12 Excellent Free Text Editors for Coders
You can make writing code as complicated as you want, but at the end of the day, all you really need is your favorite, trusty text editor. You can use a simple one like Microsoft’s Notepad, but oftentimes it’s helpful to have a text editor that has syntax highlighting/coloring, support for multiple languages, a robust find and replace feature, and other features and options that make writing code just a tad bit easier.
If you’re in search of a good, free text editor – you’ve come to the right place. Below you’ll find 12 first-class free text editors that are designed with coders’ needs in mind. Whether you use a Windows, Mac, or Linux machine – you’ll find a few options here that will satisfy your code-authoring needs.
NOTEPAD++
(Windows)
NOTEPAD++ is the premier replacement for Microsoft’s Notepad. It has an auto-completion feature (for most supported languages) that guesses what you’re trying to write, a tabbed interface which is great for working with multiple files without cluttering your task bar, a powerful RegEx find-and-replace feature, code folding, support for a large array of languages (even Assembler!) and much more. These are just some of the features that make NOTEPAD++ my personal default text editor.
Bluefish Editor
(Mac, Linux)
Bluefish Editor is a robust, open source text editor geared towards programmers and web designers. It’s known as being a fast, lightweight text editor that can open 500+ documents with ease. It has a built-in function reference browser (for PHP, Python, CSS, and HTML) so you can quickly learn about with particular syntaxes. Check out the Screenshots section to find movies/screencasts (such as learning about working with remote files) and screen shots of Bluefish Editor.
TextWrangler
(Mac)
TextWrangler is a multi-purpose text editor for the Mac OS. It is a programmer-friendly text editor and Unix/Server Admin text editor. It has a useful "plugin" system allowing developers a way for extending TextWrangler’s built-in features. It also has a function browser so that you can quickly find and jump to the function you’re looking for (very helpful for those really long files).
Smultron
(Mac)
Smultron is an easy-to-use text editor. Its simple interface makes it perfect for the minimalist coder. It has the basic features you’d expect from a text editor such as syntax highlighting/coloring but also has cool, helpful features such as the ability to split the viewing pane in two so that you can view files side-by-side, a code snipplet library to allow you to store your often-used code blocks, and a full-screen mode that’s intended to make you focus on the task at hand.
Caditor
(Windows)
Caditor is an open source portable text editor written in the .NET framework (C#) that puts speed and performance at the forefront of its design. It has a convenient search box built into the tool bar of the text editor’s interface so that you don’t have to open another dialog box to perform a search. It has other handy features common to developer-oriented text editors such as line numbering, a compiler feature to allow you to hook it up with your compiler, and FTP feature.
gedit
(Linux)
gedit is the official text editor of the GNOME desktop. Unlike Microsoft’s built-in text editor (Notepad), gedit is a more feature-packed text editor geared towards usage for programming and mark-up. With its syntax highlighting, tabbed interface for editing multiple files, and spell-checking feature – gedit is an excellent, free text editor for coders.
GNU Emacs
(Windows, Mac, Linux)
GNU Emacs (more commonly referred to simply as Emacs) is a cross-platform, extendible text editor geared towards programmers. One of its defining features is Emacs’s ability to be extended – offering you the ability to use it as your project planner and debugger, among other things. It has a file-comparison feature (M-x ediff) that highlights differences between two files (useful for figuring out changes in a file made by coders who don’t document/comment their revisions).
Crimson Editor
(Windows)
Crimson Editor is a light-weight text editor for Windows that supports many languages. It has a "Macros" features which lets you record a sequence of tasks so that you can reuse the sequence with a click of a button. It has a built-in FTP feature, allowing you to upload/download files from your FTP server. Crimson Editor is a solid option for Windows users.
ConTEXT
(Windows)
ConTEXT is another excellent, light-weight, freeware (meaning it’s free – but close-sourced) text editor for Windows. It has countless of handy features such as text sorting (helpful when you need to sort things in alphabetical order, for example), ability to export configuration options so that you can share your configuration or import it into several machines, and a macro recorder for repeating a sequence of tasks. In 2007, ConTEXT development was turned over to David Hadley but continues to be freeware.
SciTE
(Windows, Linux)
SciTE, written on top of the open source Scintilla code-editing component, is a speedy text editor aimed for use in source code editing. It has a standalone .exe version which you can use for portable storage drives (i.e. USB flash drives) so that you can conveniently carry it around and use it on any computer without having to install it. SciTE is a compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems and has been tested by the developer on Windows XP and on Fedora 8 and Ubuntu 7.10.
Komodo Edit
(Windows, Mac, Linux)
Komodo Edit is a freeware, cross-platform text editor created by ActiveState. It is a simple text editor based on the popular integrated development environment – Komodo IDE. It has a convenient and flexible Project Manager feature to help you organize and keep track of your project files.
jEdit
(Windows, Mac, Linux)
jEdit is a text editor that specifically caters to programmers. It’s written in Java and runs on any operating system that supports You can download a ton of plugins (check out the Plugins Central on jEdit’s website) to extend its built-in features. jEdit was designed to combine the best features of Windows, Mac, and Unix text editors.
Additional Resources
- Comparison of text editors (Wikipedia)
- Hive Five: Best Text Editors (Lifehacker)
What do you think?
There’s a ton of text editors out there so be sure to share your experiences and opinions on the text editors above, and if your favorite isn’t on the list – please tell us about it in the comments.
240 Comments
weblizzer
November 13th, 2008
such a great tools, i used notepad++ but i have to consider which i like most aptana it’s an open community editor, and it supports i like it most it support php and javascript editing i like most specially the autointellisense feature as well as the coding error tags..
CreamScoop
November 14th, 2008
No love for Textmate? It’s the only one I use(and Mac OS default TextEdit sometimes).
Also, the text says “20 first-class free text editors”, instead of 12.
Dicky
November 14th, 2008
I am using Notepad++ too. Although i have both aptana and notepad++, but i prefer Notepad++ because the loading speed is faster.
greyfade
November 14th, 2008
What, no Vim?
Damian Deile
November 14th, 2008
Some of these are pretty decent but I prefer Aptana and UltraEdit.
spidro
November 14th, 2008
very nice list of tools i use Notepad++ it’s my favorite one too
Stevo
November 14th, 2008
Textpad should not be forgotten, great lightweight editor with all the features you need. Not as pretty as some but that might be why it can still handle working with text files in the 100′s of MB.
Features to checkout:
JAVA compiler built in
Record Macros
Clipboard history
Regex search and replace
Compare files
Split windows
Bookmarks
Some of the ones in this article look well worth a look tho. Hey, I might even get converted!
Son Tran
November 14th, 2008
Oh, thanks. I am using Notepad++ too. It’s very good ^ ^
Andreas
November 14th, 2008
okay guys, what about vi/vim?
thecancerus
November 14th, 2008
Notepad++ is the best editor in the list(not sure about Mac editors) i have used context and Crimson Editor
insic
November 14th, 2008
Nice List you have here. Maybe you need to add NetBeans for PHP I think. Coz its free and its awesome.
SneakyWho_am_i
November 14th, 2008
My favourite from that list is Notepad++, although I haven’t tried all of these. Great list! On Linux I mostly use Kate (or Quanta+) as I find Gedit to stil be a bit lacking (even if it is the best default text editor ever).
In the terminal I mostly use vi. Undoubtedly emacs is more powerful but vi was slightly easier for me to learn and it’s so quick and easy to do it.
My first demand is syntax highlighting, and vi does an amazing job of that (far better at Syntax highlighting than gedit, imho)
mladjo
November 14th, 2008
Using jEdit – great for xml/xsd based stuff like xslt, xhtml, svg, …
Cesar Noel
November 14th, 2008
I’ve been using Komodo IDE on Windows and now using Komodo Edit on my Ubuntu powered Laptop. Komodo Edit has all the necessary features of Komodo IDE (with the exception of the debugger features available on Komodo IDE).
Yann
November 14th, 2008
TextMate, Coda (both Mac OS X only) and Eclipse/ZendStudio even if they are complete IDEs.
primeminister
November 14th, 2008
Indeed! Where is TextMate (mac)! 5 stars out of 5!
likewhoa
November 14th, 2008
gvim and kompozer are also good to mention for linux environments.
anonymous
November 14th, 2008
You forgot Kate!!
TheMandibleClaw
November 14th, 2008
Vim over emacs any day…
Kevin
November 14th, 2008
Nice list.. I still love to use EditPlus..
lbr-linux
November 14th, 2008
You forgot geany!
Jarek B
November 14th, 2008
I’m not sure why, but I’ve seen several lists like this and none mention PSPAD which is as feature full as NotePad++ if not more so.
Guerremdq
November 14th, 2008
I use Geany !
Karl
November 14th, 2008
I’m throwin’ some love to TextMate here, open and running 10 hours a day.
Jeeremie
November 14th, 2008
Bluefish works on Windows too, not only Mac and Linux.
soho
November 14th, 2008
VIM. Seriously. How can you forget it? ;)
Baron
November 14th, 2008
Nice list.
I’ve used Araneae for years. Simple, bare bones, love it!!
DENiAL
November 14th, 2008
I really enjoy PS Pad, though I think I will give these others A shot.
Tim Jones
November 14th, 2008
There is a port of Bluefish for Windows, as well: http://code.google.com/p/bluefish-win/. It requires that you already have the Windows version of GTK+ run-time installed. The web site has link to GTK+ run-time installer.
Caleb Cushing (xenoterracide)
November 14th, 2008
vim, available on more OS’s and most likely high powered editor to be installed.
I could name several other editors which could/should have made the list, but none so much as vim.
Sebastian Paaske Tørholm
November 14th, 2008
I agree, VIM definitely needs to get in.
Jeramie
November 14th, 2008
I think Textpad atleast deserves an honorable mention. It still holds value today as a great lightweight editor.
PepeGSay
November 14th, 2008
Sublime Text is an awesome editor.
PS3 Trophies
November 14th, 2008
I use Crimson Editor here.
pft
November 14th, 2008
the only editor I see is emacs. and vim isn’t on the list. so you fail.
oreth
November 14th, 2008
VIM is nice and all.
But I’ve not found a single editor that does all the things I need as well as Komodo Edit does.
Love it.
Quick
November 14th, 2008
How could you not include Notepad2?
Shaun
November 14th, 2008
vim vim vim !
DB
November 14th, 2008
UltraEdit on Windows, TextMate on OSX, and vim on Linux
Magic One
November 14th, 2008
Gvim for Linux and Windows!!!!
Anthony
November 14th, 2008
definitely include vim and geany, notepad++ ftw in windows
Aaron
November 14th, 2008
VI!!!! You are a noob if you use anythin else….!!!!!!!!!!!
Steve
November 14th, 2008
No mention of Vim or Quanta+?
Evan Carroll
November 14th, 2008
decent troll at least.
Biggles
November 14th, 2008
If you are looking for a noepad replacement, small and fast, then I would like to suggest Notepad2. It’s just an awesome editor that I fell in love with directly!
Sam Lesher
November 14th, 2008
FYI – Geany is better than Bluefish
Mitch
November 14th, 2008
Thanks for this. I’ve been a big fan of Crimson Editor, but Notepad++ with all those nice plugins – especially the html tag matching one – has just become my new favorite editor.
Thor Thundercock
November 14th, 2008
What, no BBEdit or TextMate? Pico, Nano, Joe? Vim? Hmmm…
Andrew Wright
November 14th, 2008
+1 vim
Andreas
November 14th, 2008
Hrmm, me wnats smultron for linux :/
Keith
November 14th, 2008
no love for programmer’s notepad??
http://www.pnotepad.org/
Dan Leinir Turthra Jensen
November 14th, 2008
What’s with the no Kate? It’s the best thing since GUI editors first got created! :)
Mark Sanborn
November 14th, 2008
Yes, how can you forget the best editor of them all, Vim.
esplinter
November 14th, 2008
a list of the best text editor without kate?? WTF¡
someone
November 14th, 2008
http://www.intype.info > extremely addictive text editor, especially suited for creating websites. though only version before 1.0 are for free… (that will take couple of months so enjoy for now :P )
Xurasoi
November 14th, 2008
WTH? no one knows EDITPLUS wth?
editplus rullaz
Dan
November 14th, 2008
I’d like to add Intype to the list. It’s still alpha, but has some very good features, and a no-nonsense interface. Think Textmate for windows, without the cost.
vim
November 14th, 2008
vim!!!
Evan
November 14th, 2008
My problem with these are that their find/replace windows are too dinky. When you’re doing complex regex find/replace using large chunks of text, you need a huge window. That’s why I like Edit Pad Pro.
montana
November 14th, 2008
I use Taco HTML Edit for html/css/php on a mac.
TextMate isnt free so it would not go on this list!
terry
November 14th, 2008
macvim, gvim, VIM VIM VIM
maybe that’s for another post, though, like “the best free text editor”?
Lisandro Grassini
November 14th, 2008
Another important reason in order to evaluate Crimson Editor: Is open source!
Hubert Łępicki
November 14th, 2008
No vim? No TextMate (well, I’m not a fan but it’s very popular). This post sucks.
Jeremy
November 14th, 2008
I like TextMate too, but it isn’t free.
Hackhound
November 14th, 2008
I agree with Jarek. I used to use Notepad++ until I discovered PSPad. I am surprised that it is missing from the list.
Bret
November 14th, 2008
How is Programmers’s Notepad not in the list of coding notepads?!
http://www.pnotepad.org/
Chandler
November 14th, 2008
This list really needs Text Mate(mac).
Dale
November 14th, 2008
re: Textmate
See the word “Free” in the title of the article? Textmate ain’t free.
przemoc
November 14th, 2008
Notepad++ is quite good, but for automated (advanced search & replace, etc.) or complex editing I prefer GVim.
In Linux there is only vim.
BTW. Today I released improved Notepad++ Launcher, so if you’re interested, go to news page in my site.
Tumbleweed
November 14th, 2008
TextMate and some of the others mentioned in the comments aren’t FREE. Check the title of the article. :)
I use the non-free TextPad.
Jacob
November 14th, 2008
I’m surprised that Eclipse wasn’t mentioned at all. For Java Programmers, you can’t do better than Eclipse. They also have a C/C++ focused version that is pretty great. For web code development (PHP, Ruby, Python) Aptana Studio is a derivative of Eclipse that works very well.
Crispy
November 14th, 2008
I use Gedit on Gnome/Linux but on windows boxes I think the best is PSPad (http://www.pspad.com/)
Zachary Berry
November 14th, 2008
What about Eclipse?! Eclipse!!!!!
mike
November 14th, 2008
Geany for Linux (the best)
Kid Tough DVD Player
November 14th, 2008
I’ve looked at Notepad++ a couple of times, but forgot about it. This reminds me that I need to go ahead and download it. Thanks for reminding me!
Jordan
November 14th, 2008
I used to be an avid user of Notepad++ but have since traveled onto other pastures! Currently I’m a huge fan (and user) of InType (http://intype.info).
It’s currently free right now, although when they finish up alpha it’s upposed to be a licensed application. Either way, for what I’ve gotten to play with now, while it’s been free, has definitely been fantastic.
If I wasn’t using InType, I’d definitely have to say Notepad++ is the way to go. :)
Hermit
November 14th, 2008
12 excellent free editors and no vim listed. The number of comments noting this is evidence enough of the flaw.
Andy
November 14th, 2008
You really out to mention the TextWrangler supports SFTP uploads. That’s a very difficult feature to find in most editors, and using FTP to publish is laughable.
Cavii
November 14th, 2008
geez, how do you not include vim?
Conrad
November 14th, 2008
You guys suggesting TextMate and Coda, while great, and while I use them both, they’re not free. And this list is for free text editors.
na
November 14th, 2008
KATE KATE KATE KATE KATE KATE KATE
/end gnome fanboism
Jared
November 14th, 2008
VIM and GVIM is top notch yet not on this list! It runs on more operating systems than any of the others listed here.
matt
November 14th, 2008
I’m a big fan of kate
EddieA
November 14th, 2008
I definitely agree with the other commenters that Vim (the most popular vi clone/superset) is definitely a glaring omission. It is probably one of the hardest editors to really become proficient with, but once you do, there’s no looking back! (Plus, some variation of vi is installed by default on just about every platform known to man… aside from Windows for some reason.)
But for “quick and dirty” editing in Windows, Notepad++ is pretty awesome too.
Jen Smith
November 14th, 2008
Nice list, one or two I didn’t know about that I need to try.
Should definitely add Geany to the list as well. When I’m in Linux, I normally just use GEdit, but Geany works rather nicely as a “lite IDE”.
Bogdan
November 14th, 2008
vim, your kidding right?
Don’t need a text editor stuck in the 80′s
Unplug you dumb terminal and stop listening to Bon Jovi
nosredna
November 14th, 2008
Why do dopey people keep saying “TextMate?” TextMate isn’t free.
LUC RAYMOND
November 14th, 2008
PSPAD (pspad.com) is one of the best but Windows only
OpenKomodo (windows,mac,linux) is really good and free too.
Robert
November 14th, 2008
I used PSPad every day! My favorite by far.
S Kumar
November 14th, 2008
Any list of editors that does not include ‘vim’ (vi improved) is utterly incomplete.
bluefishsucks
November 14th, 2008
I would not recommend Bluefish. Except for very small files, it is a resource hog. I tried using it for an hour and gave up.
Imran
November 14th, 2008
I use gvim, eclipse, and crimson editor.
Jeff
November 14th, 2008
I think the best editor for Windows is simply Vi with Cream. It is lightweight, compact, uses vi and has context case commands. It is basically a really friendly version of Vi.
kevin
November 14th, 2008
Crimson!!!
gewthen
November 14th, 2008
No word about Geany? You are missing many other text editors… What about Kdevelop? What about Eclipse? What about emacs? What about vim? What about BBedit?
dasnipa
November 14th, 2008
VIM!!!!!
quietchaos
November 14th, 2008
I spent days trying to find the best text editor for Windows, and have a list a mile long of ones I wanted to check out. There were a few I narrowed down according to feature lists and screenshotes. I’m still not 100% happy with the free/opensource text editors, but the best does seem to be Notepad++.
Favorite Free:
Notepad++
Favorite Commercial:
UltraEdit
EditPlus
The only free Windows text editors worth looking at (in my honest opinion) are:
ConText
Eclipse
Editra
jEdit
Komodo Edit
Notepad++
Programmer’s File Editor
Programmer’s Notepad 2
SciTE
Source Edit
Haven’t tried many linux editors, but am content with:
Bluefish
Gedit
Kate
Easy Editor (ee) (command line)
Zach Szafran
November 14th, 2008
Notepad2 (http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html) is a great editor for Windows.
Brian
November 14th, 2008
I use Notepad2.
Bill
November 14th, 2008
PSPad would be my vote as well. Not only for all of it’s features (syntax highlighting, built-in macro functions, etc., but also for it’s built-in FTP support.
Also, it installs in Ubuntu with Wine just as easily as it installs in Windows.
Robert
November 14th, 2008
+1 for Vim.
Also tried Notepad++, but I can’t get ident working for python.
jbroome
November 14th, 2008
Textmate and BBedit are awesome, but not free, and thus don’t fit into the scope of this article.
whatUrunning.com
November 14th, 2008
Great list, Notepad++ is my favourite though.
http://www.whatUrunning.com/The-Best-Text-Editor-Software.htm
neoyagami
November 14th, 2008
(why not vi)²
:(
i code everything in vi and is awsome
neoyagami
November 14th, 2008
@nosredna
because the simplicity is the key. if you add ftp and suport for every 5hi7 in the market you are only conplicating and making it very wheight(i think this is the word .sorry my english sucks)
i love vi and dont like bon jovi :P
neoyagami
November 14th, 2008
also notepad++ when i’m in wintendo
Ivan
November 14th, 2008
Well, Vim is obviously not on the list because it is beyond competition :)
Gimni
November 14th, 2008
Sorry, they are indeed not free, but BBEdit and TextMate are *the* text editors on Mac. They are worth every penny you may pay for them. I also used Eclipse in the past.
On Windows, I’m a big fan of TextPad, there is a new contender that could be very, very interesting: Microsoft IntelliPad, part of their “Oslo” SDK. Its previous name was “Emacs.Net”, which says it all: it’s based on .Net and totally customizable in IronPython.
indiana web design
November 14th, 2008
smultron rules!
CallMeJoe287
November 14th, 2008
EditPlus gets my vote as well!
BL
November 14th, 2008
I use Geany :D It rocks!
raf
November 14th, 2008
Aptana for main thing and Notepad2 for quick edit.
BloodGain
November 14th, 2008
Vim/GVim were certainly left out. You can’t include Emacs and not include Vim, too. Sure, Emacs can do a few things that Vim can’t, but Vim can do a few things that you have to write scripts for in Emacs.
Also, Vim is NOT stuck in the 80′s — it just uses a different idea about how to edit files (command vs. input). With GVim, you get all the nice click-y features of other editors and still have the power of Vim. Better yet, it means that when you have to log in remotely, you can get the same editing power less the slowdown of a GUI.
Those of you who rely only on a mouse to copy/paste/etc. lose several things, including the ability to power-edit without a GUI and the power and speed of context-sensitive editing.
d00d
November 14th, 2008
PSPad is the only freeware editor that compares to EditPlus, which is the best editor for windows.
mattrm
November 14th, 2008
I’m an emacs fan, but missing vi(m) off the list is a crime.
Babak
November 14th, 2008
anyone know which one is good for working with non-Latin languages? Specifically, I’m looking for an editor which would be able to mingle Persian with English so that the code is in English but the text for messges, errors, etc. is in Persian.
Thank you!
Paolo
November 14th, 2008
I use Crimson Editor and arachnophlia version 4 are two fantastic!
Programmers notepad !
November 14th, 2008
How come Programmers Notepad was left out! – http://www.pnotepad.org
Greg
November 14th, 2008
PSPad should be here and at the top. It out features half of the the editors listed, in fact this is a list of what I used to use before switching to PSPad. http://www.pspad.com/
Gates
November 14th, 2008
textmate FTFW
drew
November 14th, 2008
whad up with vim? A nice evolution of vi and less painful than others.
Maxi
November 14th, 2008
Hey, forgot Quanta+ on linux! rulz!
Noah
November 14th, 2008
I have to add my voice to the crowd yelling for blood over the omission of Vim.
Jeeze…
Mike V.
November 14th, 2008
EditPad Lite, although I use the Pro version
http://www.editpadpro.com/
reddshack
November 14th, 2008
I used Notepad++ for the longest time but then I found PSPad and now it’s the only editor I use. Good list though. You make good points for all the editors.
Ravi
November 14th, 2008
Crimson Editor has column select, which is very useful.
Sponty
November 14th, 2008
I quite like ‘Geany’ for Linux, as well.
Nice list; I use Notepad++ for Windows.
zcworld
November 14th, 2008
i found that context does the job for me
for the little code i have to play with at times
its good / fast when loading big files
and nice when you can pick the type of file your working on :)
Spoudumen
November 14th, 2008
I have to agree, vim all the way
James Hudnall
November 15th, 2008
For me, Edit Plus and WEBuilder are the best I have played with. I am always looking at others to see if they get better, but for now WEBuilder is my top fave.
david
November 15th, 2008
Vim has its niceness: I use it all the time (but I’m old)…as do all the rest but emacs has a LOT of scripts available and that script language is LISP. Any editor you can do AI in has to be cool, right?
Speaking of being old: you kids today! We had to write our own editors….in Fortran 66 and we liked it! (….not kidding: Primos h15 screen editor). Computing is much more pleasant now.
Michael Johnston
November 15th, 2008
What about Taco HTML Edit for Mac?
Graeme
November 15th, 2008
Yes, I PSPad is great, but now that I’m familiar with Vim /GVim I think it’s hard to beat.
JIm White
November 15th, 2008
You started he discussion about writing code, not just any text editing. In that specific context, if you write .NET code (used by at least 80% of Windows developers), all you need is Visual Studio. Awesome.
Mr Zebra
November 15th, 2008
Favorite Free: Notepad++
Favorite Commercial: UltraEdit – if you can afford it – this editor is incredible. Column editing, directory search, and macros, win hands down.
Razvan
November 15th, 2008
You forgot the best of the best: Geany !
Midla
November 15th, 2008
Notepad++ is the best on this list.
ApV
November 15th, 2008
notepad++ is the best in this list. PsPad is another good editor
J.R.
November 15th, 2008
Ouch. Emacs with no vim? GVim for the win!
Online hry zdarma
November 15th, 2008
Where is PSPad? I think, it is best editor.
Quayfee
November 15th, 2008
PsPad! I’m suprised it’s not on the list…
ravi
November 15th, 2008
No vim and kate. this post is incomplete
Keeto
November 15th, 2008
Oh my god! The blasphemy! Textmate! Where’s Textmate?!
Jennifer Kyrnin
November 15th, 2008
Great list. I hadn’t heard of Caditor or ConTEXT, so that was nice to see. Personally, I believe that Komodo Edit has the most features suitable to Web developers, but everyone likes something different. :-)
Jaffar Khorshidi
November 15th, 2008
Intype is also a really good one for windows – http://intype.info
pieps
November 15th, 2008
I’ve got to put in my vote for vim. Once you start using a modal text editor, there’s no turning back. Also, the less I have to move my hands from the home row, the better.
:wq
OneZ
November 16th, 2008
Why not gVim
Farid Hadi
November 16th, 2008
Thanks for the list.
Mia
November 16th, 2008
Jujuedit is good too (I know, funny name).
http://www.jujusoft.com/software/edit/screens.html
bill
November 16th, 2008
EditPLUS
Angel
November 17th, 2008
VIM and Geany (Linux)
Notepad2 and PsPad (Win)
Mackenzie
November 17th, 2008
Yet another vote for vim coming from me. But yeah, it is nice to have gvim or cream installed too, just because it’s easier to set file associations with GUI apps. Download a file from the web, and it auto-opens in a window where I can use regular expressions to my heart’s content :)
Stian
November 17th, 2008
Nice list, but… EditPlus! :)
Horst
November 17th, 2008
Geany is my favourite one. It has got a Function list.
elkuku
November 17th, 2008
Eclipse for coding – nothing better.
And for quickly open all other stuff i use…
KWrite ;) – the only one not mentioned yet..
Timothy
November 17th, 2008
SciTE all the way!
Alien
November 17th, 2008
GurX is the best editor.. gurx.net
Smart Ascii
November 17th, 2008
copy con: filename.ext
You only need an editor if you make mistakes the first time. Don’t do that.
Scott
November 18th, 2008
Vim!
Piotr Godek
November 18th, 2008
Geany, don’t forget about Geany :)
MK Owens
November 19th, 2008
jEdit has been my favorite non-terminal based text editor for years.
However . . . I have to say I am disappointed to see vi/vim missing from this list.
Dennis Nagel
November 19th, 2008
I often see TextPad and PSPad overlooked and it’s a terrible shame… Alone they have shortcomings, but when you have them both, you can get absolutely anything done… keystrokey recording Macros for repetitious tasks in textpad, PSPad for easily converting between url to ansi and back, etc… There are so many wonderful features it’s hard to mention them all… useful regex search / replace… I would still be completing work from 2007 if it were not for these two editors, not kidding!
Çağlar Gülçehre
November 19th, 2008
Give up all other eleven choices and just stick to GNU Emacs or Vim. They are the most powerful ones.
Abhishek
November 20th, 2008
I have used variety of text editors. Notepad++ being touted as the premium replacement for notepad is not entirely true. Try working with large files of size more than 10 mbs and try to copy/paste you will come to know what I am talking about. There are a few glitches in Notepad++ which make me go away from it. PSPad is also a good replacement albeit a little too odd and buggy as per the indentation customization goes.
I have been an avid user of EmEditor. It is one of the best and fastest general purpose editors out there. Student license is free and it beats many others hands down in many ways. Excellent customization features and extensibility support. Newer versions have even better support for working with large files.
markux
November 20th, 2008
WIN: pspad
Linux: geany, gedit, gvim
john
November 20th, 2008
You forgot the best..PSPAD
Darguz Parsilvan
November 20th, 2008
I discovered EditPlus many years ago, and it has served me well. The syntax highlighting and auto-complete features are very flexible, allowing me to customize them to my specific needs (e.g. highlighting my personal library functions). I’ve tried other editors from time to time at the urging of various friends, but have never found a reason to leave EP.
http://www.editplus.com/
rprebel
November 20th, 2008
Hilarious how everyone insists their (left out) editor is the absolute best and HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE IT ON YOUR LIST. Whatever. I have used BBEdit for…over a decade. Since well before OS X, and I like it a lot. However, it’s not on your list, so here we are.
ehcomunicacion
November 20th, 2008
i love editplus and . lightweight ,fast, and heavy with regular expressions.
foxmulder
November 22nd, 2008
Quanta Plus, or me is the best.
jing
November 22nd, 2008
notepad++ is my choice
Michel
November 23rd, 2008
PSPAD !!!!!
Igor
November 25th, 2008
NOTEPAD++ portable version with the support of the Cyrillic alphabet
death2thejews
November 25th, 2008
wheres emacs @
Michael Rice
November 25th, 2008
I used Notepad++ a couple times. Although it was nice, it didn’t really do better than my Dreamweaver. I might switch back down the road to help save my computer, as it doesn’t really work out good with the power of DW CS3 running.
rekarnar
November 25th, 2008
Quanta. The Best. Easy.
Paco
November 25th, 2008
TEXTPAD
Border
November 25th, 2008
why no vim?
VIM Sucks
November 26th, 2008
VIM sucks, what’s wrong with you people? Nano if I have to, but BBEdit makes life easier.
charon
November 26th, 2008
Textpad nor ultraedit are free. I use PSPad
jkricka
November 26th, 2008
FFS VIM!
henady
November 27th, 2008
I use notepad2
gabe
November 27th, 2008
Eclipse!
Rifter
November 28th, 2008
I find your lack of vim disturbing
sai
November 30th, 2008
pspad rocks :)
Bob
November 30th, 2008
What about EmEditor? Love it.
.:bekiro:.
December 1st, 2008
I am using Notepad++ too. It’s faster to use as Dreamweaver.
vi
December 8th, 2008
common dude, vim is on top of them all.
I don’t know what kind of development you do, but definitely include Eclipse / NetBeans / Aptana / etc.. they ARE free and they rock as well as VIM.
ngkong
December 11th, 2008
notepad++ is all i need…
Akash Kava
December 12th, 2008
People always love cheap, and even better is free !! All the editor lack structured planning and tools like refractoring and code analysis and much more. Software being not a tangible thing, people consider it cheap.
Stijn van der Ree
December 14th, 2008
yep, you forgot vi(m), the mother of all editors.
vimmer
December 14th, 2008
Another vote for gvim, and possibly Visual Studio with the viemu extension that allows using vim commands in the MS environment.
GIGrafx
December 14th, 2008
Though not mentioned within the article, a couple of the folks that posted in response gave mention to the editors I use for text/html/… Quanta+ for while within Linux… PSPad for while within Win32.
…Although I have picked up on using NotePad2 lately for content editing when I just need a fast loading, lightweight, editor with syntax highlighting.
Honestly, unless you were developing a full-blown PHP monstrosity, loaded with features incorporating the use of a gamma of 3rd party languages, I can see no reason to use an IDE.
To each their own though…
G
December 15th, 2008
Kate ~ best text editor for those of us who use KDE :)
Vitek
December 22nd, 2008
Voting for Kate :)
Rokurosv
January 2nd, 2009
I’m a Komodo Edit fan, it has all I need built right in, browser, code highlight, color schemes, ftp support, snippets, macros, custom commands, add-ons. It’s not the most lightweight editor out there, but it’s just fun writing code in it. Plus it has Emacs/Vi keybindings emulation so it’s flexible to Emacs users, like me.
Mark F
January 8th, 2009
Another vote Vim. If you don’t like the learning curve, there’s always Cream. But your failure to include Vim leaves me wondering why. It’s a pretty glaring omission.
Dude
January 23rd, 2009
Is there a really fricken bad echo in here or what?
Offshore Website Development
January 25th, 2009
Awsome Write up, i actually did switch to NOTEPAD++ :).
bzzy.bee
May 1st, 2009
After going through multitudes of editors, I finally settled on Boxer. Not free, but the macro language is smooth and easy to learn, similar to java and C.
I am “basically” a BASIC programmer, and java makes my head hurt, so I am still looking for the right integration. Lot of vim lovers here. Hmmmm. Still using PSPad, after 10 years.
That should say something…..
aaa
June 2nd, 2009
vim is by far the best editor, and yet it doesn’t even get a mention? outrageous!
robert
July 7th, 2009
I have used notepad ++ for a few years but it sucks. It really screws php up. I can type exactly the same thing in regular notepad and save it upload it and it works fine, but the same exact code in notepad++ screws up, I get php warnings.
I am guessing it is an encoding issue, I mean i can copy and paste from a working file to notepad++ and save it try to view it and get warnings
I am on the search for a text editor that does not have bugs, I create hundreds and hundreds of php files and when I get warnings and it is not from my code it pisses me off.
Jacob
July 13th, 2009
You gotta be kidding me! Where is Intype?
xavier
July 13th, 2009
I use PSPad (http://www.pspad.com) for all my developer works. It’s rare for me that it isn’t in the list.
Bim
July 13th, 2009
For PC, which one can complete the tag when you start typing: </ – like dreamweaver does? I usually work using textpad and notepad++ but they don’t complete end tags for you.
Cheers
Andibad
July 15th, 2009
yeah, i used totaleditstandart, notepad++, is perfect text editor, and freeware, but i used ultraedit at home, is i buy it, is very fast and many feature i put it.
Martin Majling - 23psd.com
August 11th, 2009
Hello people
PSPad is a freeware programmer’s editor for Microsoft Windows operating systems, useful for people who:
* work with various programming environments
* like highlighted syntax in their source code
* need a small tool with simple controls and the capabilities of a mighty code editor
* are looking for a tool that handles plain text
* want to save time – PSPad offers rich text formating functions
* need tool what offer user extension capabilities
* want to save money and still have the functionality of professional products because PSPad is free for commercial and government purposes too
Martin Majling - 23psd.com
August 11th, 2009
sorry link to PSPad homepage :-) http://www.pspad.com/en/
linh
September 14th, 2009
notepad++ is the most usefull and popular text editor on windows.
pikachu
January 1st, 2010
vim > emacs anyday.
Where’s Geany? it’s my second favourite
kevincheung
January 7th, 2010
I’ve been using Navicoder http://www.navicoder.com for a year and love it a lot.
Ray
January 10th, 2010
Thanks for this site, both the list of editors and the comments have been most helpful. I’m going to try notepad++ and PSPage after what I’ve read here.
Gordon Glas
January 26th, 2010
In Windows, I use Notepad++. In Mac OS-X I use Smultron. TextMate has horrible east asian language support if you can call it support at all. TextMate also isn’t free. jEdit is just horrid. It’s just too bad that no one seems to be maintaining Smultron anymore.
Markushi
March 18th, 2010
I use PSPad Editor, it has a lot of cool features and it’s free!
http://www.pspad.com/en/pspad.htm
John
April 1st, 2010
I am a pspad user now after using Notepad++ and a few other good but intrusive, spy editors I caught them doing unspecified acts.
I’ve stopped using the following:
Notepad++,
Crimson,
Context
My firewall software kept on catching these nasty critters sneaking out to the net without permission.
PSPAD seems to adhere to no spyware for now. That’s a blessing since it is one of the fasting loading ones too.
jeff
April 3rd, 2010
SCITE – worst experience with an editor. not easy to configure, its documentation is really bad, it should have an example for each of its parameter to show you how to use it. to get it to run a program through a shortcut feels like pulling tooth. by contrast to set the same feature in other editors is a breeze. rating 1/5
PSPAD – doesn’t have code folding ability. in today’s world this is a basice functionality. if you don’t have it, then you are just a text editor, not a programer’s editor.
crimson – good editor – same as pspad, no code folding. wery light and fast.
context – good editor – same as crimson. no code folding. very small and fast. sometimes the bracket matching highlight seems not work.
Bob
April 8th, 2010
I have used content on Windows and like it because of its lightweight no- nonsense approach.
The reason i am on this site is to look for an alternative to Komodo as I am currently using it on my Mac. I have had too many issues with it crashing and at times inexplicably allows me to start typing in one file and end up in the middle of another. Its utter rubbish, it is too bloated taking forever to open and close.
When all I want to do is code php, I do not need constant updates unrelated to my needs. Komodo is sh!te….. the best editors are those that try and keep it simple
Satya Prakash
June 22nd, 2010
I thought that i will get here report about encoding. I am looking for free editor who encoding support is the best.
Tollef
June 29th, 2010
ed is the standard text editor.
Jai
June 30th, 2010
nice list. Thanks!!!!!
Christa
July 13th, 2010
Thank you for this great list!!! Very helpful =]
Annie17
July 25th, 2010
Hi,
I use an editor online, very funcional and free.
Try http://www.online-html-editor.net , its free and simple to work on it.
Endless Battle
July 28th, 2010
@Annie17, Most online editors are not realy text editors, they are WYSIWYG editors, so it doesn’t count, unless you use it strictly in source mode, in that case, you may as well use ms notepad.
I have used notepad++ for about forever, however, I have started using vim and like it very much so.
gani
October 1st, 2010
notepad –
wrongite
December 28th, 2010
I think Komodo Edit is the best la.
Airdrie Painters
December 30th, 2010
I am currently learning the CodeIgniter framework. Prior I just used Dreamweaver for coding but in a video tutorial saw a program where it was helping the instruction fill in code. I am guessing by this article that it is Notepad++. Anyone suggest a website where I can learn the program quickly? I hope to use it with CI Framework to rebuild my Airdrie painting website.
BalaBoyBlue
January 15th, 2011
EditPlus is the only one for me on Windows.
Because of more and more cross platform work I may consider Vim – which I like but I am still getting my head (fingers?) around it ;-)
Pratheesh
January 18th, 2011
been using PSPad for a few years. absolutely brilliant.
rizkipratama
January 31st, 2011
nice list… :)
I use SciTE, very simple and convenient to use for me
already two years I still wear it
dd
February 3rd, 2011
I have heard that CodeIgniter is Great for PHP. Apatna Studio is Really Good for front-end web app dev, JS, JS Libraries etc.
Julian61
February 12th, 2011
Great review.
One thing I wish was included is whether given editor is a portable
application in its OS, or does it require installation.
Being a SW app engineer, I travel across many customers,
and usually installing custom app in their environment is not an option.
So far I found simple editor PFE to be the only one I could simply run off a memory stick.
aSeptik
February 26th, 2011
nice article, although, i don’t want bump the 3d but do you have tried PSPad – http://www.pspad.com
Animal Software
April 27th, 2011
Shameless plug:
http://www.animal-software.com/dolphin-text-editor-menu.php
Rick McKnight
June 13th, 2011
Notepad++ also has a Portable version with all features of Notepad++ including support for multiple languages and an extensive plugin system, but without nothing to install.
http://portableapps.com/apps/development/notepadpp_portable
And there are literally dozens more portable text editors.
iHunger
August 10th, 2011
PowerSE (http://powerse.com) is a good free PowerShell and XML editor.
BillH
October 7th, 2011
PSPad was left off? Granted, it’s Windows-only, but I left both Crimson Editor and ConTEXT editor in favor of PSPad. It’s got nearly all of the features of UltraEdit, but is free. Plus there are a ton of plugins.
In all distros of Linux, I prefer Kate. Simple, clean, and fast.
kami
October 10th, 2011
what about vim/gvim ?! Your list is deficient without vim/gvim.
Nicolas
November 4th, 2011
What about aptana.
i use apptana at the job,
im programing php and it the best open source.
fred
November 20th, 2011
Komodo isnt free anymore
Charles Pergiel
December 11th, 2011
Notepad++ doesn’t do Linux. I still use archaic AEDIT occasionally because it can do things most graphical editor developers have not even deamt of. I tried Emacs once. It was insane. Windows Notepad is too feeble for words. I’m still looking for something decent that will work on both Windows and Linux.
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