Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

Marklib is a lightweight JavaScript library that converts text selections in web pages into serializable markings without requiring dependencies. It allows users to highlight portions of text and persist those markings… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. A DOM text-selection highlight renderer launched in 2015; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   A JavaScript library for data visualization in both SVG and Canvas▲161

   Here's a project I've been working on for a little while now. Ripl is a JS library that provides a unified API for rendering shapes on both canvas and SVG interchangeably. Over the years I've used D3 extensively to create data visualisations so I figured I'd have a go at making my own version with a slightly more modern API and stricter TypeScript support. I am aware there are already libraries that can draw to multiple contexts interchangeably, but I've added a few little niceties to Ripl that (as far as I know) some other libraries don't have such as CSS-like query selectors, DOM-like…

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Marked QL▲159

   Instant markdown previews in Finder

   Jul 2026 · markedapp.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   MarkX▲90

   Effortless bookmarking and precision highlighting

   2023 · chromewebstore.google.com · its alternatives →

4. 4ZJ
   ztext.js – JavaScript library that makes any font 3D▲257

   2020 · bennettfeely.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Highlight▲318

   See and act on your webapp's issues and interactions

   2021 · launchdarkly.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Blotter.js▲243

   A JavaScript API for unconventional text effects on the web.

   2018 · blotter.js.org · its alternatives →

7. 7
   An upcoming js-library to realize visual DOM-Selections▲10

   ✨ Viselect - A high performance and lightweight library to add a visual way of selecting elements, just like on your Desktop. Zero dependencies, super small. Support for major frameworks! - simonwep/viselect

   2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Review my project: MarkUp, a tool to draw on any webpage.▲90

   Here's the website: http://markup.io/ We created MarkUp at Medium to help make the QA process better for sites we're working on. Grab the MarkUp bookmarklet, go to some page in your browser, then click it to draw on the page. Publish to make a link you can share. We've tried similar tools like BounceApp, Notable, and Skitch. Everything else we found is screenshot-based or takes us out of the browser. We wanted something that felt quicker than screenshots and more integrated with the browsing experience. Instead of taking a screenshot, MarkUp snapshots the DOM in the current page, strips the…

   2010 · markup.io · its alternatives →

9. 9KJ
   Kerning.js — Take control of your web typography▲154

   2011 · endtwist.github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Copy as Markdown▲302

    Convert text to markdown for LLMs like ChatGPT

    2025 · copyasmarkdown.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Markdown page – Create a web page with just markdown▲169

    📝 create a webpage with just markdown. Contribute to oscarmorrison/md-page development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    CSS to render Markdown as unrendered Markdown▲161

    Render Markdown as unrendered Markdown (see http://jsbin.com/huwosomawo) - markdown.css

    2015 · gist.github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    A syntax highlighter for Git and diff output, written in Rust▲261

    A syntax-highlighting pager for git, diff, grep, rg --json, and blame output - dandavison/delta

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Instant HTML Preview Bookmarklet▲130

    Hey HN, I recently found myself needing a quick way to preview HTML and SVG code without having to copy it into an IDE, save it, and then open it in a browser. ChatGPT's new canvas feature is great for generating code, but it doesn't provide a way to preview HTML directly. To solve this, I made a small bookmarklet that allows you to instantly preview HTML from your clipboard in a new tab. Just copy your HTML, click the bookmarklet, and it will render immediately. It's a simple tool, but it’s saved me a lot of repetitive steps, and I figured it might help others too. The bookmarklet code and…

    2024 · gist.github.com · its alternatives →

15. 15SJ
    Scratch.js – Interactive JavaScript Scratchpad▲169

    2020 · hole.dev · its alternatives →

16. 16
    showmd▲204

    Markdown was never meant to be previewed plain text

    Apr 2026 · showmd.yetanother.one · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Code Hike – More than syntax highlighting▲118

    Use Markdown and React to build rich content websites. Documentation, tutorials, blogs, videos, interactive walkthroughs, and more.

    2021 · codehike.org · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Wordmark.it▲133

    Helps you choose fonts.

    2015 · wordmark.it · its alternatives →

19. 19
    mark.js▲12

    Keyword highlighter

    2016 · markjs.io · its alternatives →

20. 20TM
    Typograms, Markdown-like renderer for ASCII diagrams▲140

    2022 · code.sgo.to · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Pastel Bookmarklet▲130

    Mark up any website from your browser, for free

    2019 · usepastel.com · its alternatives →

22. 22RJ
    Rune.js – Graphic design systems with SVG in the browser or Node.js▲92

    A JavaScript library for programming graphic design systems with SVG

    2015 · runemadsen.github.io · its alternatives →

23. 23EA
    Expounder – A small JavaScript library for more engaging tutorials▲134

    2016 · skorokithakis.github.io · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Markvis▲118

    Make visualization in markdown.

    2017 · markvis.js.org · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →