GNU Emacs AlternativesOnly apps from the EU

The best alternative to GNU Emacs is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to GNU Emacs and many of them are so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting alternatives to GNU Emacs are Vim, Kate, Geany and PSPad.

filter to find the best alternatives

GNU Emacs alternatives are mainly Text Editors, but if you're looking for Code Editors or IDEs you can filter on that. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to GNU Emacs.
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Alternatives list

  1. Notepad++ icon

    Notepad++

     4926 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.

    245 Notepad++ alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Notepad++ screenshot 1
     
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    1
    8
    Comments about Notepad++ as an Alternative to GNU Emacs
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Many possibilities for all languages and the plugins are great.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    GNU Emacs Icon
    Notepad++ icon

    • Most users think Notepad++ is a great GNU Emacs alternative.

    • Notepad++ is the most popular Windows alternative to GNU Emacs.

    • Notepad++ is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to GNU Emacs.

    • Notepad++ is Free and Open SourceGNU Emacs is also Free and Open Source
  2. Vim icon

    Vim

     1340 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.

    211 Vim alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Vim screenshot 1
     
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    3
    14
    Comments about Vim as an Alternative to GNU Emacs
    TheBlueRuby
    Positive
    1

    More lightweight, preinstalled on most Linux distros and follows the Unix philosophy

    Guest
    Negative
    1

    Vim is nowhere near as extensible as Emacs. Vim is designed to do 1 thing and do 1 thing well. In comparison, Emacs is supposed to do everything.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    ThomasSankara
    Positive
    -2

    Vim is the best overall alternative to emacs in my opinion because they share a lightweight and keyboard-focused development experience. However, it is not nearly as extensible as VSCodium, for example.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    GNU Emacs Icon
    Vim icon

    • Most users think Vim is a great GNU Emacs alternative.

    • Vim is Free and Open SourceGNU Emacs is also Free and Open Source
  4. Kate icon

    Kate

     310 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.

    141 Kate alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

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

    Geany

     575 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.

    149 Geany alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak
    • Haiku
    Geany screenshot 1
     
  6. PSPad icon

    PSPad

     204 likes
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    PSPad is a freeware programmers editor in 8 languages for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Some features are highlighted syntax, ftp, projects and so on. Code explorer for Pascal, C/C++, INI, HTML, XML, PHP and more in development, internal web browser with APACHE support.

    169 PSPad alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Main Window - Project Settings
     
  7. RustRover icon

    RustRover

     5 likes
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    Enjoy full support when running your code inside the Rust IDE, be it for testing purposes, debugging, benchmarking, profiling, or targeting different platforms.

    64 RustRover alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    RustRover screenshot 1
     
  9. Kakoune icon

    Kakoune

     20 likes
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    Vim inspired text editor with support for multiple selections and scores of other "out of the box" features.

    83 Kakoune alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Cygwin
    Kakoune screenshot 1
     
  10. Xed icon

    Xed

     23 likes
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    A text editor forked from Pluma and Gedit. Xed is the default text editor of Linux Mint. It can be customized and is available in multiple languages.

    157 Xed alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Xed screenshot 1
     
  11. Spacemacs icon

    Spacemacs

     27 likes
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    Spacemacs is an beautiful Emacs distribution designed for both GNU Emacs and Vim users.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Spacemacs screenshot 1
     
  12. MacVim icon

    MacVim

     32 likes
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    MacVim is a port of the text editor Vim to macOS. MacVim supports multiple windows with tabbed editing and a host of other features such as:

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    MacVim screenshot 1
     
  13. Lime Text icon

    Lime Text

     32 likes
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    Experimental Sublime Text clone. The Backend is written in Go (Programming Language). If you are fluent in go, go ahead fork the projekt. This project is at an early stage. It is a chance and a challenge.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Lime Text screenshot 1
     
  14. Runestone icon

    Runestone

     4 likes
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    A performant, lightweight, and simple plain text editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers, search and replace, page guide, and much more.

    53 Runestone alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Runestone screenshot 1
     
12 of 28 GNU Emacs alternatives