. Non-tech audience delivery: Don't expect your boss to open .md files

My Actual Workflow

Daily content creation

• Draft in Markdown (faster typing)
• Convert formats with doc2markdown.com (when needed)
• Final delivery depends on scenario

Technical work

• All Markdown
• Git version control
• Automated deployment

Business scenarios

• Word or Google Docs
• Watch formatting consistency
• Export PDF for delivery

Conclusion: Not Either-Or

Back to the opening question: Markdown or Word—which suits you?

Honestly, the question itself is wrong. They're not competitors—they're complementary.

Like having both a kitchen knife and scissors at home. Cut vegetables with the knife, cut things with scissors. You wouldn't ask "which is better, knife or scissors?", right?

If you're a programmer, technical writer, or heavy note-taker, Markdown is absolutely worth learning. One hour to start, lifetime benefits.

If you mainly create business documents, need beautiful formatting, or collaborate with non-tech people, Word remains your main tool.

Best scenario: Know both, choose based on context. That's my conclusion after three years.