Vesper
Your words.
Nothing else.
A distraction-free markdown reader for Windows with refined
typography and a clean interface built for focused reading.
Knowledge should be accessible to all. Vesper exists to make reading a pleasure, not a product.
Built for everyone. Owned by no one. Free as in freedom. No tracking, no subscriptions, no dark patterns. Just your documents, rendered with care.
Content first
Minimal UI chrome. Your document takes center stage with refined typography.
Completely private
No analytics, no telemetry, no network calls. Your reading habits stay yours.
Truly portable
Single executable. No installer, no registry, no AppData. Delete the folder to uninstall.
Public domain
CC0 licensed. No restrictions whatsoever. The code belongs to the commons.
Reading, refined.
Immersive reading, one keypress away.
Press F11 and everything disappears except your document. No title bar, no sidebar, no menus. Just clean typography on a dark canvas, optimized for long reading sessions.
- Toggle with F11
- Auto-hiding scrollbars
- Optimal 65-character measure
Navigate long documents instantly.
An auto-generated sidebar extracts every heading from H1 to H6 and presents them as a clickable outline. Jump to any section in a single click, even in documents with hundreds of headings.
- Auto-generated from headings
- Resizable sidebar
- Toggle with Ctrl+Shift+S
Find any word, highlighted in place.
Ctrl+F opens a search bar that highlights every match in real time as you type. Navigate between results with arrow buttons, and see your match count update instantly.
- Real-time highlighting
- Match counter with navigation
- Works alongside the sidebar
Adjust the reading experience to you.
Content Zoom and Content Width spinners in the View menu give you precise control without keyboard shortcuts. Switch between dark and light themes, toggle focus mode and sidebar, and scale the UI from 50% to 200%. All preferences persist between sessions.
- Dark and light themes
- Content zoom 50%–200% & width 400–1200px
- Persistent preferences
Everything a reader
deserves.
CommonMark Rendering
Full CommonMark support with task lists, superscript, subscript, text highlighting, and smart typography.
190+ Language Highlighting
Syntax highlighting via highlight.js for virtually every programming language.
Tabbed Interface
Open multiple documents in tabs with duplicate detection. Switch between files effortlessly.
Drag & Drop
Drop .md, .markdown, or .txt files directly onto the window to start reading instantly.
Kinetic Scroll
iOS-style smooth scrolling with rubber band overscroll for a natural reading feel.
Keyboard First
Full keyboard navigation. Every action has a shortcut. Full accessibility support.
Refined Typography
Inter Variable at 17px with 1.7 line-height. Optimized measure for comfortable reading.
Custom Frameless Window
Clean frameless title bar with native window controls for a polished, modern look.
Light Theme
Full AAA-compliant light theme with matching syntax highlighting. Toggle via View menu, persisted across sessions.
WCAG 2.2 AAA
7:1 contrast ratios, full keyboard navigation, focus trapping, ARIA live regions, skip links, and reduced motion support.
See it in action.
Three steps.
Nothing else.
Download
Grab vesper.exe from the releases page. One file. No installer.
Drop & Run
Put it anywhere. Double-click. Data lives right next to the executable.
Read
Drag a markdown file onto the window or press Ctrl+O. That's it.
Built with care.
A Rust-native backend with a React frontend. Everything runs locally. All data lives next to the executable - no registry, no AppData, no hidden folders.
Open a file.
Start reading. That's it.
Tools for reading should be silent, invisible, and free. Vesper gets out of the way so you can focus on what matters.