Metallurgy vs MarkItDown.
MarkItDown is a free Python tool that converts files to Markdown for LLMs, and Metallurgy is a Mac app that reads documents on device for coding agents. This page compares price and features.
| Feature | Metallurgy | MarkItDown |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Not set yet | Free (MIT) |
| Runs on Windows and Linux | No | Yes |
| Documents stay on your machine | Yes | Partlybuilt-in converters |
| No extra API key | Yes | PartlyOCR needs LLM |
| Reads scanned PDFs (OCR) | Yes | PartlyLLM plugin |
| Reads audio and video | Yes | Partlyaudio, via cloud |
| Returns only the part asked for | Yes | No |
| Ships an agent skill | Yes | PartlyMCP server |
| Platforms | macOS 27, Apple silicon | Any with Python 3.10+ |
| How you get it | Mac app | pip install markitdown |
| Records tokens saved | Yes | No |
| Reads Word, Excel and PowerPoint | No | Yes |
Yes Yes Partly Partly No No
Price
MarkItDown is free and open source under the MIT licence. Its optional Azure Document Intelligence or Azure Content Understanding integrations make billable Azure API calls if you turn them on. Metallurgy will be sold as a one-time purchase with lifetime access; the price is not yet set.
Whole files or passages
MarkItDown converts a whole file to Markdown, keeping headings, lists, tables and links, and the agent then reads the entire result. Metallurgy returns only the pieces asked for, such as ranked passages with file, page and line references, named fields or distinct errors. In the project’s benchmark on the engine Metallurgy was built from, that approach cut Claude’s cost across 12 tasks from $1.829 reading files itself to $0.791, a fall of 57%.
Where MarkItDown is ahead
- It is free and open source under the MIT licence, while Metallurgy will be a paid app whose price is not yet set.
- It runs anywhere Python 3.10 to 3.14 runs, not only on a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 27.
- It converts Word, Excel, PowerPoint, EPub, ZIP and YouTube URLs, which Metallurgy does not list among its inputs.
- It ships an MCP server, and Metallurgy has none yet.
- It produces a whole-document Markdown conversion that keeps headings, lists, tables and links.
Metallurgy is coming soon.
It will be sold like every Handy Tools app: one fee, lifetime access.
It will need macOS 27 or later, Apple silicon.
More comparisons
Sources
Checked against MarkItDown’s own website and documentation on 13 November 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll correct it.
MarkItDown is a trademark of its owner. Metallurgy is not affiliated with it.