MarkItDown vs 
MinerU
MarkItDown vs MinerU compared for 2026 — features, license, ease of use, performance and which one to choose. Turn any office document into clean Markdown vs PDF to Markdown with formulas and tables.
Updated regularly · curated by olud.ai
MarkItDown vs MinerU at a glance
| Spec | MarkItDown | MinerU |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Document AI & OCR | Document AI & OCR |
| Type | Document converter (Python CLI) | Document extractor |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Runs locally | Yes | Yes |
| Primary language | Python | Python |
| Ease of use | Beginner | Intermediate |
| Best for | anyone preparing office documents for RAG or a long-context prompt | scientific PDFs with formulas |
| GitHub stars | 166.9k | 78.9k |
How MarkItDown and MinerU score
| Criterion | MarkItDown | MinerU |
|---|---|---|
| Popularity | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Maintenance | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Ease of use | 5.0 | 3.5 |
| Privacy | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| License freedom | 5.0 | 3.5 |
Scores are computed automatically from public signals — GitHub stars (popularity), recent commit activity (maintenance), license type (freedom), local-first design (privacy) and onboarding complexity (ease of use). Indicative, not a verdict.
What each one is
MarkItDown
MarkItDown is a Microsoft tool that converts PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, images and audio into Markdown, so documents can be fed to a language model without the formatting noise that wastes tokens and confuses retrieval.
- One command for a dozen document formats
- Runs entirely locally: no document leaves your machine
- Maintained by Microsoft, with LangChain and AutoGen integrations
MinerU
MinerU extracts text, tables, formulas and images from PDFs into Markdown or JSON, handling scientific documents particularly well.
- Extracts formulas as LaTeX
- Strong table structure recovery
- Handles scanned documents
Key differences
MarkItDown is document converter (Python CLI), while MinerU is document extractor. Their licenses differ (MIT vs AGPL-3.0), which matters if you ship a commercial product. MarkItDown leans more beginner-friendly, whereas MinerU is more suited to intermediate users. In short, MarkItDown fits anyone preparing office documents for RAG or a long-context prompt, and MinerU fits scientific PDFs with formulas.
Which should you choose?
Choose MarkItDown for anyone preparing office documents for RAG or a long-context prompt. Choose MinerU for scientific PDFs with formulas.
There is rarely one winner — many setups use both. The right pick depends on your hardware, your team's skills, and whether you value simplicity or control.
Frequently asked questions
Is MarkItDown or MinerU easier to use?
MarkItDown is generally the easier of the two to get started with, while MinerU rewards more setup with more control.
Are MarkItDown and MinerU free?
MarkItDown is free and open source (MIT), and MinerU is free and open source (AGPL-3.0). Neither charges for the core software.
Can I run MarkItDown and MinerU locally?
MarkItDown: yes · MinerU: yes. Both can be used without sending your data to a third-party cloud where their setup allows.
MarkItDown vs MinerU — which should I pick in 2026?
Choose MarkItDown for anyone preparing office documents for RAG or a long-context prompt. Choose MinerU for scientific PDFs with formulas.
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