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I am fascinated by the Maths SE using MathJAX for expressing maths equations. However writing the equations takes some time and searching for a newbie, so I am looking for a WYSIWYG editor that allows to write equations easily without the need to type the TeX code.

Maple allows me to do that by pressing buttons, but unfortunately I don't have access to it at home, so I am basically looking for an alternative.

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    You will find some online equation editors at Compiling documents online. Specifically, the equation editor has a button-press interface that might be of help. For offline editors, see LaTeX Editors/IDEs and find the one you're after.
    – Werner ♦
    May 23, 2012 at 15:31
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    As Werner wrote, the equation editor is a very usable tool. Try it!
    – uzsolt
    May 23, 2012 at 16:12
  • The output of a TeX/LaTeX/etc file cannot be made fully wysiwyg. Even programs such as Scientific Workplace can, at best, offer at most only an approximation of the final output.
    – Mico
    May 23, 2012 at 16:21
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    Another helpful application might be EqualX. It is similar to the equation editor mentioned by Werner, but it's an offline utility that requires a working LaTeX environment installed.
    – Martin
    May 23, 2012 at 20:42
  • @Martin EqualX is really nice, but the output is really small and hard to see any ideas on how to fix that?
    – Panayiotis
    May 24, 2012 at 6:35

9 Answers 9

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As already mentioned in my comment above, EqualX is a nice equation editor available for Linux, Windows, and Mac. It requires a working TeX Live or MiKTeX installation available.

The generated images can be directly dragged and dropped into other applications. The properties bar (activate with Window > Properties Bar) between image and source area allows to change color, transparency, and size of the generated images.

enter image description here

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    Does this support Mac, as you say? The FAQ says "Q: When are you going to support Mac OS X? Probably never. I don't have a Mac and so I can not test EqualX on this platform.". The download page doesn't list Mac either.
    – DJP
    Jan 6, 2015 at 20:50
  • Yes, it does or at least did. Even if the developer doesn't provide binaries, the sources can be built for Mac. A former colleague of mine did that successfully. However, I don't own an Mac and can't test if it still works with the latest release.
    – Martin
    Jan 7, 2015 at 6:37
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This is one of online WYSIWYG math editors. You can easy use it to type mathematics without knowing latex but it also provides import/export Latex. Input is faster because it uses Suggestion Box, Character Recognition,... This also support drawing Diagram (Input math in Diagram)

Mathcha Editor

enter image description here

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LyX has a relatively decent math editor. By selecting View->View Source, one can directly see the resulting LaTeX code and easily copy&paste it from there. Furthermore, it is easy to typeset the result via LaTeX to get a quick impression on the actual look of the result. The immediate representation of the resulting LaTeX source helps me a lot to actually learn the respective LaTeX commands.

enter image description here

Within the math editor, one can either choose symbols and environments from the toolbars or, if known, just type the respective LaTeX / AMS math commands directly, which LyX then converts on the fly to its WYSIWYM representation. Furthermore, it is possible to define own math macros. This provides for rapid entering of formulas.

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    In Lyx, there's an Instant Preview feature (Tools -> Preferences -> Look & Feel -> Display) which, if turned on, will allow you to view the math formulas exactly as they would look on the output on the fly.
    – a06e
    Jun 7, 2013 at 2:58
  • @becko That's actually pretty nice! It must be a newer feature; I don't remember this existing when I used it :(
    – Sean Allred
    Jun 9, 2013 at 1:03
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I'm one of the developers of AxMath. I’m glad to introduce you with AxMath, the next generation equation editor runs on Windows.

AxMath is designed with love, passion and expertise. It has all kinds of functionalities which make you type equations at lightspeed. Key features include semantic math input, auto calculation, memory board, LaTeX support etc. It will save you plenty of time to write papers, reports and books.

The pro version is $10, but you can use Semantic Math Input and LaTeX conversion in free version. AxMath supports Win 10, Win 8, Win 7, Vista and Office 2010-2016.

Semantic Math Input

LaTeX conversion

AxMath is also a scientific calculator. You can define symbol’s numeric values and once you type a expression and enter “=”, AxMath will automatically gives you the result.

enter image description here

AxMath is so powerful that it can create any type of formulas you need. Here shows the example of chemical equations.

enter image description here

AxMath have tons of useful features:

  • WYSIWYG, what you see is what you get
  • Graphical typesetting
  • A scrollable and customizable toolbox panel is applied to present all symbols and expression-building structures
  • Hotkey input and interacitve LaTeX input are both supported
  • LaTeX editor with syntax highlighting is povieded
  • Auto-complete Suggestions for LaTeX
  • Versatile assistants and gadgets on the right sidebar to improve working efficiency
  • The equations’ appearance conform to the AMS/LaTeX standard
  • User defined symbols
  • Matrix templates, auto-filling and partitioning for matrices
  • Searching and replacing
  • Colorful equations, automatically or manually
  • MS-Office plug-in for equation numbering and management
  • Calculating based on equation
  • Variable and constant definition
  • AxMath is an OLE server. It works as a plug-in with word processors such as MS-WORD
  • The baseline of the surrounding text is aligned with the AxMath equation’s baseline for many word processors
  • Vector output, can be used directly for printing or publishing
  • Can be exported to BMP, JPG, PNG, GIF and other common picture formats
  • Picture capture is supported
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    You should add that this is paid software ($10) and runs only on Windows.
    – Aditya
    Jul 31, 2018 at 15:17
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    As Aditya said, you could add that it's paid software and you should also disclose your affiliation to this AxMath, otherwise your answer will be flagged as spam and probably deleted.
    – Phelype Oleinik
    Jul 31, 2018 at 15:32
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    I see you edited the answer. You don't have to remove the link (it's better if you leave it, for people to use it), but you have to disclose your affiliation to the company, for example: "I'm the creator of AxMath", or something like that.
    – Phelype Oleinik
    Aug 1, 2018 at 1:01
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    Thanks for the instructions. I've disclosed my affiliation and added the platform and price information.
    – dragonszy
    Aug 1, 2018 at 1:17
  • I am running this under Wine Stable or VMWare Fusion on MacOS High Sierra just fine.
    – Joe
    May 7, 2019 at 20:33
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  • LaTeX equation editors:

EqualX is probably the best option as it has already been mentioned. But unfortunately, there are no binaries available for mac. There is also LaTeXiT which is only for mac! KLatexFormula Is the only cross-platform option I could find so far:

enter image description here

LatexEqEdit (only windows), Laeqed (Java), and Ekee (for Debian Linux distros) are some of the alternatives you can try.

  • WYSIWYG editors or live preview:

There are also WYSIWYG LaTeX editors or editors with live previews. LyX is probably the best option as mentioned by others. But there are also Gummi and preview-latex plugin for Emacs:

enter image description here

If you want to have a full-fledge text/word editor I suggest you try TexMaths plugin for LibreOffice. It does not provide you with a live preview though. Qilin editor is also a very interesting project. Although it is not a LaTeX editor it gives a live preview of KaTeX and AsciiMath:

enter image description here

another great project similar is the Upmath web app.

  • Mathematical software with LaTeX export:

TeXmacs is also another WYSIWYG giving you LaTeX output. It is a unique piece of software in its own way. It has many other features too, like integration with many mathematical packages/languages such as Maxima, Octave, GNUPlot, Python...

I personally use WxMaxima though. It is very neat and lightweight. Consider it as an open-source alternative to Mathematica. You do your symbolic/numerical calculations and then can export the equations easily by right-clicking on them.

enter image description here

  • Jupyter Live Markdown Preview

There is an awesome new extension for Jupyter where you get a live Markdown preview like the one we get on StackExchange forums: enter image description here

To install it you need to first install Nbextensions Configurator and then look for livemdpreview extension in nbextensions.

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also for google chrome TeX equation editor http://atomurl.net/math/

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If you're on OS X, you can use the excellent LaTeXiT, which comes with MacTeX.

As with EqualX (see accepted answer), the

[...] generated images can be directly dragged and dropped into other applications

but can also be reopened to modify the equation after it's been dropped to another application. There's also a palette of often used \LaTeX math symbols, as shown in the screenshot.

Screenshot

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I know this is an old post. But I've recently found out about a really good GNU WYSIWYG LaTeX editor called "TeXmacs."

It's free and it can do more than just type equations.

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  • Not WYSIWYG but WYSIWYW!
    – Schweinebacke
    Jul 17, 2017 at 12:22
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Have look at JMathEdit

  • It's free on Linux
  • Supports MathML, LaTeX, SVG, EPS, EMF etc
  • Rich set of elements
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