diff --git a/packages/comark/src/parse.ts b/packages/comark/src/parse.ts
index 7869b489..f62bf7c2 100644
--- a/packages/comark/src/parse.ts
+++ b/packages/comark/src/parse.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,13 @@ export { parseFrontmatter } from './internal/frontmatter.ts'
 // Re-export plugin utilities
 export { defineComarkPlugin } from './utils/helpers.ts'
 
+// Constructing a `MarkdownExit` instance is expensive because `LinkifyIt`
+// compiles its regexes in the constructor, and a configured instance holds no
+// per-parse state, so parsers built from the same options share one.
+let nextPluginId = 0
+const pluginIds = new WeakMap<MarkdownExitPlugin, number>()
+const sharedParsers = new Map<string, MarkdownExit>()
+
 /**
  * Creates a parser function for Comark content.
  *
@@ -94,14 +101,26 @@ export function createMarkdownParser<const TPlugins extends readonly ComarkPlugi
   const plugins = dedupePlugins(defaultPlugins, userPlugins)
   const hasPlugin = (name: string) => plugins.some((plugin) => plugin.name === name)
 
-  const parser = new MarkdownExit({ linkify: options.linkify ?? true }).enable(['table', 'strikethrough'])
-
+  const mdPlugins: MarkdownExitPlugin[] = []
   for (const plugin of plugins) {
     for (const markdownItPlugin of plugin.markdownItPlugins || []) {
-      parser.use(markdownItPlugin as unknown as MarkdownExitPlugin)
+      mdPlugins.push(markdownItPlugin as unknown as MarkdownExitPlugin)
     }
   }
 
+  const linkify = options.linkify ?? true
+  const key = [
+    linkify,
+    ...mdPlugins.map((fn) => pluginIds.get(fn) ?? (pluginIds.set(fn, nextPluginId), nextPluginId++)),
+  ].join(',')
+
+  let parser = sharedParsers.get(key)
+  if (!parser) {
+    parser = new MarkdownExit({ linkify }).enable(['table', 'strikethrough'])
+    for (const fn of mdPlugins) parser.use(fn)
+    sharedParsers.set(key, parser)
+  }
+
   let lastOutput: MarkdownDocument | null = null
   let lastInput: string | null = null
 
diff --git a/packages/comark/test/parser-sharing.test.ts b/packages/comark/test/parser-sharing.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..19a968a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/comark/test/parser-sharing.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { createMarkdownParser, defineComarkPlugin } from 'comark'
+import type { MarkdownItPlugin } from 'comark'
+
+// The shared instance is internal, so it is observed through the public API: a
+// markdown-it plugin function runs once per instance, so counting how often it
+// is registered counts the instances that were built.
+let stableUses = 0
+const stableMdPlugin = (() => {
+  stableUses++
+}) as unknown as MarkdownItPlugin
+
+const stablePlugin = defineComarkPlugin(() => ({
+  name: 'sharing-stable',
+  markdownItPlugins: [stableMdPlugin],
+}))
+
+let closureUses = 0
+const closurePlugin = defineComarkPlugin(() => ({
+  name: 'sharing-closure',
+  markdownItPlugins: [
+    (() => {
+      closureUses++
+    }) as unknown as MarkdownItPlugin,
+  ],
+}))
+
+describe('parser sharing', () => {
+  it('builds one instance for parsers with the same plugin functions', () => {
+    const plugin = stablePlugin()
+    const before = stableUses
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
+      createMarkdownParser({ plugins: [plugin] })
+    }
+
+    expect(stableUses - before).toBe(1)
+  })
+
+  it('builds one instance per closure when a factory returns a fresh function', () => {
+    const before = closureUses
+
+    for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
+      createMarkdownParser({ plugins: [closurePlugin()] })
+    }
+
+    expect(closureUses - before).toBe(5)
+  })
+
+  it('does not share an instance between linkify settings', async () => {
+    const withLinkify = await createMarkdownParser({ linkify: true })('See https://comark.dev for more')
+    const withoutLinkify = await createMarkdownParser({ linkify: false })('See https://comark.dev for more')
+
+    expect(JSON.stringify(withLinkify.nodes)).toContain('"a"')
+    expect(JSON.stringify(withoutLinkify.nodes)).not.toContain('"a"')
+  })
+
+  it('keeps streaming state on the parser across another parser use', async () => {
+    const streaming = createMarkdownParser()
+    const other = createMarkdownParser()
+
+    await streaming('# Title\n\nFirst paragraph.\n', { streaming: true })
+    const second = await streaming('# Title\n\nFirst paragraph.\n\nSecond paragraph.\n', { streaming: true })
+
+    await other('Unrelated **document**')
+
+    const third = await streaming('# Title\n\nFirst paragraph.\n\nSecond paragraph.\n\nThird paragraph.\n', {
+      streaming: true,
+    })
+
+    // Reused nodes are carried over by reference from the previous output.
+    expect(third.nodes[0]).toBe(second.nodes[0])
+    expect(third.nodes[1]).toBe(second.nodes[1])
+    expect(third.nodes).toHaveLength(4)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/test/bundle.test.ts b/test/bundle.test.ts
index a6534737..7e0e7029 100644
--- a/test/bundle.test.ts
+++ b/test/bundle.test.ts
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ describe('package bundle size', { timeout: 60_000 }, () => {
         "@comark/react": "37.7k (76 files)",
         "@comark/svelte": "44.9k (84 files)",
         "@comark/vue": "56.0k (80 files)",
-        "comark": "368k (158 files)",
+        "comark": "369k (158 files)",
       }
     `)
   })