Upload an EPUB and get a structured Markdown ebook — chapters, sections, footnotes, and inline formatting preserved.
Ebooks are made of HTML. We turn them into Markdown.
EPUB is just zipped HTML, which means the content is already structured — you only need a careful converter that respects the spine order and inline formatting. Ours unpacks the archive, walks every chapter in reading order, and converts each one through Turndown with the GFM plugin, so tables stay as tables, lists keep their hierarchy, and inline <code> doesn't become a fenced block.
This is the cleanest path to feeding a long book into an LLM, building a personal study knowledge base, or migrating a self-published ebook into a Markdown-first publishing pipeline.
What is preserved
Chapter order taken from the OPF spine (the same order an EPUB reader follows)
EPUB footnotes (epub:type="noteref") mapped to CommonMark [^id]
Dublin Core metadata exposed as an optional YAML frontmatter block
The result is a clean Markdown ebook that opens correctly in any Markdown editor and can be re-rendered to PDF, HTML, or another EPUB later.
How it works
Upload your .epub file
We unzip the archive in your browser and parse the OPF manifest
Each chapter is converted via Turndown + the GFM plugin with EPUB-specific rules for footnotes and figures
Optional YAML frontmatter is prepended with title, author, language, publisher, and ISBN
Download a single .md file with `---` separators between chapters
Use cases
Feed long non-fiction books into ChatGPT or Claude for study
Build a personal book vault in Obsidian
Generate per-chapter summaries with an LLM
Migrate self-published ebooks into a docs-as-code pipeline
Translate ebooks chapter by chapter while preserving formatting
Create searchable archives of public-domain works
Frequently asked questions
Does it support DRM-protected EPUBs?
No. We detect Adobe ADEPT and other AES-based DRM via META-INF/encryption.xml and reject the file with a clear message before any conversion happens. EPUBs that only use IDPF font obfuscation (which is not DRM and does not encrypt text) are accepted normally.
Does it work for fiction?
Yes. Block quotes, italic emphasis, dialogue, and nested lists are preserved. Poetry and verse-specific formatting (CSS-driven line breaks) is best-effort — most readers convert it correctly because the underlying HTML uses ` ` or `
`.
How are footnotes handled?
EPUB footnotes that use `epub:type="noteref"` / `role="doc-noteref"` for the reference and `epub:type="footnote"` for the body are converted to CommonMark `[^id]` syntax with a matching `[^id]: ...` definition block. The output renders correctly in GitHub, Obsidian, Pandoc, and most Markdown viewers.
Can I split by chapter?
Yes. The "Output" select offers two modes: "Single .md" produces one file with `---` separators between chapters. "Split by chapter (.zip)" produces a ZIP containing one .md per chapter, an `index.md` with the TOC, and an `assets/` folder with the images (when image mode is set to "External assets/").
Are images included?
Three modes via the "Images" select. "Skip" replaces each image with a `[Image: alt text]` placeholder (default, smallest output). "Inline (data URI)" embeds each image as a base64 data URI in the Markdown — convenient single-file but expands the output (capped at ~12 MB raw image data per book). "External assets/" extracts images into the ZIP under `assets/` and is only available in split-ZIP mode.
Is there a table of contents?
Yes when the "Include table of contents" checkbox is on. We parse `nav.xhtml` (EPUB 3) or `toc.ncx` (EPUB 2) and emit a hierarchical Markdown TOC. In split mode, TOC entries link to the per-chapter .md files; in single mode they use GFM-style heading anchors.
How big can the EPUB be?
Up to your plan's max file size. The conversion runs entirely in your browser, so very large books use your machine's memory, not ours.
Can I convert multiple EPUBs at once?
Yes. Drop several .epub files and each is processed sequentially. The ceiling is 50 files per batch, the same on every plan. "Download All as ZIP" packs every conversion into a single archive — for split-mode batches each book gets its own subdirectory with index.md + chapter .md files + assets/.
Are uploads stored?
No. The .epub never leaves your browser. We only persist an anonymous usage row (file size, chapter count) for product analytics.
Your AI doesn't read PDFs directly. It first has to extract the text, decode the layout, ignore the metadata — before it can even start answering. A Markdown file removes all of those steps. Your AI reads it instantly. So you get faster responses, more accurate results, and zero information lost along the way.
Size-wise, it's 100 to 500 times lighter for the same content. A 15 MB PDF becomes a 30 KB .md file. So your AI knowledge base can hold hundreds of documents instead of a handful.
MDisBetter brings 19 free tools together for that — documents, videos, audio, web pages and prompts.
How does it work?
Drop a PDF, a video, an audio file or a URL. MDisBetter extracts the content and gives you a clean Markdown file. So you can send it to your AI, add it to your project files, or store it in your knowledge base — without losing anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert a PDF to Markdown for free?
Upload your PDF to MDisBetter, click Convert, and get structured Markdown in seconds. No signup, no installation — it works directly in your browser. The free plan includes 50 credits per month.
Why is Markdown better than PDF for AI?
Markdown reduces token usage by up to 95% compared to PDF. AI models like ChatGPT and Claude process Markdown far more efficiently because it contains only content structure — no fonts, no layout data, no binary overhead.
What file types can MDisBetter convert?
MDisBetter converts PDF, Word (.docx), plain text, YouTube videos (transcript), audio files (MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, FLAC, WEBM), and any web page URL to clean Markdown.
Is MDisBetter free?
Yes, free to start. The free plan includes 50 credits per month. All processing happens securely — your files are never stored.
Can I extract a YouTube transcript as Markdown?
Yes. Paste the YouTube video URL, click Convert, and get the full transcript structured as Markdown with headings and timestamps. Perfect for feeding video content to AI tools.
PDF → Markdown
Faithful and structured conversion of your documents
Text to MD, EPUB to MD, MD to PDF, MD Cleaner, Merger, Chunker, Token Counter, Context Builder
Free
—
Word to MD
0.5 credit
per page
Excel to MD
0.5 credit
per conversion
Single URL Scrape
0.5 credit
per call
Site Crawl
1 credit
per page
Translate
1 credit
per 10 000 chars (min 1, free re-translation on cache hit)
Prompt Optimizer
1 credit
per call
System Prompt Generator
1 credit
per call
Audio to MD
2 credits
per minute
Video to MD
2 credits
per minute
YouTube to MD
2 credits
per minute
Image OCR
4 credits
per image (0 on cache hit)
PDF to MD
4 credits
per page
PPTX to MD
4 credits
per slide
Questions
Yes! You get 50 credits every month to use any tool. Basic tools like MD Cleaner or Token Counter cost just 0.5 credit per use. When you run out, credits reset the next month or you can upgrade for more.
Wait for your monthly reset or upgrade to a higher plan. Credits renew on your billing date each month.
Yes, cancel anytime with one click. No questions asked. You keep access until the end of your billing period.
Pro gives you 30,000 credits for $29 — that's 30x more credits than Starter for just 3x the price. Every credit costs less, so you get far more value per dollar.