A fast yet powerful Python Markdown parser with renderers and plugins.
See the codeREADME
A fast yet powerful Python Markdown parser with renderers and plugins.
[!NOTE]
I’ve released Wenmode, a new Markdown parser inspired by the lessons learned from Mistune.
Wenmode focuses on fast CommonMark-style parsing, explicit rule composition, mdast-compatible AST output, safe HTML defaults, streaming output, and pluggable renderers.
In the current benchmark suite, Wenmode’s core Markdown-to-HTML path is about 1.5-1.8x as fast as Mistune across the tested documentation corpora. See the benchmark results for the exact setup and numbers.
Check benchmark results for Wenmode.
Install
To install mistune:
$ pip install mistune
Overview
Convert Markdown to HTML with ease:
import mistune
mistune.html(your_markdown_text)
Security Reporting
If you found security bugs, please do not send a public issue or patch. You can send me email at me@lepture.com. Attachment with patch is welcome. My PGP Key fingerprint is:
72F8 E895 A70C EBDF 4F2A DFE0 7E55 E3E0 118B 2B4C
Or, you can use the Tidelift security contact. Tidelift will coordinate the fix and disclosure.
Benchmarks
Here is the benchmark score on my computer. Check the `benchmark/bench.py` script.
mistune (3.0.0) - atx: 13.901472091674805ms
mistune (slow) - atx: 13.122797012329102ms
mistune (fast) - atx: 13.248443603515625ms
mistune (full) - atx: 15.445232391357422ms
markdown (3.3.7) - atx: 48.41303825378418ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - atx: 379.30870056152344ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - atx: 25.46215057373047ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - atx: 42.37723350524902ms
mistune (3.0.0) - setext: 8.43048095703125ms
mistune (slow) - setext: 8.97979736328125ms
mistune (fast) - setext: 8.122920989990234ms
mistune (full) - setext: 9.525299072265625ms
markdown (3.3.7) - setext: 30.74812889099121ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - setext: 218.90878677368164ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - setext: 20.46680450439453ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - setext: 27.010202407836914ms
mistune (3.0.0) - normal_ul: 60.910940170288086ms
mistune (slow) - normal_ul: 59.69667434692383ms
mistune (fast) - normal_ul: 60.41216850280762ms
mistune (full) - normal_ul: 62.89219856262207ms
markdown (3.3.7) - normal_ul: 83.7857723236084ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - normal_ul: 175.36139488220215ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - normal_ul: 74.82385635375977ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - normal_ul: 103.0113697052002ms
mistune (3.0.0) - insane_ul: 104.1865348815918ms
mistune (slow) - insane_ul: 105.83090782165527ms
mistune (fast) - insane_ul: 103.03664207458496ms
mistune (full) - insane_ul: 105.80086708068848ms
markdown (3.3.7) - insane_ul: 133.82673263549805ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - insane_ul: 337.23902702331543ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - insane_ul: 122.10249900817871ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - insane_ul: 85.92629432678223ms
mistune (3.0.0) - normal_ol: 25.092601776123047ms
mistune (slow) - normal_ol: 25.321483612060547ms
mistune (fast) - normal_ol: 25.11453628540039ms
mistune (full) - normal_ol: 25.945663452148438ms
markdown (3.3.7) - normal_ol: 43.30158233642578ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - normal_ol: 75.87885856628418ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - normal_ol: 33.63537788391113ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - normal_ol: 40.307044982910156ms
mistune (3.0.0) - insane_ol: 46.201229095458984ms
mistune (slow) - insane_ol: 49.14569854736328ms
mistune (fast) - insane_ol: 45.96853256225586ms
mistune (full) - insane_ol: 47.544002532958984ms
markdown (3.3.7) - insane_ol: 50.154924392700195ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - insane_ol: 210.48712730407715ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - insane_ol: 84.07974243164062ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - insane_ol: 83.61554145812988ms
mistune (3.0.0) - blockquote: 15.484809875488281ms
mistune (slow) - blockquote: 16.12544059753418ms
mistune (fast) - blockquote: 15.350818634033203ms
mistune (full) - blockquote: 16.104936599731445ms
markdown (3.3.7) - blockquote: 63.04144859313965ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - blockquote: 702.4445533752441ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - blockquote: 28.56159210205078ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - blockquote: 37.35041618347168ms
mistune (3.0.0) - blockhtml: 7.898569107055664ms
mistune (slow) - blockhtml: 7.080316543579102ms
mistune (fast) - blockhtml: 7.414340972900391ms
mistune (full) - blockhtml: 8.559703826904297ms
markdown (3.3.7) - blockhtml: 46.65660858154297ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - blockhtml: 122.09773063659668ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - blockhtml: 12.23611831665039ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - blockhtml: 26.836156845092773ms
mistune (3.0.0) - fenced: 4.281282424926758ms
mistune (slow) - fenced: 4.092931747436523ms
mistune (fast) - fenced: 4.024267196655273ms
mistune (full) - fenced: 4.453897476196289ms
markdown (3.3.7) - fenced: 33.83779525756836ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - fenced: 92.49091148376465ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - fenced: 9.19342041015625ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - fenced: 12.503623962402344ms
mistune (3.0.0) - paragraph: 95.94106674194336ms
mistune (slow) - paragraph: 561.2788200378418ms
mistune (fast) - paragraph: 93.597412109375ms
mistune (full) - paragraph: 110.09836196899414ms
markdown (3.3.7) - paragraph: 304.1346073150635ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - paragraph: 267.84825325012207ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - paragraph: 779.3235778808594ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - paragraph: 825.5178928375244ms
mistune (3.0.0) - emphasis: 23.591041564941406ms
mistune (slow) - emphasis: 16.934871673583984ms
mistune (fast) - emphasis: 23.232460021972656ms
mistune (full) - emphasis: 25.2840518951416ms
markdown (3.3.7) - emphasis: 76.50399208068848ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - emphasis: 9.393930435180664ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - emphasis: 33.68663787841797ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - emphasis: 60.90521812438965ms
mistune (3.0.0) - auto_links: 3.7980079650878906ms
mistune (slow) - auto_links: 3.3910274505615234ms
mistune (fast) - auto_links: 3.6630630493164062ms
mistune (full) - auto_links: 3.9186477661132812ms
markdown (3.3.7) - auto_links: 23.04673194885254ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - auto_links: 6.537914276123047ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - auto_links: 8.360624313354492ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - auto_links: 19.732236862182617ms
mistune (3.0.0) - std_links: 21.920442581176758ms
mistune (slow) - std_links: 17.487764358520508ms
mistune (fast) - std_links: 19.87743377685547ms
mistune (full) - std_links: 24.514198303222656ms
markdown (3.3.7) - std_links: 39.1237735748291ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - std_links: 14.519691467285156ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - std_links: 22.84979820251465ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - std_links: 32.60660171508789ms
mistune (3.0.0) - ref_links: 47.673940658569336ms
mistune (slow) - ref_links: 39.449214935302734ms
mistune (fast) - ref_links: 44.81911659240723ms
mistune (full) - ref_links: 52.37579345703125ms
markdown (3.3.7) - ref_links: 87.65625953674316ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - ref_links: 23.118972778320312ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - ref_links: 59.136390686035156ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - ref_links: 80.44648170471191ms
mistune (3.0.0) - readme: 56.607723236083984ms
mistune (slow) - readme: 68.8173770904541ms
mistune (fast) - readme: 53.86018753051758ms
mistune (full) - readme: 61.25998497009277ms
markdown (3.3.7) - readme: 211.02523803710938ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - readme: 533.4112644195557ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - readme: 110.12959480285645ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - readme: 247.9879856109619ms
All results are in milliseconds (ms).
| / Parser ➡ Case ⬇ | mistune (3.0.0) | mistune (slow) | mistune (fast) | mistune (full) | markdown (3.3.7) | markdown2 (2.4.3) | mistletoe (0.8.2) | markdown_it (2.1.0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| atx | 13.90 | 13.12 | 13.25 | 15.45 | 48.41 | 379.31 | 25.46 | 42.38 |
| setext | 8.43 | 8.98 | 8.12 | 9.53 | 30.75 | 218.91 | 20.47 | 27.01 |
| normal_ul | 60.91 | 59.70 | 60.41 | 62.89 | 83.79 | 175.36 | 74.82 | 103.01 |
| insane_ul | 104.19 | 105.83 | 103.04 | 105.80 | 133.83 | 337.24 | 122.10 | 85.93 |
| normal_ol | 25.10 | 25.32 | 25.11 | 25.95 | 43.30 | 75.88 | 33.64 | 40.31 |
| insane_ol | 46.20 | 49.15 | 45.97 | 47.54 | 50.15 | 210.49 | 84.08 | 83.62 |
| blockquote | 15.48 | 16.13 | 15.35 | 16.10 | 63.04 | 702.44 | 28.56 | 37.35 |
| blockhtml | 7.90 | 7.08 | 7.41 | 8.56 | 46.66 | 122.10 | 12.24 | 26.84 |
| fenced | 4.28 | 4.09 | 4.02 | 4.45 | 33.84 | 92.49 | 9.19 | 12.50 |
| paragraph | 95.94 | 561.28 | 93.60 | 110.10 | 304.13 | 267.85 | 779.32 | 825.52 |
| emphasis | 23.59 | 16.93 | 23.23 | 25.28 | 76.50 | 9.39 | 33.69 | 60.91 |
| auto_links | 3.80 | 3.39 | 3.66 | 3.92 | 23.05 | 6.54 | 8.36 | 19.73 |
| std_links | 21.92 | 17.49 | 19.88 | 24.51 | 39.12 | 14.52 | 22.85 | 32.61 |
| ref_links | 47.67 | 39.45 | 44.82 | 52.38 | 87.66 | 23.12 | 59.14 | 80.45 |
| readme | 56.61 | 68.82 | 53.86 | 61.26 | 211.03 | 533.41 | 110.13 | 247.99 |
License
Mistune is licensed under BSD. Please see LICENSE for licensing details.
markdown
Significant stargazers
(top 24 of 30)
Christopher Jeffrey (JJ)
2,553 followers · starred Feb 2014
Tea Reggi
319 followers · starred Dec 2022
BD103
69 followers · starred Feb 2022
Bowen Liang
168 followers · starred Mar 2025
Similar repos
A fast yet powerful Python Markdown parser with renderers and plugins.
See the codeREADME
A fast yet powerful Python Markdown parser with renderers and plugins.
[!NOTE]
I’ve released Wenmode, a new Markdown parser inspired by the lessons learned from Mistune.
Wenmode focuses on fast CommonMark-style parsing, explicit rule composition, mdast-compatible AST output, safe HTML defaults, streaming output, and pluggable renderers.
In the current benchmark suite, Wenmode’s core Markdown-to-HTML path is about 1.5-1.8x as fast as Mistune across the tested documentation corpora. See the benchmark results for the exact setup and numbers.
Check benchmark results for Wenmode.
Install
To install mistune:
$ pip install mistune
Overview
Convert Markdown to HTML with ease:
import mistune
mistune.html(your_markdown_text)
Security Reporting
If you found security bugs, please do not send a public issue or patch. You can send me email at me@lepture.com. Attachment with patch is welcome. My PGP Key fingerprint is:
72F8 E895 A70C EBDF 4F2A DFE0 7E55 E3E0 118B 2B4C
Or, you can use the Tidelift security contact. Tidelift will coordinate the fix and disclosure.
Benchmarks
Here is the benchmark score on my computer. Check the `benchmark/bench.py` script.
mistune (3.0.0) - atx: 13.901472091674805ms
mistune (slow) - atx: 13.122797012329102ms
mistune (fast) - atx: 13.248443603515625ms
mistune (full) - atx: 15.445232391357422ms
markdown (3.3.7) - atx: 48.41303825378418ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - atx: 379.30870056152344ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - atx: 25.46215057373047ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - atx: 42.37723350524902ms
mistune (3.0.0) - setext: 8.43048095703125ms
mistune (slow) - setext: 8.97979736328125ms
mistune (fast) - setext: 8.122920989990234ms
mistune (full) - setext: 9.525299072265625ms
markdown (3.3.7) - setext: 30.74812889099121ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - setext: 218.90878677368164ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - setext: 20.46680450439453ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - setext: 27.010202407836914ms
mistune (3.0.0) - normal_ul: 60.910940170288086ms
mistune (slow) - normal_ul: 59.69667434692383ms
mistune (fast) - normal_ul: 60.41216850280762ms
mistune (full) - normal_ul: 62.89219856262207ms
markdown (3.3.7) - normal_ul: 83.7857723236084ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - normal_ul: 175.36139488220215ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - normal_ul: 74.82385635375977ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - normal_ul: 103.0113697052002ms
mistune (3.0.0) - insane_ul: 104.1865348815918ms
mistune (slow) - insane_ul: 105.83090782165527ms
mistune (fast) - insane_ul: 103.03664207458496ms
mistune (full) - insane_ul: 105.80086708068848ms
markdown (3.3.7) - insane_ul: 133.82673263549805ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - insane_ul: 337.23902702331543ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - insane_ul: 122.10249900817871ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - insane_ul: 85.92629432678223ms
mistune (3.0.0) - normal_ol: 25.092601776123047ms
mistune (slow) - normal_ol: 25.321483612060547ms
mistune (fast) - normal_ol: 25.11453628540039ms
mistune (full) - normal_ol: 25.945663452148438ms
markdown (3.3.7) - normal_ol: 43.30158233642578ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - normal_ol: 75.87885856628418ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - normal_ol: 33.63537788391113ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - normal_ol: 40.307044982910156ms
mistune (3.0.0) - insane_ol: 46.201229095458984ms
mistune (slow) - insane_ol: 49.14569854736328ms
mistune (fast) - insane_ol: 45.96853256225586ms
mistune (full) - insane_ol: 47.544002532958984ms
markdown (3.3.7) - insane_ol: 50.154924392700195ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - insane_ol: 210.48712730407715ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - insane_ol: 84.07974243164062ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - insane_ol: 83.61554145812988ms
mistune (3.0.0) - blockquote: 15.484809875488281ms
mistune (slow) - blockquote: 16.12544059753418ms
mistune (fast) - blockquote: 15.350818634033203ms
mistune (full) - blockquote: 16.104936599731445ms
markdown (3.3.7) - blockquote: 63.04144859313965ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - blockquote: 702.4445533752441ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - blockquote: 28.56159210205078ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - blockquote: 37.35041618347168ms
mistune (3.0.0) - blockhtml: 7.898569107055664ms
mistune (slow) - blockhtml: 7.080316543579102ms
mistune (fast) - blockhtml: 7.414340972900391ms
mistune (full) - blockhtml: 8.559703826904297ms
markdown (3.3.7) - blockhtml: 46.65660858154297ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - blockhtml: 122.09773063659668ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - blockhtml: 12.23611831665039ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - blockhtml: 26.836156845092773ms
mistune (3.0.0) - fenced: 4.281282424926758ms
mistune (slow) - fenced: 4.092931747436523ms
mistune (fast) - fenced: 4.024267196655273ms
mistune (full) - fenced: 4.453897476196289ms
markdown (3.3.7) - fenced: 33.83779525756836ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - fenced: 92.49091148376465ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - fenced: 9.19342041015625ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - fenced: 12.503623962402344ms
mistune (3.0.0) - paragraph: 95.94106674194336ms
mistune (slow) - paragraph: 561.2788200378418ms
mistune (fast) - paragraph: 93.597412109375ms
mistune (full) - paragraph: 110.09836196899414ms
markdown (3.3.7) - paragraph: 304.1346073150635ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - paragraph: 267.84825325012207ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - paragraph: 779.3235778808594ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - paragraph: 825.5178928375244ms
mistune (3.0.0) - emphasis: 23.591041564941406ms
mistune (slow) - emphasis: 16.934871673583984ms
mistune (fast) - emphasis: 23.232460021972656ms
mistune (full) - emphasis: 25.2840518951416ms
markdown (3.3.7) - emphasis: 76.50399208068848ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - emphasis: 9.393930435180664ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - emphasis: 33.68663787841797ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - emphasis: 60.90521812438965ms
mistune (3.0.0) - auto_links: 3.7980079650878906ms
mistune (slow) - auto_links: 3.3910274505615234ms
mistune (fast) - auto_links: 3.6630630493164062ms
mistune (full) - auto_links: 3.9186477661132812ms
markdown (3.3.7) - auto_links: 23.04673194885254ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - auto_links: 6.537914276123047ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - auto_links: 8.360624313354492ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - auto_links: 19.732236862182617ms
mistune (3.0.0) - std_links: 21.920442581176758ms
mistune (slow) - std_links: 17.487764358520508ms
mistune (fast) - std_links: 19.87743377685547ms
mistune (full) - std_links: 24.514198303222656ms
markdown (3.3.7) - std_links: 39.1237735748291ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - std_links: 14.519691467285156ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - std_links: 22.84979820251465ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - std_links: 32.60660171508789ms
mistune (3.0.0) - ref_links: 47.673940658569336ms
mistune (slow) - ref_links: 39.449214935302734ms
mistune (fast) - ref_links: 44.81911659240723ms
mistune (full) - ref_links: 52.37579345703125ms
markdown (3.3.7) - ref_links: 87.65625953674316ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - ref_links: 23.118972778320312ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - ref_links: 59.136390686035156ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - ref_links: 80.44648170471191ms
mistune (3.0.0) - readme: 56.607723236083984ms
mistune (slow) - readme: 68.8173770904541ms
mistune (fast) - readme: 53.86018753051758ms
mistune (full) - readme: 61.25998497009277ms
markdown (3.3.7) - readme: 211.02523803710938ms
markdown2 (2.4.3) - readme: 533.4112644195557ms
mistletoe (0.8.2) - readme: 110.12959480285645ms
markdown_it (2.1.0) - readme: 247.9879856109619ms
All results are in milliseconds (ms).
| / Parser ➡ Case ⬇ | mistune (3.0.0) | mistune (slow) | mistune (fast) | mistune (full) | markdown (3.3.7) | markdown2 (2.4.3) | mistletoe (0.8.2) | markdown_it (2.1.0) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| atx | 13.90 | 13.12 | 13.25 | 15.45 | 48.41 | 379.31 | 25.46 | 42.38 |
| setext | 8.43 | 8.98 | 8.12 | 9.53 | 30.75 | 218.91 | 20.47 | 27.01 |
| normal_ul | 60.91 | 59.70 | 60.41 | 62.89 | 83.79 | 175.36 | 74.82 | 103.01 |
| insane_ul | 104.19 | 105.83 | 103.04 | 105.80 | 133.83 | 337.24 | 122.10 | 85.93 |
| normal_ol | 25.10 | 25.32 | 25.11 | 25.95 | 43.30 | 75.88 | 33.64 | 40.31 |
| insane_ol | 46.20 | 49.15 | 45.97 | 47.54 | 50.15 | 210.49 | 84.08 | 83.62 |
| blockquote | 15.48 | 16.13 | 15.35 | 16.10 | 63.04 | 702.44 | 28.56 | 37.35 |
| blockhtml | 7.90 | 7.08 | 7.41 | 8.56 | 46.66 | 122.10 | 12.24 | 26.84 |
| fenced | 4.28 | 4.09 | 4.02 | 4.45 | 33.84 | 92.49 | 9.19 | 12.50 |
| paragraph | 95.94 | 561.28 | 93.60 | 110.10 | 304.13 | 267.85 | 779.32 | 825.52 |
| emphasis | 23.59 | 16.93 | 23.23 | 25.28 | 76.50 | 9.39 | 33.69 | 60.91 |
| auto_links | 3.80 | 3.39 | 3.66 | 3.92 | 23.05 | 6.54 | 8.36 | 19.73 |
| std_links | 21.92 | 17.49 | 19.88 | 24.51 | 39.12 | 14.52 | 22.85 | 32.61 |
| ref_links | 47.67 | 39.45 | 44.82 | 52.38 | 87.66 | 23.12 | 59.14 | 80.45 |
| readme | 56.61 | 68.82 | 53.86 | 61.26 | 211.03 | 533.41 | 110.13 | 247.99 |
License
Mistune is licensed under BSD. Please see LICENSE for licensing details.
markdown
Significant stargazers
(top 24 of 30)
Christopher Jeffrey (JJ)
2,553 followers · starred Feb 2014
Tea Reggi
319 followers · starred Dec 2022
BD103
69 followers · starred Feb 2022
Bowen Liang
168 followers · starred Mar 2025