HTM vs MD
A detailed comparison of HTML Document (short) and Markdown — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.
HTML Document (short)
Documents & TextHTM is an alternative extension for HTML files, functionally identical to .html. Common on older Windows systems.
About HTM filesMarkdown
Documents & TextMarkdown is a lightweight markup language that uses plain text formatting syntax. It is widely used in software development, technical documentation, and content management systems.
About MD filesStrengths Comparison
HTM Strengths
- Identical content to .html in every respect.
- Universally supported by every browser and server.
- 8.3 compatibility for antique DOS/Windows shares.
MD Strengths
- Readable as plain text even before rendering — fits in version control beautifully.
- Dead-simple: 90% of needs covered in 10 minutes of learning.
- Converts trivially to HTML, PDF, EPUB, and DOCX via Pandoc.
- Every modern IDE, note-taking app, and developer tool renders it natively.
- Lightweight — a typical Markdown file is kilobytes, not megabytes.
Limitations
HTM Limitations
- No real reason to use .htm over .html in 2026.
- Inconsistent with modern naming conventions.
- Mixed extensions within one site confuse static-site generators.
MD Limitations
- No formal authoritative spec — CommonMark, GFM, and MultiMarkdown differ on edge cases.
- Tables and complex layouts are clunky; footnotes and math require extensions.
- Links to images stay external — no embedded media unless you base64-inline.
- Styling is limited to what HTML allows — custom branding requires CSS outside Markdown.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | HTM | MD |
|---|---|---|
| MIME type | text/html | text/markdown |
| Extension | .htm | — |
| Standard | HTML Living Standard (WHATWG) | CommonMark, GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) |
| Alias of | .html | — |
| Origin | DOS 8.3 filename limit | — |
| Extensions | — | .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd |
| Encoding | — | UTF-8 (conventional) |
| Companion spec | — | RFC 7763 (2016) |
Typical File Sizes
HTM
- Legacy landing page 5-50 KB
MD
- README 1-15 KB
- Blog post 2-30 KB
- Full technical manual 50 KB - 2 MB
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Frequently Asked Questions
HTM (HTML Document (short)) is a document format used to store paginated text, with optional formatting, tables, images, hyperlinks, headers and footers. It sits in the documents & text family and is typically associated with a specific office suite or publishing pipeline that defined the format and ships the canonical reader.
Markdown is a lightweight text-based markup language created by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz in 2004. A .md file uses simple conventions (*italic*, **bold**, # headings, - lists) that compile to HTML. It became the default writing format for GitHub READMEs, Stack Overflow posts, Discord messages, and most developer documentation.
Modern office suites — Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer, Apple Pages — open most HTM files with reasonable fidelity. If your installed software does not support HTM, convert to DOCX or PDF first using KaijuConverter; both open in virtually every reader, including free online viewers.
Markdown files are plain text — open in any text editor. For formatted preview use VS Code (built-in preview), Typora, Obsidian, or upload to GitHub/GitLab which render Markdown automatically. Every note-taking app (Notion, Bear, Joplin) handles Markdown natively.
Upload the HTM to KaijuConverter and pick DOCX, PDF, ODT, RTF, HTML, Markdown, or plain text. Our pipeline runs LibreOffice headlessly plus pandoc for text formats — the same engines behind professional document pipelines. Styles, tables, images, and hyperlinks survive the conversion intact.
Yes, to a high degree. Standard fonts, headings, lists, tables, images, hyperlinks and page structure transfer cleanly. Custom fonts substitute to the closest match if not embedded; obscure layout features unique to HTM (frames, legacy macros) may flatten to static content in the target format.