The Best Open Source Atom AlternativesTop Code & Text Editors like Atom

The best open source alternative to Atom is Notepad++. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Atom and loads of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Atom are Vim, VSCodium, Zed Editor and Kate.

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Alternatives list

  1. Notepad++ icon

    Notepad++

     4927 likes

    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.

    249 Notepad++ alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Notepad++ screenshot 1
     
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    7
    Comments about Notepad++ as an Alternative to Atom
    Top Positive Comment
    Chris Lamke
    11

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

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    4

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

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    David Burns
    Positive
    0

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

    3 of 7 comments
    Notepad++ icon
    Notepad++ icon
    • Notepad++ is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Notepad++ is Lightweight and Privacy focusedAtom is not according to our users
  2. Vim icon

    Vim

     1345 likes

    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.

    215 Vim alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Vim screenshot 1
     
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    4
    Comments about Vim as an Alternative to Atom
    Guest
    Positive
    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

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    5

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

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Conner Vieira
    Positive
    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.

    3 of 4 comments
    Vim icon
    Vim icon
    • Vim is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Vim is LightweightAtom is not according to our users
  4. VSCodium icon

    VSCodium

     403 likes

    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.

    198 VSCodium alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Electron
    • Snapcraft
    • Homebrew
    • Chocolatey
    VSCodium screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about VSCodium as an Alternative to Atom
    Ernst Went
    Positive
    2

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

    Sebastian
    Positive
    0

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

    VSCodium icon
    VSCodium icon
    • VSCodium is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • VSCodium is Privacy focused and LightweightAtom is not according to our users
  5. Zed Editor icon

    Zed Editor

     108 likes

    Blazing fast code editor offering real-time multi-user collaboration, language-aware syntax highlighting, integrated terminal, multi-buffers for tab-free editing, built-in Vim mode, searchable outline, AI coding assistance, advanced keyboard commands, and cross-platform support.

    90 Zed Editor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Zed Editor screenshot 1
     
  6. Kate icon

    Kate

     312 likes

    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.

    146 Kate alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Kate screenshot 1
     
  7. Geany icon

    Geany

     575 likes

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

    154 Geany alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak
    • Haiku
    Geany screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about Geany as an Alternative to Atom
    Guest
    Positive
    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.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Geany icon
    Geany icon
    • 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
  9. GNU Emacs icon

    GNU Emacs

     387 likes

    GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more. At its core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language with extensions to support text editing. The features of GNU Emacs include:

    181 GNU Emacs alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • F-Droid
    • Haiku
    • Debian
    • MacPorts
    • Homebrew
    The GNU Emacs Manual calls Emacs the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor
     
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    1
    Comments about GNU Emacs as an Alternative to Atom
    cycroenerugi
    Positive
    4

    Its more than just a text editor, its an list interpreter and an shell. Good for computer setups without mouse

    GNU Emacs icon
    GNU Emacs icon
    • GNU Emacs is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • GNU Emacs is Privacy focused and LightweightAtom is not according to our users
  10. Neovim icon

    Neovim

     187 likes

    Refactored version of Vim, simplifying maintenance, improving developer contributions, and enabling new user interfaces. Features extensible plugin architecture, lightweight resource usage, syntax highlighting, no registration, ad-free, and distraction-free mode.

    106 Neovim alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chocolatey
    • Flathub
    • Snapcraft
    Neovim screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about Neovim as an Alternative to Atom
    downshifter
    Positive
    0

    Lightweight, customisable, terminalbased, extensible to full IDE

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Neovim icon
    Neovim icon
    • Neovim is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Neovim is LightweightAtom is not according to our users
  11. gedit icon

    gedit

     694 likes

    Official text editor of the GNOME desktop environment. Has syntax highlighting and is suitable for programming, with support for several languages. It is extensible with plugins.

    193 gedit alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • GNOME
    • OpenSolaris
    • Flathub
    The Default look under GNOME with Adwaita
     
  12. Pulsar Editor icon

    Pulsar Editor

     48 likes

    A Community-led Hyper-Hackable Text Editor, built on Electron. and based on everything we love about our favorite editors.

    78 Pulsar Editor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • Electron
    Welcome tab
     
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    4
    Comments about Pulsar Editor as an Alternative to Atom
    Mark
    Positive
    2

    Pulsar is the spiritual successor to Atom.

    Buster_Blue
    Positive
    1

    It's the community-run direct successor (it's a fork) of Atom. If you really liked Atom and wish you could keep using it, this is the obvious choice, because it IS Atom, just with a new name and new maintainers.

    tuva-hayabi
    Positive
    0

    Atom is dead and gone, Pulse is alive and well.

    3 of 4 comments
    Pulsar Editor icon
    Pulsar Editor icon
    • Pulsar Editor is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Pulsar Editor is Lightweight and Privacy focusedAtom is not according to our users
  13. GNU nano icon

    GNU nano

     290 likes

    GNU nano is a small and friendly text editor. Besides basic text editing, nano offers many extra features like an interactive search and replace, go to line and column number, auto-indentation, feature toggles, internationalization support, and filename tab completion.

    153 GNU nano alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    GNU nano screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about GNU nano as an Alternative to Atom
    sondrak
    Positive
    2

    Easiest CLI-based text editor for newbies

    Guest
    Positive
    1

    nano is a great editor when you are in CLI, however, of course, it does not use GUI or has GUI.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    GNU nano icon
    GNU nano icon
    • GNU nano is Free and Open SourceAtom is Free Personal and Open Source
    • GNU nano is LightweightAtom is not according to our users
  14. Lite XL icon

    Lite XL

     52 likes

    Lite XL is a lightweight text editor written mostly in Lua — it aims to provide something practical, pretty, small and fast, implemented as simply as possible; easy to modify and extend, or to use without doing either.

    61 Lite XL alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Lite XL screenshot 1
     
12 of 110 Atom alternatives