# One Clear Reader vs the VS Code Markdown preview > When VS Code's free Markdown preview is enough, when it isn't, and how it compares to One Clear Reader for reading and reviewing AI documents on a Mac. Source: https://oneclearreader.com/compare/one-clear-reader-vs-vscode · Updated 28 September 2026 · One Clear Reader (Northlight Group Pty Ltd) > [!answer] Use **VS Code's preview** over One Clear Reader if you already work in a code editor and the file is in your open project. It's free and draws Mermaid diagrams and math. Use **One Clear Reader** when the file came from an AI and you want to read it: paste the path or type part of the name, and it opens as a page you can review and annotate. ## What's the difference between One Clear Reader and VS Code's preview? **Visual Studio Code** is a free code editor from Microsoft. Cursor is built on the VS Code codebase ([Cursor docs](https://cursor.com/docs/configuration/migrations/vscode)), so a lot of what follows applies there too. It's a remarkable tool for writing code, and it can show Markdown as a formatted preview beside the text. **One Clear Reader** is a Mac app for reading documents, especially the ones AI tools create. It opens Markdown as a clean page, opens PDF, Word, EPUB, web pages and CSV too, and lets you make quick edits, leave notes for the AI and see what changed. The useful question is what you're doing at the moment you need to read something. Building software, or just reading? ## Doesn't VS Code already preview Markdown? VS Code already previews Markdown well enough for a lot of people, and that's worth saying plainly. If your AI runs inside VS Code or Cursor, the plan it writes lands in the project you already have open. Press ⇧⌘V and you're reading it. The preview now draws Mermaid diagrams and math with KaTeX, with no extensions ([VS Code docs](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/markdown)). Older comparisons, including an earlier version of this page, said you needed an extension for diagrams. That's no longer true. Where it stops is outside the project and after the reading. VS Code doesn't list a way to find the file your AI saved somewhere else, gather your comments into one prompt, show what changed since you last looked, or hand a Word doc to someone who's never opened a code editor. If you never need those, keep using VS Code. > [!scribble] vs code is a workshop. some days you just want a lamp. ## How do One Clear Reader and VS Code's preview compare side by side? The table below compares One Clear Reader and VS Code's Markdown preview on finding, reading, reviewing, editing and exporting files, with VS Code facts checked 28 September 2026. | | One Clear Reader | VS Code preview | |---|---|---| | What it's for | Finding, reading and reviewing the files your AI makes, with light editing | Writing code, with a Markdown preview built in | | How you see it formatted | It opens formatted | Press ⇧⌘V, or ⌘K then V for side by side | | Read Markdown, PDF, Word, EPUB, web pages and CSV in one app | ✓ (also .txt and .tsv; PDFs keep their layout) | Partly (Markdown, HTML and CSV open as source code, with a Markdown preview; PDF needs an extension) | | Open the file your AI just made by pasting its path | ✓ (cleans up quotes, `~/` and line numbers like `:142`) | Partly (`code --goto file:line` from Terminal) | | See your AI's newest files, even in temp folders and Claude Code plans | ✓ (Latest from your AI, last 24 hours) | ✗ | | Find a file by part of its name, or by words inside it | ✓ (Spotlight across your home folder and iCloud Drive) | Partly (inside the open folder only) | | Diagrams, tables and math drawn | ✓ (Mermaid, KaTeX) | ✓ (Mermaid and KaTeX, built into the preview) | | Ready-made reading settings for ADHD and dyslexia | ✓ (Neuro-friendly, Paragraph Focus, Large Print, all free) | Partly (preview font, size and line height settings, custom CSS) | | Highlight, add notes and send them to your AI as one prompt | ✓ (3 notes a document free, unlimited with Pro) | ✗ | | See what changed after your AI edits the file | ✓ (since the last refresh, free; since your last visit, Pro) | Partly (Timeline compares versions; Git shows changes in a repository) | | Edit and save the same file | ✓ (Markdown source free; visual "Edit like a document" is Pro; shows the changes before saving) | ✓ (full code editor) | | Version history | ✓ (newest 3 free, up to 25 with Pro) | ✓ (Local History in the Timeline, 50 entries a file by default) | | Edit a Word file and keep it a Word file | ✓ (Pro; free edits a Markdown copy) | ✗ | | Save as PDF and Word | ✓ (Pro, plus a client PDF with a cover) | Add-on (extensions for both; Word also needs Pandoc) | | No account, files stay on your Mac | ✓ (no analytics code) | Partly (no account for core features, files local; sends usage data by default, which you can turn off) | | Works on | Mac (Apple silicon, macOS 13 or later) | Mac, Windows, Linux | | Price | Free forever. Pro is optional: $19.99 a year, or $29 once at launch (first 500) | Free | Checked 28 September 2026 against Microsoft's [Markdown documentation](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/markdown), [VS Code FAQ](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/faq), [telemetry docs](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/configure/telemetry), [command line docs](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/configure/command-line), the [Markdown extension settings](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/main/extensions/markdown-language-features/package.json), and the [Markdown PDF](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=yzane.markdown-pdf), [vscode-pandoc](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=DougFinke.vscode-pandoc) and [PDF viewer](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=tomoki1207.pdf) extensions. ✗ means it isn't a feature in VS Code's official docs. For more apps in one table, see [Markdown readers for Mac, compared](/compare/markdown-readers-mac). ## When is VS Code's preview the right tool? VS Code's preview beats One Clear Reader when the file is already in your project, you edit Markdown beside code, you want Git's view of changes, you want it free, or you're not on an Apple silicon Mac. ### The file is already in your project If Cursor just wrote `docs/architecture.md` into the repository you're working on, the file is sitting in your sidebar. Press ⇧⌘V and read it. There's no reason to switch apps for that. ### You're editing Markdown alongside code Documentation that lives next to code, like READMEs, changelogs and design notes, is best edited where the code is. VS Code's side-by-side preview (⌘K then V) follows along as you scroll and edit, and you get Git, search across the project and all your usual shortcuts. ### You want to see changes as Git sees them If your AI works in a Git repository, VS Code's Git tools show its changes across the whole project. One Clear Reader shows changes one file at a time, so for a big code change, Git in VS Code is the better view, and it's free. ### You want it free and you already have it VS Code costs nothing. If the preview does what you need, you don't need another app. ### You're on Windows, Linux or an Intel Mac VS Code runs on all of them, including Intel Macs ([VS Code docs](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/mac), checked 27 September 2026). One Clear Reader is Mac only, and the current build runs on Apple silicon Macs only. ## When is One Clear Reader better than VS Code's preview? One Clear Reader beats VS Code's preview when the file isn't in any project, you review plans before approving them, you don't write code, or your files aren't all Markdown. ### The file isn't in any project AI tools create files everywhere: Downloads, `/tmp`, a folder Claude Code was running in last Tuesday, or `~/.claude/plans`, where Claude Code keeps its plans (`~` means your home folder). To read one in VS Code you open the file or its folder first, which often means a new window. In One Clear Reader, press ⌘L, paste the path the AI gave you and press Return. It strips quotes, backticks, `file://` and a `:142` line number for you. Or type a few letters of the name: it uses Spotlight to search your home folder and iCloud Drive, names first, then files with those words inside. Spotlight skips `/tmp` and `~/.claude`. The **Latest from your AI** list on the welcome screen covers that gap. It shows documents changed in the last 24 hours, newest first, and checks those folders too. ### You review plans before you approve them This is where a reader earns its place for developers. Select the words you disagree with, press ⌥⌘N and type a note. The note stays tied to those words. Then **Copy as prompt** copies one message with the file path, each quote and each note, ready to paste into Claude Code or Codex. Free gives you 3 notes a document. Pro has no limit. When the AI rewrites the plan, the page reloads and says how many sections are new or changed since the last refresh, with a button to jump to each one. Notes whose words changed show "This text has changed". With Pro, **Changed since your last visit** marks what's different since you last read the file, even without Git. For other ways to spot changes, see [how to see what an AI changed](/guides/see-what-ai-changed). [How to review a Claude Code plan](/guides/review-claude-code-plan) walks through it step by step. ### You don't write code Plenty of people now use AI tools every day without being developers. For them, VS Code is a large, unfamiliar app to open just to read a plan. One Clear Reader opens straight to the document, and you can make it the default for every .md file you double-click ([here's how](/guides/change-default-app-md-mac)). ### You want to read, not work A code editor surrounds the document with a file tree, tabs, a status bar and panels. That's right for building software and a lot of noise for reading a two-page brief. One Clear Reader gives the page the whole window, with a sidebar of headings when you want it. It also has ready-made reading profiles, all free. **Neuro-friendly** uses Atkinson Hyperlegible with extra spacing and a cream page. **Paragraph Focus** dims everything except one paragraph. In VS Code you'd set the preview font and line height yourself, or write CSS. ### The files aren't all Markdown If the same job involves a PDF from a client, a Word doc from a colleague and a CSV export, One Clear Reader opens all of them. PDFs keep their layout, CSV becomes a sortable table, and Word files open with their real headings. With Pro you can change the words in a Word file and it stays a Word file. On Free, **Edit a copy as Markdown** makes a .md beside it and leaves the Word file alone. ### Someone wants a Word doc or a PDF **Save as Word** (Pro) builds a real .docx with Word headings, lists, tables, links and pictures, and diagrams as pictures. **Save as client PDF** (Pro) adds a cover with the title, who it's for and who made it. VS Code needs extensions for both, and Word export also needs Pandoc installed. For the free routes, see [how to turn a .md file into a Word document](/guides/markdown-to-word). ## Why pay for a Markdown reader when VS Code is free? You might not need to pay for a Markdown reader if VS Code already does the job. As one developer put it, paying for a Markdown editor is "just like paying for an egg slicer". That's a fair challenge. One Clear Reader's free version reads, searches and edits Markdown with no time limit and no account. It includes the paste box, Latest from your AI, the reading profiles, 3 notes a document with Copy as prompt, and "changed since the last refresh". Pro is for when the output matters: Save as Word and PDF, client PDFs, the visual editor, editing Word files in place, unlimited notes, 10 tabs and "changed since your last visit". Pro is $19.99 a year or $59 once, and there's a 30-day trial with no card. If VS Code already covers your day, keep your money. ## How do you use One Clear Reader and VS Code together? You can split the work between VS Code and One Clear Reader like this: 1. **Working inside a repo?** Read and edit Markdown in VS Code or Cursor with the preview. 2. **Got a path from Claude, ChatGPT or an agent?** Paste it into One Clear Reader to read it. 3. **Reviewing a plan before it runs?** Open it in One Clear Reader, add notes, then paste the prompt back into the chat. 4. **Want every .md you double-click to open as a page?** Make One Clear Reader the default app for .md files. VS Code still opens them when you open a folder in it. To set the default: select a .md file in Finder, press ⌘I, choose One Clear Reader under **Open with**, and click **Change All**. ## Questions ### How do I preview Markdown in VS Code? In VS Code, open the .md file and press ⇧⌘V. Press ⌘K, then V, to show the preview beside the editor. ### Does VS Code show Mermaid diagrams without an extension? Yes. VS Code's built-in Markdown preview now draws Mermaid diagrams and math, according to Microsoft's docs checked 28 September 2026. Older advice saying you need an extension is out of date. ### Does Cursor have the same Markdown preview as VS Code? Mostly. Cursor is built on the VS Code codebase, but it can add or change features of its own, so check Cursor's docs for how its preview works today. ### Is One Clear Reader a code editor? No. One Clear Reader is a reader and editor for documents. It shows code blocks with color highlighting and a Copy button, but it isn't meant for writing software. ### Can I open the same file in both apps? Yes. VS Code and One Clear Reader can both open the same .md file on your disk. If you save a change in VS Code, One Clear Reader reloads the page and tells you how many sections changed, with a button to jump to each. ### Does One Clear Reader send my documents anywhere? No. Reading, search, editing and making PDF or Word files all happen on your Mac, with no account and no analytics code. It only goes online for a license key, a daily update check or the buy page.