The following is a list of notable text editors.
The following editors can either be used with a graphical user interface or a text user interface.
Name | Description | License |
---|---|---|
Elvis | A vi/ex clone with additional commands and features. | ClArtistic |
Extensible Versatile Editor (EVE) | Default under OpenVMS. | ? |
GNU Emacs [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] /XEmacs [6] [7] | Two long-existing forks of the popular Emacs programmer's editor. Emacs and vi are the dominant text editors on Unix-like operating systems, and have inspired the editor wars. | GPL-3.0-or-later / GPL-2.0-or-later |
Language-Sensitive Editor (LSE) | Programmer's Editor for OpenVMS implemented using TPU. | ? |
Textadept | A modular, cross-platform editor written in C and Lua, using Scintilla. [8] | MIT |
vile (vi like Emacs) | A vi work-alike which retains the vi command-set while adding new features: multiple windows and buffers, infinite undo, colorization, scriptable expansion capabilities, etc. | GPL-2.0-only |
vim [9] [10] [11] [12] | A clone based on the ideas of the vi editor and designed for use both from a command line interface and in a graphical user interface. | Vim |
Name | Description | License |
---|---|---|
Acme | A User Interface for Programmers by Rob Pike. | MIT |
Alphatk | Proprietary | |
Apache OpenOffice Writer | Word processor and text editor of the Apache OpenOffice Suite, based on StarOffice's suite. | Apache-2.0 |
Arachnophilia | A source code editor which is successor to another HTML editor, WebThing. | Free software |
Atom | A modular, general-purpose editor built using HTML, CSS and JavaScript on top of Chromium and Node.js. | MIT |
BBEdit | A proprietary text editor originally developed for Macintosh System Software 6 | Proprietary |
Bluefish | A source code editor with web development features. | GPL-2.0-or-later |
Brackets | A modular, web-oriented editor built using HTML, CSS and JavaScript on top of the Chromium Embedded Framework. | MIT |
CodeWright | An editing system or source code editor which can be configured to work with other integrated development environment (IDE) systems. | Proprietary |
Crimson Editor | A text editor which is typically used as a source code editor and HTML editor. | Freeware |
CygnusEd (CED) | Proprietary | |
E Text Editor | Default under IBM OS/2 versions 2-4[ citation needed ]. | Proprietary |
Eddie | An editor originally made for BeOS and later ported to Linux and macOS. | Freeware |
EmEditor | extensible commercial text editor which supports Unicode, syntax highlighting and vertical selection editing, editing of large files (up to 248 GB or 2.1 billion lines) | Proprietary |
Epsilon | A programmer's text editor modelled after Emacs. | Proprietary |
FeatherPad | A lightweight editor based on Qt. | GPL-3.0-or-later |
Geany | A fast and lightweight editor – IDE, uses GTK+. | GPL-2.0-or-later |
gedit | Former default under GNOME until GNOME 42. [13] | GPL-2.0-or-later |
GNOME Text Editor | Default under GNOME from GNOME 42 onwards [14] | GPL-3.0-or-later |
GoldED (text editor of Cubic IDE) | Proprietary | |
HxD | An editor for huge files, working with both binary data and texts. | Freeware |
iA Writer | A multi-platform Markdown text editor with writing focused feature set | Proprietary |
jEdit | A free cross-platform programmer's editor written in Java, GPL licensed. | GPL-2.0-or-later |
JOVE | Jonathan's Own Version of Emacs | JOVE |
JuffEd | A lightweight text editor written in Qt4. | GPL-2.0-only |
Kate | A basic text editor for the KDE desktop. | LGPL, GPL |
Kedit | An editor with commands and Rexx macros similar to IBM XEDIT. | Proprietary |
Kile | A user friendly TeX/LaTeX editor. | GPL-2.0-or-later |
Komodo Edit | MPL-1.1 | |
KWrite | A default editor on KDE. | LGPL |
Lapis | An experimental text editor allowing multiple simultaneous edits of text in a multiple selection from a few examples provided by the user. | GPL-2.0 |
Leafpad | Default under LXDE. [15] | GPL-2.0-or-later |
Leo | A text editor that features outlines with clones as its central tool of organization and navigation. | MIT |
LibreOffice Writer | Word processor and text editor of the LibreOffice Suite, based on StarOffice's suite. | MPL-2.0 |
Light Table | A text editor and IDE with real-time, inline expression evaluation. Intended mainly for dynamic languages such as Clojure, Python and JavaScript, and for web development. | MIT / GPL-3.0-only |
mcedit | A text editor provided with Midnight Commander. | GPL-3.0-or-later |
Metapad | Windows Notepad replacement, GPL licensed. | GPL-3.0-or-later |
MicroEMACS | JASSPA MicroEMACS | GPL-2.0-or-later |
Mousepad | The default under Xfce. [16] | GPL-2.0-or-later |
Multi-Edit | Proprietary | |
NEdit – "Nirvana Editor" | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
Notepad | Default under Microsoft Windows. | Proprietary |
Notepad++ | A tabbed text editor. | GPL-3.0-or-later |
Pe | A text editor for BeOS. | MIT |
pluma | The default text editor of the MATE desktop environment for Linux. | GPL-2.0-or-later |
PolyEdit | Proprietary word processor and text editor. | Proprietary |
Programmer's File Editor (PFE) | Freeware | |
PSPad | An editor for Microsoft Windows with various programming environments. | Freeware |
RJ TextEd | Freeware | |
Sam | MIT | |
SciTE | Cross-platform, multi-user, multi-codepage, multi-language syntax highlighting, area selector, RE find/replace, and very customisable, allowing different font configurations for each syntactic group, user-defined menus and abbreviation expansion. | HPND |
SimpleText | Default under Classic Mac OS from version 7.5. [17] | Proprietary |
SlickEdit | Proprietary | |
Smultron | A macOS text editor. | Proprietary |
SubEthaEdit (formerly named Hydra) | Proprietary | |
Sublime Text | Proprietary | |
TeachText | Default under Classic Mac OS versions prior to 7.5. [18] | Proprietary |
TED Notepad | Freeware | |
Tex-Edit Plus | Proprietary | |
TextPad and Wildedit | Proprietary | |
TeXnicCenter | GPL | |
TeXShop | TeX/LaTeX editor and previewer. [19] [20] [21] [22] | GPL-2.0 |
TextEdit | Default under macOS, [23] NeXTSTEP [ citation needed ], and GNUstep.[ citation needed ] | BSD-3-Clause |
TextMate | GPL-3.0-or-later | |
TextWrangler | Mac-only editor by Bare Bones Software, sunsetted. Final version released 09/20/2016, [24] replaced by free tier of [BBEdit]. [25] | Freeware |
The Hessling Editor | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
The SemWare Editor (TSE) (formerly named QEdit). | Freeware | |
UltraEdit | Text and source code editor with syntax highlighting, code folding, FTP, etc., handles multi-gigabyte files. | Proprietary |
Ulysses | Proprietary | |
VEDIT | Proprietary | |
Visual Studio Code [26] | An extensible code editor with support for development operations like debugging, task running and version control. | MIT |
WinEdt | Proprietary | |
X11 Xedit | MIT | |
XEDIT | Default under VM/CMS. | Proprietary |
Yudit | GPL-2.0-only | |
Xed | GPL-2.0-or-later | |
Name | Description | License |
---|---|---|
E | is the text editor in PC DOS 6, PC DOS 7 and PC DOS 2000. | Proprietary |
ed | The default line editor on Unix since the birth of Unix. Either ed or a compatible editor is available on all systems labeled as Unix (not by default on every one). | Free software |
ED | The default editor on CP/M, MP/M, Concurrent CP/M, CP/M-86, MP/M-86, Concurrent CP/M-86. | Free software |
EDIT | The default on MS-DOS 5.0 and higher and is included with all 32-bit versions of Windows that do not rely on a separate copy of DOS. Up to including MS-DOS 6.22, it only supported files up to 64 KB. | Proprietary |
EDIT | The text editor in Novell DOS 7, OpenDOS 7.01, DR-DOS 7.02 and higher. Supports large files for as long as swap space is available. Version 7 and higher optionally supports a pseudo-graphics user interface named NewUI. | Proprietary |
EDIX | The text editor in Concurrent DOS, Concurrent DOS XM, Concurrent PC DOS, Concurrent DOS 386, FlexOS 286, FlexOS 386, 4680 OS, 4690 OS, S5-DOS/MT. | Proprietary |
EDITOR | The text editor in DR DOS 3.31 through DR DOS 6.0, and the predecessor of EDIT. | Proprietary |
EDLIN | A command-line based line editor introduced with 86-DOS, and the default on MS-DOS prior to version 5 and is also available on MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows NT. | Proprietary |
ee | Stands for Easy Editor, is part of the base system of FreeBSD, along with vi. [27] | Free software |
nvi | (Installed as vi by default in BSD operating systems and some Linux distributions) – A free replacement for the original vi which maintains compatibility while adding some new features. | BSD-3-Clause |
vi [9] [10] [28] | The default for Unix systems and must be included in all POSIX compliant systems [29] – One of the earliest screen-based editors, it is based on ex. | BSD-4-Clause or CDDL |
Name | Description | License |
---|---|---|
ECCE | ECCE (The Edinburgh Compatible Context Editor) is a text editor designed by Dr Hamish Dewar at Edinburgh University. | Free software |
Emacs | A screen-based editor with an embedded computer language, Emacs Lisp. Early versions were implemented in TECO, see below. | Free software |
JED | Multi-mode, multi-window editor with drop-down menus, folding, ctags support, undo, UTF-8, key-macros, autosave, etc. Multi-emulation; default is emacs. Programmable in S-Lang. | GPL-2.0-or-later |
JOE | A modern screen-based editor with a sort of enhanced-WordStar style to the interface, but can also emulate Pico. | Free software |
LE | GPL-3.0-or-later | |
mcedit | Full featured terminal text editor for Unix-like systems. | GPL-3.0-or-later |
mg | Small and light, uses GNU/Emacs keybindings. Installed by default on OpenBSD. | Public domain |
MinEd | Text editor with user-friendly interface, mouse and menu control, and extensive Unicode and CJK support; for Unix/Linux and Windows/DOS. | GPL |
GNU nano | A clone of Pico GPL licensed. | GPL-3.0-or-later |
ne | A minimal, modern replacement for vi. | GPL-3.0-or-later |
Pico | Apache-2.0 | |
SETEDIT | A clone of the editor of Borland's Turbo* IDEs. | GPL-2.0-or-later |
The SemWare Editor | (TSE for DOS) (formerly called QEdit) | Proprietary |
Name | Description | License |
---|---|---|
BusyBox vi [30] | A small vi clone with a minimum of commands and features. | GPL-2.0-only |
Elvis | The first vi clone and the default vi in Minix. | ClArtistic |
ex | Or is vi an ex-clone? ex was an ex tended version of ed. It got a full-screen visual interface, thereby becoming the vi text editor. | Free software |
Kakoune | A editor inspired by vi that makes use of multi cursor workflows and modal editing. [31] | Unlicense |
nvi | A new implementation and currently the standard vi in BSD distributions. | BSD-3-Clause |
Stevie | STEVIE (ST Editor for VI Enthusiasts) for the Atari ST, the starting point for vim and xvi | Public domain |
vile | Derived from an early version of Microemacs in an attempt to bring the Emacs multi-window/multi-buffer editing paradigm to vi users. First published 1991 with infinite undo, UTF-8 compatibility, multi-window/multi-buffer operation, a macro expansion language, syntax highlighting, file read and write hooks, and more. | GPL-2.0-only |
vim [12] | An extended version of the vi editor, with many additional features designed to be helpful in editing program source code. | Vim |
Name | Description | License |
---|---|---|
Cocoa text system | Supports text components of macOS. | Proprietary |
Scintilla (software) | Used as the core of several text editors. | HPND |
sed (stream editor) | The standard Unix stream editor based on the scripting features in ed. A utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. | Free software |
Text Processing Utility (TPU) | Language and runtime package, developed by DEC, used to implement the Language-Sensitive Editor and Extensible Versatile Editor, Eve. | Proprietary |
Editors that are specifically designed for the creation of ASCII and ANSI text art.
ed is a line editor for Unix and Unix-like operating systems. It was one of the first parts of the Unix operating system that was developed, in August 1969. It remains part of the POSIX and Open Group standards for Unix-based operating systems, alongside the more sophisticated full-screen editor vi.
The editor war is the rivalry between users of the Emacs and vi text editors. The rivalry has become an enduring part of hacker culture and the free software community.
TECO, short for Text Editor & Corrector, is both a character-oriented text editor and a programming language, that was developed in 1962 for use on Digital Equipment Corporation computers, and has since become available on PCs and Unix. Dan Murphy developed TECO while a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Vim is a free and open-source, screen-based text editor program. It is an improved clone of Bill Joy's vi. Vim's author, Bram Moolenaar, derived Vim from a port of the Stevie editor for Amiga and released a version to the public in 1991. Vim is designed for use both from a command-line interface and as a standalone application in a graphical user interface. Since its release for the Amiga, cross-platform development has made it available on many other systems. In 2018, it was voted the most popular editor amongst Linux Journal readers; in 2015 the Stack Overflow developer survey found it to be the third most popular text editor, and in 2019 the fifth most popular development environment.
vi is a screen-oriented text editor originally created for the Unix operating system. The portable subset of the behavior of vi and programs based on it, and the ex editor language supported within these programs, is described by the Single Unix Specification and POSIX.
XEmacs is a graphical- and console-based text editor which runs on almost any Unix-like operating system as well as Microsoft Windows. XEmacs is a fork, based on a version of GNU Emacs from the late 1980s. Any user can download, use, and modify XEmacs as free software available under the GNU General Public License version 2 or any later version.
Gosling Emacs is a discontinued Emacs implementation written in 1981 by James Gosling in C.
A newline is a control character or sequence of control characters in character encoding specifications such as ASCII, EBCDIC, Unicode, etc. This character, or a sequence of characters, is used to signify the end of a line of text and the start of a new one.
The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project announced by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983. Its goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collaboratively developing and publishing software that gives everyone the rights to freely run the software, copy and distribute it, study it, and modify it. GNU software grants these rights in its license.
In computing, text-based user interfaces (TUI), is a retronym describing a type of user interface (UI) common as an early form of human–computer interaction, before the advent of bitmapped displays and modern conventional graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Like modern GUIs, they can use the entire screen area and may accept mouse and other inputs. They may also use color and often structure the display using box-drawing characters such as ┌ and ╣. The modern context of use is usually a terminal emulator.
Ctags is a programming tool that generates an index file of names found in source and header files of various programming languages to aid code comprehension. Depending on the language, functions, variables, class members, macros and so on may be indexed. These tags allow definitions to be quickly and easily located by a text editor, a code search engine, or other utility. Alternatively, there is also an output mode that generates a cross reference file, listing information about various names found in a set of language files in human-readable form.
vile is a text editor that combines aspects of the Emacs and vi editors. These editors are traditionally located on opposing sides of the editor wars, as users of either tend to have strong sentiments against the editor they do not use. vile attempts to reconcile these positions.
Dunnet is a surreal, cyberpunk text adventure written by Ron Schnell, based on a game he wrote in 1982. The name is derived from the first three letters of dungeon and the last three letters of ARPANET. It was first written in Maclisp for the DECSYSTEM-20, then ported to Emacs Lisp in 1992. Since 1994 the game has shipped with GNU Emacs; it also has been included with XEmacs.
This article provides basic comparisons for notable text editors. More feature details for text editors are available from the Category of text editor features and from the individual products' articles. This article may not be up-to-date or necessarily all-inclusive.
MicroEMACS is a small, portable Emacs-like text editor originally written by Dave Conroy in 1985, and further developed by Daniel M. Lawrence (1958–2010) and was maintained by him. MicroEMACS has been ported to many operating systems, including CP/M, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, VMS, Atari ST, AmigaOS, OS-9, NeXTSTEP, and various Unix-like operating systems.
The following is a comparison of notable hex editors.
Control-Y is a common computer command. It is generated by holding Ctrl and pressing the Y key on most computer keyboards.
GNU Emacs is a text editor and suite of free software tools. Its development began in 1984 by GNU Project founder Richard Stallman, based on the Emacs editor developed for Unix operating systems. GNU Emacs has been a central component of the GNU project and a flagship project of the free software movement.
Emacs, originally named EMACS, is a family of text editors that are characterized by their extensibility. The manual for the most widely used variant, GNU Emacs, describes it as "the extensible, customizable, self-documenting, real-time display editor". Development of the first Emacs began in the mid-1970s, and work on GNU Emacs, directly descended from the original, is ongoing; its latest version is 29.4 , released June 2024.