What is Pandoc used for?

Pandoc is a Haskell library and command-line tool that converts documents between dozens of markup formats, including Markdown, HTML, LaTeX and Word. It is a good fit for converting Markdown to Word or PDF, academic writing pipelines and documentation build systems.

Is Pandoc open source?

Yes. Pandoc is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at jgm/pandoc and is written mainly in Haskell.

Yes. Pandoc is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What is Pandoc an alternative to?

Pandoc is an open-source alternative to HelpNDoc. Other open-source alternatives to HelpNDoc include Quarkdown and Gramax.

Is Pandoc actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Pandoc was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 3.12, published on 29 September 2026. The project has 46k stars on GitHub.

Pandoc: open-source alternative to HelpNDoc

About Pandoc

Pandoc is a universal markup converter, made up of a Haskell library that translates content between markup formats and a command-line tool built on it. It can read a very wide range of formats, including AsciiDoc, BibTeX, CommonMark, DocBook, Word docx, EPUB, HTML, Jupyter notebooks, LaTeX, several Markdown variants, MediaWiki, Org mode, reStructuredText, Textile and Typst. It is released under the GPL-2.0 license.

Beyond the built-in readers and writers, the documentation describes custom readers and writers written in Lua. Pandoc can also write to many output formats, such as HTML, docx, EPUB and LaTeX. Its topics reference publishing, presentations and CommonMark, reflecting its use in academic writing and document pipelines.

Because it is a command-line tool and a library, Pandoc is easy to script and to embed in build systems, static-site generators and writing workflows. It suits writers, researchers, documentation teams and developers who need to move content between Markdown, Word, web and print formats without retyping.

Key features

Converts between dozens of markup formats
Reads Markdown, HTML, LaTeX, docx and EPUB
Command-line tool and Haskell library
Custom readers and writers in Lua
Bibliography and citation formats supported
Scriptable for publishing pipelines

Good fit for

→Converting Markdown to Word or PDF
→Academic writing pipelines
→Documentation build systems

Built with: Haskell
Tags: document-conversion; markdown; haskell; latex; publishing; epub; docx; cli

Pandoc: questions and answers

What is Pandoc used for?: Pandoc is a Haskell library and command-line tool that converts documents between dozens of markup formats, including Markdown, HTML, LaTeX and Word. It is a good fit for converting Markdown to Word or PDF, academic writing pipelines and documentation build systems.
Is Pandoc open source?: Yes. Pandoc is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at jgm/pandoc and is written mainly in Haskell.
Is Pandoc free?: Yes. Pandoc is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What is Pandoc an alternative to?: Pandoc is an open-source alternative to HelpNDoc. Other open-source alternatives to HelpNDoc include Quarkdown and Gramax.
Is Pandoc actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Pandoc was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 3.12, published on 29 September 2026. The project has 46k stars on GitHub.