What Is Typst and What Can It Be Used For?
Typst is a document creation and automation tool that describes itself as "the new foundation for documents." You write content as markup with a focus on structure, and Typst handles the formatting automatically. It fits anyone who needs to produce structured, repeatable documents — reports, theses, papers, presentations, invoices, CVs, and more — and wants to export them without manually adjusting layout. The core compiler is open source, and the hosted app at typst.app adds templates, collaboration, and export options on top.
How Typst works
The workflow has three parts:
- Write markup. You type content with lightweight structural syntax rather than placing elements by hand. A heading is written as
= Introduction, and a bullet list uses-for each item. - Let formatting happen automatically. You can pick a template, create your own, or just start writing. Typst applies the formatting for you.
- Export. Output as PDF, image, or a website (in preview), without touching your markup.
A short example from the site shows how content and figures combine:
= Introduction
Our concept suggests three ways that A-Mail can be best utilized.
- First is to reduce the probability of the failure of a space mission.
This problem is known as the Mars problem and suggests problems with
human communication.
#figure(
image("a-mail.svg"),
caption: [Visualization of the FTL Earth-to-Mars comms capabilities enabled by A-Mail.],
)
The markup stays readable while Typst produces the typeset result.
What you can create with it
Typst lists support for a wide range of document types out of the box:
| Document type | What Typst offers |
|---|---|
| Specifications | Automations and typesetting for standards |
| Reports | Templates tailored to your reports |
| Theses | References and graphics support |
| Presentations | Slides with instant previews and customization |
| Papers | Templates and co-author collaboration |
| Lecture notes | Complex equation typesetting |
| Transactional documents | Integration with your systems to automate document creation |
| Books | Semantic organization and automatic formatting |
| Curriculum Vitae | Templates to turn experience into a polished resume |
| Letters | Corporate identity matching |
| Invoices | Generation from machine-readable data |
| Proposals | Well-structured, accessible proposals |
| Websites (in preview) | Print documents and web pages from the same source |
The common thread: different documents have different needs, and Typst supports common content types while giving you the power to build the rest.
Key capabilities
- Visualizations. Gantt charts, arrow diagrams, and similar graphics are supported.
- Automation. You can generate documents like invoices from machine-readable data and integrate Typst with your systems.
- Single source for print and web. The website feature (in preview) lets you create print documents and web pages from the same source.
- Open source core. Typst develops the compiler in the open with the community.
Who is using it
According to the site, members of over 3,500 universities and laboratories and over 1,000 businesses use Typst. Organizations are listed as trusting Typst on the homepage.
Getting started
The site's own framing is "It's a breeze to get started." You can try it yourself by signing up on typst.app. From there you can pick a template, create your own, or start writing directly. Pricing and plan details are available on the Typst pricing page if you need to compare options before committing.