Scripto vs Pandoc
Pandoc is one of the great pieces of open-source software: a command-line converter between dozens of document formats, with a LaTeX-grade PDF pipeline. If you have it configured and love it, nothing here will (or should) talk you out of it.
Scripto answers a different question: how do you get a beautifully paginated PDF from Markdown without installing a toolchain, learning template languages, or leaving the browser — and see the pages while you write.
| Dimension | Scripto | Pandoc |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Zero — open a URL | CLI install + LaTeX distribution (~1–4 GB) for PDF |
| Preview | Live paginated preview; WYSIWYG | None — run, open PDF, adjust, repeat |
| Styling | 20+ visual skins + custom CSS | LaTeX templates / reference docs — powerful, steep |
| Headers & page numbers | Built-in, visual configuration | Yes, via LaTeX variables/templates |
| Math | KaTeX (TeX syntax) | Full LaTeX — the gold standard |
| Mermaid diagrams | Native | Requires filters (mermaid-filter + headless browser) |
| Citations & BibTeX | Not supported | First-class (citeproc) |
| Batch / automation | No CLI | Perfect for CI and scripts |
| Input formats | Markdown, DOCX→MD, HTML→MD | Dozens (org, rst, LaTeX, EPUB…) |
| Privacy | Client-side, offline PWA | Local CLI — equally private |
| Price | Free (MIT) | Free (GPL) |
Choose Scripto when…
- You want a visual, immediate write-and-export loop
- No appetite for LaTeX installs or template debugging
- Mermaid, callouts and skins matter more than citations
- You are on a machine where you can’t install anything
Choose Pandoc when…
- Academic writing with citations, cross-references, BibTeX
- Batch conversion in scripts or CI pipelines
- Exotic input/output formats beyond Markdown and PDF
Different engines, different philosophies
Pandoc’s PDF quality comes from LaTeX (or Typst/wkhtmltopdf), driven by templates and variables — infinitely scriptable, invisible until compiled. Scripto’s comes from the browser’s CSS engine plus Paged.js — visual, immediate, themeable with plain CSS. Both produce genuinely typeset output; they differ in feedback loop and setup cost.
They also compose: plenty of users keep Pandoc for automated pipelines and use Scripto when a human needs to shape one document quickly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Scripto built on Pandoc?
No. Scripto uses remark/rehype for parsing and Paged.js for pagination, all running in the browser. Pandoc is a native binary.
Can Scripto do citations like Pandoc?
No — no citeproc/BibTeX. Footnotes exist; for academic citation workflows Pandoc (or LaTeX) is the right tool.
Is there a Scripto CLI for CI?
Not currently; Scripto is a browser studio. For headless batch conversion, Pandoc is excellent.
Related
Judge the output yourself.
Paste one of your real documents into Scripto and export the PDF — it takes under a minute.