As we wrap up an incredible year at HackMD, we’re taking a moment to reflect on 2024 – a year filled with growth and collaboration for you and our team. From launching some of your most-requested features to welcoming more than 160k new teams, creators, and innovators, it’s been an eventful ride. And we couldn’t have done it without you. 💜
Because every update and new feature is created together with you – how you work and what you make fuels us to build a better product. We build and ship, you bring those features to life.
So we’re remembering what we built together, highlighting the features that defined our year, sharing exciting stats about how you’ve been using HackMD, and giving a sneak peek into our vision for 2025.
Have you enjoyed using HackMD this past year? Take 5 minutes to fill out the survey in your email inbox. It’s insights like yours that help us shape HackMD into a tool you love using.
Everything we shipped in 2024
2024 was a busy year for the team. We unveiled updates to enhance your collaboration experience within the text editor – including a few highly-requested features – and prioritized accessibility and flexibility.
The revamped commenting system introduced a sleek side panel for better organization, real-time notifications, emoji reactions, and a hybrid mode for grouped discussions, all designed to make teamwork smoother and more intuitive. Suggest Edit was the next to roll out, building off the commenting system and adding a new dimension to collaboration. With Suggest Edit you could now propose changes directly within a note, as well as keep your document tidy by hiding and resolving comments or edits. Along with these enhancements to collaboration, the floating toolbar and copy link features were added, enabling quick formatting and seamless sharing of specific content.
This year, we prioritized accessibility and flexibility with features like Offline Access, PDF exports, Dark Mode, and OTP support. Offline Access ensures your work continues uninterrupted, while enhanced PDF exports guarantee polished documents across a range of formats. Alongside PDF exports, we enabled support for OTP, making account security more user-friendly. And over the summer we unveiled a native Dark Mode, bringing a sleek and practical look to HackMD.
All in all, this year we were obsessed with enhancing the text editor and overall product experience so that you can collaborate and innovate with even more efficiency. We’re committed to creating a platform that’s not just functional, but delightful to use.
Partnering to bring new web3 capabilities to HackMD
This year, we partnered with industry leaders SpruceID and Login.xyz to introduce Sign-In with Ethereum (SIWE) within HackMD. This marks the second major integration on HackMD with web3 tooling.
This innovative feature allows users to sign in using their Ethereum wallet and ENS profile, enhancing both security and privacy by eliminating the need for traditional intermediaries. By integrating this authentication method, we’re embracing a future where decentralization meets intuitive workflows, giving our community a seamless yet self-custodial login experience. Whether you’re a web3 enthusiast or just value greater control over your data, SIWE marks a bold step forward in redefining how we interact online.
Company happenings: From rebranding to team growth
Beyond updates to the product, the HackMD team launched exciting new initiatives, participated in key industry events, and welcomed new team members.
After months of hard work and creativity, we were thrilled to unveil our company rebrand. HackMD celebrated its 9th anniversary in November this year and with how much we’ve changed since then, we realized it was time for our visual identity to grow and evolve with us. We wanted a look that reflects who we are now and where we’re headed in the future.
In 2024, we also announced a newsletter, the HackMD Markdown Memo. In this monthly newsletter, readers learn about communities building with Markdown, new product features, the best ways to harness the platform, and catch up on industry news. If you’re not already subscribed, you can sign up to receive the newsletter at the bottom of this page. 👇
While we were mainly heads down building, there were times this year when we closed our computers to join you IRL. We kicked off by attending ETHDenver, where we connected with leaders in the blockchain space, and later joined the Hello World Dev Conference, immersing ourselves in the vibrant developer community. Our team also took the stage, with Zoe sharing insights at the Women in Data Science Taipei Conference and Yukai engaging developers at the Supabase Taipei Meetup. We showed our support for open-source and creativity by sponsoring COSCUP and NCKU Formula Racing, reinforcing our commitment to fostering talent and innovation across diverse fields.
HackMD leaders joined industry podcasts throughout the year. Our CEO, Jong-Kai Yang, and Marketing Director, Rachel Golden, joined Genzio Media at ETHDenver to discuss the link between projects and their communities and the importance of documentation. Jong-kai was back on the mic with Web3 Galaxy Brain to highlight the hidden features in the product and why HackMD is rooted in collaboration.
This year, HackMD welcomed an incredible group of talented individuals to our team, each bringing unique skills and fresh perspectives. From a designer, helping to make our product beautiful, to a custom support specialist, answering all of your questions, to a marketer amplifying our message (you may have seen his name on a few blogs lately 😉), their contributions have been instrumental in shaping HackMD’s success in 2024. They’ve not only strengthened our ability to innovate but have also enriched our culture with their passion and creativity.
By the numbers
We can’t stop saying it, but it’s true: we couldn’t have accomplished everything we did in 2024 without you! From creating, sharing, and collaborating on notes to building connections across teams and countries, HackMD has grown together with you in ways we’re beyond proud to celebrate.
Here’s a look at some of the amazing things we’ve accomplished together in 2024:
But it’s not just about the numbers, it’s about the incredible stories, real people, and communities behind them. One of those communities is SCIST, a group making waves in IT education and showcasing the power of collaboration on HackMD.
SCIST, the Students’ Community of Information in Southern Taiwan, is on a mission to expand IT education among tech enthusiasts in the region. HackMD has been instrumental in supporting SCIST’s initiatives by transforming how they collaborate, share knowledge, and connect with their community. From meeting notes to project documentation, the platform enables their team to stay aligned and efficient. They’ve even leveraged HackMD’s “Book Mode” to structure resources and insights, making them accessible for both their team and the wider community. Through HackMD, SCIST continues to connect with like-minded individuals, share knowledge, and inspire other student organizations to embrace collaborative tools.
SCIST is just one example of how HackMD empowers communities, but they’re far from alone. Across industries like software development, web3, research, education, startups, and non-profits, HackMD is the go-to platform for teams that value collaboration and innovation. HackMD provides the tools to bring people together, spark creativity, and turn ideas into action.
Our vision for 2025
Over the past year, we’ve been heads down redesigning and improving the experience at HackMD. But there’s still a lot of work to be done.
And as we look ahead to 2025, our vision is centered around one key theme: community. At HackMD, we believe that great things happen when people come together to collaborate, share knowledge, and create. So for this upcoming year, we’re not only focusing on how HackMD can help you document ideas but also how it can foster connection and amplify the power of collaboration within your communities.
Next year, we’re rolling out improvements to your workspace, including a feature we’ve been hinting at for a while now. As well as, more updates to make working together in Markdown and sharing your content smoother. We want HackMD to fit even more seamlessly into your existing tech stack so that you can work smarter, not harder. We’ll highlight new ways to use HackMD with the tools you already love and maybe partner with a few new ones.
And because we’re serious about our commitment to fostering community, meeting you IRL will be a stronger focus of ours next year. Whether it’s through sponsoring meetups, speaking at events, or just getting out there at the industry events you know and love, we’re committed to supporting the communities that make HackMD so special.
2025 is all about bridging gaps – between ideas and execution, teams and tools, and individuals and communities.
Celebrating 2024 with a giveaway 🎉
2024 was a big year for us here at HackMD. And we couldn’t have done it without you. 💜 That’s why, this holiday season, we’re spreading cheer and celebrating everything we’ve done together with a special giveaway!
One lucky winner will receive a free year of HackMD Prime, unlocking premium features like unlimited GitHub pushes, unlimited version history, and PDF exports to make building even better.
Here’s how to enter:
- Like and share one of these giveaway posts (Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn)
- Follow us on the corresponding channel (i.e. if you liked and shared on Twitter, follow us there)
- Comment on the post with your HackMD profile link
New users can join in the fun too! Simply sign up for a HackMD account and follow the same steps. Everyone has until Friday, January 3rd, 2025 at 11:59pm PT to enter. Terms and conditions apply.
This giveaway is our way of saying thank you for being a part of the HackMD community and making 2024 so special. There’s so much more to come and we can’t wait to see what 2025 holds!
Have you enjoyed using HackMD this past year? Take 5 minutes to fill out the survey in your email inbox. It’s insights like yours that help us shape HackMD into a tool you love using.
