diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index a3c7880..c5b36cf 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -7,3 +7,6 @@
 [submodule "submodules/qssb.h"]
 	path = submodules/qssb.h
 	url = https://gitea.quitesimple.org/crtxcr/qssb.h.git
+[submodule "submodules/qsmaddy"]
+	path = submodules/qsmaddy
+	url = https://gitea.quitesimple.org/crtxcr/qsmaddy
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8828037..a139184 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 CXXFLAGS=-std=c++17 -O0 -g -no-pie -pipe -MMD -Wall -Wextra
 RELEASE_CXXFLAGS=-std=c++17 -O3 -pipe -MMD -Wall -Wextra
 LDFLAGS=-lsqlite3 -lpthread -lcrypto -lstdc++fs -lseccomp
-INCLUDEFLAGS=-I submodules/sqlitemoderncpp/hdr -I submodules/cpp-httplib -I submodules/qssb.h
+INCLUDEFLAGS=-I submodules/sqlitemoderncpp/hdr -I submodules/cpp-httplib -I submodules/qssb.h -I submodules/qsmaddy/include/
 
 CXX=g++
 
diff --git a/config.cpp b/config.cpp
index 6bf8c3e..7d74f89 100644
--- a/config.cpp
+++ b/config.cpp
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ Config::Config(const std::map<std::string, std::string> &map)
 
 	this->configmap = map;
 	this->wikipath = optional("wikipath", "/");
+	this->parser = optional("parser", "markdown");
 	this->handlersConfig.anon_username = optional("anon_username", "anonymouse");
 	this->handlersConfig.wikiname = required("wikiname");
 	this->logfile = required("logfile");
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 6780d83..c682340 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ class Config
 	std::string templateprefix;
 	std::string logfile;
 	std::string connectionstring;
+	std::string parser;
 	int session_max_lifetime;
 	int threadscount;
 
diff --git a/handlers/handler.h b/handlers/handler.h
index 8569c0e..7d22f4b 100644
--- a/handlers/handler.h
+++ b/handlers/handler.h
@@ -9,10 +9,13 @@
 #include "../database/queryoption.h"
 #include "../logger.h"
 #include "../cache/icache.h"
+#include "../iparser.h"
+
 class Handler
 {
   protected:
 	ICache *cache;
+	IParser *parser;
 	Template *templ;
 	Database *database;
 	Session *userSession;
@@ -25,7 +28,7 @@ class Handler
 
   public:
 	Handler(HandlerConfig &handlersConfig, Template &templ, Database &db, Session &userSession, UrlProvider &provider,
-			ICache &cache)
+			ICache &cache, IParser &parser)
 	{
 		this->handlersConfig = &handlersConfig;
 		this->templ = &templ;
@@ -33,6 +36,7 @@ class Handler
 		this->userSession = &userSession;
 		this->urlProvider = &provider;
 		this->cache = &cache;
+		this->parser = &parser;
 	}
 
 	virtual Response handle(const Request &r);
diff --git a/handlers/handlerfactory.h b/handlers/handlerfactory.h
index 7120b89..e08649f 100644
--- a/handlers/handlerfactory.h
+++ b/handlers/handlerfactory.h
@@ -10,15 +10,16 @@ class HandlerFactory
 	Database &db;
 	UrlProvider &urlProvider;
 	ICache &cache;
+	IParser &parser;
 
 	template <class T> inline std::unique_ptr<T> produce(Session &userSession)
 	{
-		return std::make_unique<T>(handlerConfig, templ, db, userSession, urlProvider, cache);
+		return std::make_unique<T>(handlerConfig, templ, db, userSession, urlProvider, cache, parser);
 	}
 
   public:
-	HandlerFactory(HandlerConfig &handlerConfig, Template &templ, Database &db, UrlProvider &urlprovider, ICache &cache)
-		: handlerConfig(handlerConfig), templ(templ), db(db), urlProvider(urlprovider), cache(cache)
+	HandlerFactory(HandlerConfig &handlerConfig, Template &templ, Database &db, UrlProvider &urlprovider, ICache &cache, IParser &parser)
+		: handlerConfig(handlerConfig), templ(templ), db(db), urlProvider(urlprovider), cache(cache), parser(parser)
 	{
 	}
 	std::unique_ptr<Handler> createHandler(const std::string &action, Session &userSession);
diff --git a/handlers/handlerpageedit.cpp b/handlers/handlerpageedit.cpp
index 492e36f..3704e66 100644
--- a/handlers/handlerpageedit.cpp
+++ b/handlers/handlerpageedit.cpp
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ SOFTWARE.
 #include "handlerpageedit.h"
 #include "../database/exceptions.h"
 #include "../request.h"
+#include "../parserlegacy.h"
 
-#include "../parser.h"
 bool HandlerPageEdit::canAccess(std::string page)
 {
 	return this->userSession->user.permissions.canEdit();
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ Response HandlerPageEdit::handleRequest(PageDao &pageDao, std::string pagename,
 
 			// TODO: must check, whether categories differ, and perhaps don't allow every user
 			// to set categories
-			Parser parser;
+			ParserLegacy parser;
 			std::vector<std::string> cats = parser.extractCategories(newContent);
 			try
 			{
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ Response HandlerPageEdit::handleRequest(PageDao &pageDao, std::string pagename,
 		if(r.post("do") == "preview")
 		{
 			std::string newContent = r.post("content");
-			Parser parser;
+			ParserLegacy parser;
 			TemplatePage templatePage = this->templ->getPage("page_creation_preview");
 			templatePage.setVar("actionurl", urlProvider->editPage(pagename));
 			templatePage.setVar("preview_content", parser.parse(pageDao, *this->urlProvider, newContent));
diff --git a/handlers/handlerpageview.cpp b/handlers/handlerpageview.cpp
index 1ad121a..fc97fdc 100644
--- a/handlers/handlerpageview.cpp
+++ b/handlers/handlerpageview.cpp
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ SOFTWARE.
 #include "handlerpageview.h"
 #include "../database/exceptions.h"
 #include "../logger.h"
-#include "../parser.h"
+#include "../parserlegacy.h"
 #include "../htmllink.h"
 
 bool HandlerPageView::canAccess(std::string page)
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ Response HandlerPageView::handleRequest(PageDao &pageDao, std::string pagename,
 
 	TemplatePage &page = this->templ->getPage(templatepartname);
 
-	Parser parser;
+
 	Response result;
 	result.setStatus(200);
 	std::string indexcontent;
@@ -138,8 +138,8 @@ Response HandlerPageView::handleRequest(PageDao &pageDao, std::string pagename,
 
 	if(revisionid > 0)
 	{
-		indexcontent = createIndexContent(parser, revision->content);
-		parsedcontent = parser.parse(pageDao, *this->urlProvider, revision->content);
+		indexcontent = createIndexContent(*parser, revision->content);
+		parsedcontent = parser->parse(pageDao, *this->urlProvider, revision->content);
 	}
 	else
 	{
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ Response HandlerPageView::handleRequest(PageDao &pageDao, std::string pagename,
 		}
 		else
 		{
-			indexcontent = createIndexContent(parser, revision->content);
+			indexcontent = createIndexContent(*parser, revision->content);
 			this->cache->put(cachekeyindexcontent, indexcontent);
 		}
 		if(cachedparsedcontent)
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ Response HandlerPageView::handleRequest(PageDao &pageDao, std::string pagename,
 		}
 		else
 		{
-			parsedcontent = parser.parse(pageDao, *this->urlProvider, revision->content);
+			parsedcontent = parser->parse(pageDao, *this->urlProvider, revision->content);
 			this->cache->put(cachekeyparsedcontent, parsedcontent);
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/iparser.h b/iparser.h
index 3835e86..973d516 100644
--- a/iparser.h
+++ b/iparser.h
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 #include "headline.h"
 #include "database/pagedao.h"
 #include "urlprovider.h"
+
+
 class IParser
 {
   public:
@@ -16,4 +18,6 @@ class IParser
 	virtual ~IParser(){};
 };
 
+
+
 #endif // PARSER_H
diff --git a/parser.cpp b/parserlegacy.cpp
similarity index 83%
rename from parser.cpp
rename to parserlegacy.cpp
index 8ee460c..0c7c117 100644
--- a/parser.cpp
+++ b/parserlegacy.cpp
@@ -24,29 +24,22 @@ SOFTWARE.
 #include <vector>
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <iterator>
-#include "parser.h"
+#include "parserlegacy.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "htmllink.h"
-std::vector<Headline> Parser::extractHeadlines(std::string content) const
+std::vector<Headline> ParserLegacy::extractHeadlines(std::string content) const
 {
 	std::vector<Headline> result;
-	std::string reg = R"(\[h(1|2|3)\](.*?)\[/h\1\])";
-	std::regex headerfinder(reg);
-	auto begin = std::sregex_iterator(content.begin(), content.end(), headerfinder);
-	auto end = std::sregex_iterator();
-
-	for(auto it = begin; it != end; it++)
-	{
-		auto smatch = *it;
+	utils::regex_callback_extractor(std::regex(R"(\[h(1|2|3)\](.*?)\[/h\1\])"), content, [&](std::smatch &smatch) {
 		Headline h;
 		h.level = utils::toUInt(smatch.str(1));
 		h.title = smatch.str(2);
 		result.push_back(h);
-	}
+	});
 	return result;
 }
 
-std::vector<std::string> Parser::extractCategories(std::string content) const
+std::vector<std::string> ParserLegacy::extractCategories(std::string content) const
 {
 	std::vector<std::string> result;
 	std::string reg = R"(\[category\](.*?)\[/category\])";
@@ -62,7 +55,7 @@ std::vector<std::string> Parser::extractCategories(std::string content) const
 	return result;
 }
 
-std::string Parser::extractCommand(std::string cmdname, std::string content) const
+std::string ParserLegacy::extractCommand(std::string cmdname, std::string content) const
 {
 	std::string cmd = "[cmd:" + cmdname + "]";
 	std::string cmdend = "[/cmd:" + cmdname + "]";
@@ -81,7 +74,7 @@ std::string Parser::extractCommand(std::string cmdname, std::string content) con
 	}
 	return "";
 }
-std::string Parser::processLink(const PageDao &pageDao, UrlProvider &urlProvider, std::smatch &match) const
+std::string ParserLegacy::processLink(const PageDao &pageDao, UrlProvider &urlProvider, std::smatch &match) const
 {
 	std::string linktag = match.str(1);
 	std::string inside = match.str(2);
@@ -116,7 +109,7 @@ std::string Parser::processLink(const PageDao &pageDao, UrlProvider &urlProvider
 	return htmllink.render();
 }
 
-std::string Parser::parse(const PageDao &pagedao, UrlProvider &provider, std::string content) const
+std::string ParserLegacy::parse(const PageDao &pagedao, UrlProvider &provider, std::string content) const
 {
 	std::string result;
 	// we don't care about commands, but we nevertheless replace them with empty strings
diff --git a/parser.h b/parserlegacy.h
similarity index 91%
rename from parser.h
rename to parserlegacy.h
index f34e12c..b59fd79 100644
--- a/parser.h
+++ b/parserlegacy.h
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #define PARSER_H
 #include "iparser.h"
 
-class Parser : public IParser
+class ParserLegacy : public IParser
 {
   private:
 	std::string processLink(const PageDao &pageDao, UrlProvider &urlProvider, std::smatch &match) const;
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ class Parser : public IParser
 	std::vector<std::string> extractCategories(std::string content) const override;
 	std::string parse(const PageDao &pagedao, UrlProvider &provider, std::string content) const override;
 	using IParser::IParser;
-	~Parser(){};
+	~ParserLegacy(){};
 };
 
 #endif // PARSER_H
diff --git a/parsermarkdown.cpp b/parsermarkdown.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..760167a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/parsermarkdown.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#include "parsermarkdown.h"
+#include "logger.h"
+#include "htmllink.h"
+
+std::string ParserMarkdown::processLink(const PageDao &pageDao, UrlProvider &urlProvider, std::smatch &match) const
+{
+	std::string inner = match.str(1);
+	std::string link = match.str(2);
+	HtmlLink htmllink;
+	htmllink.href = link;
+	htmllink.innervalue = inner;
+
+	if(link.find("http://") == 0 || link.find("https://") == 0)
+	{
+		return htmllink.render();
+	}
+
+	if(pageDao.exists(link))
+	{
+		htmllink.cssclass = "exists";
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		htmllink.cssclass = "notexists";
+	}
+
+	htmllink.href = urlProvider.page(htmllink.href);
+
+	return htmllink.render();
+}
+
+ParserMarkdown::ParserMarkdown()
+{
+}
+
+std::vector<Headline> ParserMarkdown::extractHeadlines(std::string content) const
+{
+	std::vector<Headline> result;
+	utils::regex_callback_extractor(std::regex(R"((#{1,6}) (.*))"), content, [&](std::smatch &smatch) {
+		Headline h;
+		h.level = smatch.str(1).length();
+		h.title = smatch.str(2);
+		result.push_back(h);
+	});
+	return result;
+}
+
+std::string ParserMarkdown::parse(const PageDao &pagedao, UrlProvider &provider, std::string content) const
+{
+	std::shared_ptr<maddy::ParserConfig> config = std::make_shared<maddy::ParserConfig>();
+	auto maddy = std::make_shared<maddy::Parser>(config);
+
+	auto linkParser = std::make_shared<maddy::LinkParser>();
+	linkParser->setCallback([&](std::smatch &match) { return processLink(pagedao, provider, match); });
+	maddy->setLinkParser(linkParser);
+	// TODO: hack because the parser breaks if there is an \r
+	content = utils::strreplace(content, "\r", "");
+	std::stringstream s{content};
+	std::string result = maddy->Parse(s);
+	return result;
+}
+
+std::string ParserMarkdown::extractCommand(std::string cmdname, std::string content) const
+{
+	return "";
+}
+
+std::vector<std::string> ParserMarkdown::extractCategories(std::string content) const
+{
+	return { };
+}
diff --git a/parsermarkdown.h b/parsermarkdown.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3b1a2a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/parsermarkdown.h
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#ifndef PARSER_MARKDOWN_H
+#define PARSER_MARKDOWN_H
+
+#include "iparser.h"
+#include "maddy/parser.h"
+
+class ParserMarkdown : public IParser
+{
+private:
+	std::string processLink(const PageDao &pageDao, UrlProvider &urlProvider, std::smatch &match) const;
+
+public:
+	ParserMarkdown();
+	std::vector<Headline> extractHeadlines(std::string content) const;
+	std::string parse(const PageDao &pagedao, UrlProvider &provider, std::string content) const;
+
+	std::string extractCommand(std::string cmdname, std::string content) const;
+	std::vector<std::string> extractCategories(std::string content) const;
+};
+
+#endif // PARSER_MARKDOWN_H
diff --git a/qswiki.cpp b/qswiki.cpp
index 46143cb..395b52c 100644
--- a/qswiki.cpp
+++ b/qswiki.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ SOFTWARE.
 #include "requestworker.h"
 #include "cache/fscache.h"
 #include "sandbox/sandboxfactory.h"
+#include "iparser.h"
+#include "parserlegacy.h"
+#include "parsermarkdown.h"
+
 void sigterm_handler(int arg)
 {
 	// TODO: proper shutdown.
@@ -63,6 +67,17 @@ std::unique_ptr<ICache> createCache(const ConfigVariableResolver &resolver)
 
 	return std::make_unique<FsCache>(path);
 }
+
+std::unique_ptr<IParser> createParser(const ConfigVariableResolver &resolver)
+{
+	std::string parser = resolver.getConfig("parser");
+	if(parser == "legacy")
+	{
+		return std::make_unique<ParserLegacy>();
+	}
+	return std::make_unique<ParserMarkdown>();
+}
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	if(geteuid() == 0)
@@ -135,7 +150,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		auto cache = createCache(config.configVarResolver);
 		cache->clear();
 
-		HandlerFactory handlerFactory{config.handlersConfig, siteTemplate, *database.get(), urlProvider, *cache.get()};
+		auto parser = createParser(config.configVarResolver);
+
+
+		HandlerFactory handlerFactory{config.handlersConfig, siteTemplate, *database.get(), urlProvider, *cache.get(), *parser.get()};
 		RequestWorker requestWorker{handlerFactory, database->createSessionDao(), siteTemplate};
 
 		auto interface = createGateway(config);
diff --git a/submodules/qsmaddy b/submodules/qsmaddy
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..167ce39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/submodules/qsmaddy
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 167ce3943d6e27ddc862e6ce52cf5a79c5a794de
diff --git a/utils.cpp b/utils.cpp
index 3df6306..1510217 100644
--- a/utils.cpp
+++ b/utils.cpp
@@ -175,3 +175,14 @@ std::string utils::toISODate(time_t t)
 	}
 	return std::string{result};
 }
+
+void utils::regex_callback_extractor(std::regex regex, const std::string &input, std::function<void (std::smatch &)> callback)
+{
+	auto begin = std::sregex_iterator(input.begin(), input.end(), regex);
+	auto end = std::sregex_iterator();
+	for(auto it = begin; it != end; it++)
+	{
+		std::smatch smatch = *it;
+		callback(smatch);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/utils.h b/utils.h
index d19be1b..de5a900 100644
--- a/utils.h
+++ b/utils.h
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ template <class T, class U> std::vector<U> getAll(std::multimap<T, U> map, T key
 std::string regex_callback_replacer(std::regex regex, const std::string &input,
 									std::function<std::string(std::smatch &)> callback);
 
+void regex_callback_extractor(std::regex regex, const std::string &input, std::function<void(std::smatch &)> callback);
 std::string readCompleteFile(std::string_view filepath);
 
 inline std::string nz(const char *s)