Atom AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Text Editors

The best Text Editor alternative to Atom is Visual Studio Code, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Atom and loads of them are Text Editors so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Text Editor alternatives to Atom are Notepad++, Sublime Text, Vim and VSCodium.

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Atom alternatives are mainly Text Editors but may also be Code Editors or IDEs.  Other popular filters includes Linux + Open Source and Mac + Open Source. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Atom.
Atom iconAtom
  1095
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Atom is an open-source, Electron based text editor with a massive ecosystem of plugins and themes that are easily accessible through a built-in package manager. Being built with Electron, it uses web...

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Atom alternatives page was last updated Apr 20, 2023
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Alternatives
  1. Visual Studio Code icon

    Visual Studio Code

     1313 likes
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    Free and extensible code editor with built-in Git support, smart IntelliSense, integrated debugger, 30,000+ extensions, works offline, supports markdown and syntax highlighting for numerous languages.

    205 Visual Studio Code alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Chrome OS
    Visual Studio Code screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Autocompletion
    3.  Built-in terminal emulation
    4.  Syntax Highlighting
    5.  Code Completion
    6.  Multiple languages
    7. Git icon  Git Support
    8. GitHub icon  GitHub Integration
    9.  Dark Mode
    10.  Supports Python
    11.  Multiple Cursors
    12.  C++

    Visual Studio Code VS Atom

     
    Comments about Visual Studio Code as an Alternative to Atom
    Top Positive Comment
    David
    Nov 20, 2019
    1

    VS Code has arguably better defaults than Atom especially with the pre-configured minimap. Atom's themes use HTML/CSS so visuals are fully configurable but that also makes it a bit slower with drawing operations whereas VS Code draws everything fast, very noticeable with the minimap which reacts practically instantly to changes. VS Code also loads faster and just feels faster in general. Otherwise, both editors offer a massive list of great features and droves of extensions.

    Most Recent Comment
    Dwayne Mitchell
    Positive •Dec 17, 2022
    -3

    The best of the best, at least right now.

    someone last
    Positive •Jan 21, 2018
    0

    Makes everything easier, faster.

    Show more comments
    3 of 9 comments
    Atom Icon
    Visual Studio Code icon

    • Most users think Visual Studio Code is a great Atom alternative.

    • Visual Studio Code is the most popular Web-based, Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Atom.

    • Visual Studio Code is the most popular free alternative to Atom.

    • Visual Studio Code is Free and ProprietaryAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Visual Studio Code is CustomizableAtom is not according to our users
  2. Notepad++ icon

    Notepad++

     4862 likes
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    Notepad++ is a free, open-source code editor supporting several languages, offering features like syntax highlighting, plugin support, dark mode, portability, privacy, and efficient resource usage, making it highly customizable and suitable for various programming needs.

    229 Notepad++ alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • FR flagFrance
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Notepad++ screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Configurable

    Features

    1.  Code Formatting
    2.  Portable
    3.  Tabbed interface
    4.  Search and Replace
    5.  Text formatting
    6.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    7.  Multiple Open Tabs
    8.  Multiple languages
    9.  Color coding
    10.  Support for Javascript
    11.  Built-in themes
    12.  Auto-saving

    Notepad++ VS Atom

     
    Comments about Notepad++ as an Alternative to Atom
    Top Positive Comment
    Chris Lamke
    Jul 1, 2017
    11

    Notepad++ has built-in support for many languages and a great plugin system for more.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    Jul 1, 2022
    4

    Windows only, few plugins, more a text editor than a code editor/IDE.

    Most Recent Comment
    David Burns
    Positive •Sep 27, 2019
    0

    Usage of Notepad++ should be really straightforward for those with prior IDE knowledge & experience.

    Show more comments
    3 of 7 comments
    Atom Icon
    Notepad++ icon

    • Most users think Notepad++ is a great Atom alternative.

    • Notepad++ is the most popular Open Source alternative to Atom.

    • Notepad++ is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Notepad++ is LightweightAtom is not according to our users
  4. Sublime Text icon

    Sublime Text

     2018 likes
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    Powerful editor blending code, markup, and prose editing with enhanced features like multi-tab selection, side-by-side definition viewing, and multiple selection tools for swift code navigation.

    194 Sublime Text alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • AU flagAustralia

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Sublime Text screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Customizable
    3.  Clean design
    4.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Package Control
    3.  Syntax Highlighting
    4.  Text editing
    5.  Multiple Cursors
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Simple text editor
    9.  Tabbed interface
    10.  Support for MarkDown
    11.  Works Offline
    12.  No registration required

    Sublime Text VS Atom

     
    Comments about Sublime Text as an Alternative to Atom
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    Apr 1, 2017
    4

    SublimeText is by far my most favorite editor in my 32 years of computing as it has multitude of features found no where else and is extendable with packages. Vertical Selection and Multi-caret editing is two of my most used features.

    Most Recent Comment
    David Burns
    Positive •Sep 27, 2019
    0

    You wouldn't believe me if I told you the amount of plug-ins available for easy addition.

    Ivan Lopez
    Positive •Jun 30, 2018
    1

    It is very similar and easy to understand and use, this program is probably one of the best alternatives to Atom if you are using it for simple text editing and you are not very interested in modifying the program itself, even though both programs are really great, I prefer to use Atom when I'm on linux and Sublime Text when I'm on Windows.

    Show more comments
    3 of 5 comments
    Atom Icon
    Sublime Text icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Sublime Text is a great Atom alternative.

    • Sublime Text is Freemium and ProprietaryAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Sublime Text is Lightweight and CustomizableAtom is not according to our users
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    EmEditor icon
    EmEditor

    EmEditor is a versatile text, code, and CSV editor designed for Windows. It offers lightweight, user-friendly, and extendable platform, with both 32-bit and 64-bit builds. The software also features AI-assisted writing.

    https://www.emeditor.com
    Learn More
  6. Vim icon

    Vim

     1315 likes
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    Vim ("Vi IMproved") is an advanced text editor that allows syntax highlighting, word completion and has a huge amount of contributed content. It also has a GUI version called GVim.

    209 Vim alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • NL flagNetherlands
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Vim screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Keyboard focused
    3.  Customizable
    4.  Configurable

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3.  Hackable
    4.  Well documented
    5.  Modal editor
    6.  Command line interface
    7.  Works Offline
    8.  Support for MarkDown
    9.  No registration required
    10.  Portable
    11.  Batch Editing
    12.  Terminal-based

    Vim VS Atom

     
    Comments about Vim as an Alternative to Atom
    Most Recent Comment
    Guest
    Positive •May 18, 2017
    11

    Vim offers unlimited customization and consumes very less memory, it supports execution of commands from vim itself and with the right plugins works almost like an ide

    Guest
    Negative •Jul 2, 2018
    5

    While Vim is powerful, it’s not an easy replacement for a GUI-based text editor.

    Conner Vieira
    Positive •Jan 20, 2022
    0

    Vim is one of the most lightweight text editors on the planet. If you want to edit plain text or code, and you want to do it efficiently, Vim's keyboard-centric design is great.

    Show more comments
    3 of 4 comments
    Atom Icon
    Vim icon

    • Most users think Vim is a great Atom alternative.

    • Vim is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Vim is Lightweight and CustomizableAtom is not according to our users
  7. VSCodium icon

    VSCodium

     340 likes
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    This repository contains a build file to generate FLOSS release binaries of Microsoft's Visual Studio Code - Open Source ("Code - OSS") project, the open source core of the proprietary Visual Studio Code.

    195 VSCodium alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Electron
    VSCodium screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Privacy focused
    3.  Support for Themes
    4.  Lightweight
    5.  Clean design

    Features

    1.  No Tracking
    2.  Prevent telemetry
    3.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    4.  Works Offline
    5.  No registration required
    6.  Autocompletion
    7.  MIT License
    8.  Dark Mode
    9. Git icon  Git integration
    10.  Syntax Highlighting
    11.  Ad-free
    12.  Minimap

    VSCodium VS Atom

     
    Comments about VSCodium as an Alternative to Atom
    Ernst Went
    Positive •Dec 22, 2022
    2

    Has all the famous features of Visual Studio Code but without tracking/telemetry. Updates are coming regularly. Recommendable!

    Sebastian
    Positive •Apr 20, 2023
    0

    its better Than most other IDE/Code Editors, even better than Visual studio code.

    Atom Icon
    VSCodium icon

    • Almost everyone thinks VSCodium is a great Atom alternative.

    • VSCodium is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • VSCodium is Customizable and Privacy focusedAtom is not according to our users
  8. Geany icon

    Geany

     567 likes
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    Geany is a powerful, stable and lightweight programmer's text editor that provides tons of useful features without bogging down your workflow.

    148 Geany alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak
    Geany screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes
    3.  Minimalistic
    4.  Customizable
    5.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Multiplatform
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3.  Code navigation
    4.  Automatic Indentation
    5.  Shell integration
    6.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    7.  Ad-free
    8. LaTeX icon  Support for LaTeX
    9.  Hierarchical Structure
    10.  Live Preview
    11.  Debian package compatible
    12.  Shortcut keys

    Geany VS Atom

     
    Comments about Geany as an Alternative to Atom
    Guest
    Positive •Sep 9, 2019
    3

    Geany is easy, extremely fast, and reliable. Has a good console. Has good interaction with the shell. Is very customizable. Can be extended with lua. Has good selection of plugins. Snippets. Block editing. Code folding. Syntax highlighting. Tab completion. Everything works. File browser. Object browser. Configurable compilation and execution. Project managment. etc. Everuthing without bloating.

    Atom Icon
    Geany icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Geany is a great Atom alternative.

    • Geany is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Geany is Lightweight, Minimalistic and Privacy focusedAtom is not according to our users
  10. Kate icon

    Kate

     294 likes
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    The Kate project develops two main products: KatePart, the advanced editor component which is used in numerous KDE applications requiring a text editing component, and Kate, a MDI text editor application.

    139 Kate alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Kate screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Native application
    2.  Themes
    3.  Syntax Highlighting
    4.  Built-in terminal emulation
    5.  Editable text color schemes
    6.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    7.  Tabbed interface
    8.  Code Formatting
    9. Git icon  Git Support
    10.  Support for MarkDown
    11.  Spell Checking
    12.  Full-Text Search

    Kate VS Atom

     
7 of 131 Atom alternatives