GNU Emacs Alternatives

GNU Emacs is described as 'Extensible, customizable text editor—and more. At its core n interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language with extensions to support text editing. The features of GNU Emacs include:' and is a very popular Text Editor in the development category. There are more than 100 alternatives to GNU Emacs for a variety of platforms, including Mac, Linux, Windows, BSD and Flathub apps. The best GNU Emacs alternative is Obsidian, which is free. Other great apps like GNU Emacs are Notepad++, Visual Studio Code, VSCodium and Sublime Text.

GNU Emacs iconGNU Emacs
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GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more. At its core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of...

More about GNU Emacs
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GNU Emacs alternatives page was last updated Jul 7, 2025
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  1. Arm DS-5 Development Studio icon

    Arm DS-5 Development Studio

     2 likes
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    A complete tool-suite for C/C++ development targeting ARM-based SoCs, including Eclipse, ARM Compiler, DS-5 Debugger, Mali Graphics Debugger and Streamline.

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Arm DS-5 Development Studio screenshot 1

    Arm DS-5 Development Studio Features

    1.  Embedded debugger

    Arm DS-5 Development Studio VS GNU Emacs

     
  2. BabelPad icon

    BabelPad

     5 likes
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    BabelPad is a free Unicode text editor for Windows that supports the proper rendering of most complex scripts, and allows you to assign different fonts to different scripts in order to facilitate multi-script text editing.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    BabelPad screenshot 1

    BabelPad Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  No registration required
    3.  Portable
    4.  Support for Unicode
    5.  Multiple languages

    BabelPad VS GNU Emacs

     
  4. Text icon

    Text

     12 likes
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    Text.app is a simple text editor for Chrome OS and Chrome. It's fast, lets you open multiple files at once, has syntax highlighting, and saves to Google Drive on Chrome OS.

    94 Text alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Online
    • Chrome OS
    • Google Chrome
    Text screenshot 1

    Text Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3. Google Drive icon  Google Drive integration
    4. Dropbox icon  Sync with Dropbox

    Text VS GNU Emacs

     
  5. Bim text editor icon

    Bim text editor

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    Bim is a Vim-inspired, terminal text editor originally built for ToaruOS but also available for Linux, Sortix, FreeBSD, and macOS. Bim aims to be lightweight and featureful with no external dependencies, providing a modern editing experience...

    75 Bim text editor alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Bim text editor screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Syntax Highlighting

    Bim text editor VS GNU Emacs

     
  6. Eddie icon

    Eddie

     4 likes
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    Eddie is a programmers editor for Mac OSX and Gnome Linux. Inspired by the Macintosh Programmer's Workshop, Eddie brings some of it's powerful features into a modern lightweight and capable programmer's editor.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • CZ flagCzechia
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Eddie screenshot 1

    Eddie VS GNU Emacs

     
  7. Ikarus icon

    Ikarus

     1 like
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    Ever wanted to create your own world? Keep track of your P&P campaigns? Are you working as a worldbuilder and find it troublesome to keep track of lots of relevant data or simply want to share that data in an accessible way? Well look no further than Ikarus!.

    9 Ikarus alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Ikarus screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    Not discontinued but rather paused. Latest update was in February 2020 and one of the dev last year, 2024, said that they are working on it, but slowly. And 2.2 release will may gone as Open Source.https://steamcommunity.com/app/1039110/discussions/5/3001051217279002498/https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1039110/view/4575048786955182830?l=english

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Works Offline
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  No registration required
    5.  No Coding Required
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  Early access

    Ikarus VS GNU Emacs

     
  9. Notepad icon

    Notepad

     1 like
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    Notepad is a fast and distraction-free online writing space. Capture thoughts, take notes, and share instantly. Perfect for quick ideas, to-do lists, etc.

    51 Notepad alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    Notepad screenshot 1

    Notepad Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Support for MarkDown
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  Automatic Backup

    Notepad VS GNU Emacs

     

  10. McWig

     1 like
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    McWig is a modal, Vim-like text editor written in Go.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Go (Programming Language)
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    McWig screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Command line interface
    3.  Autocompletion
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  Modal editor
    6.  Org-mode
    7.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts

    McWig VS GNU Emacs

     
  11. BeagleEditor icon

    BeagleEditor

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    A lightweight, minimal and powerful code editor. This editor has many features. Some of them are:

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    BeagleEditor when no file opened

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    BeagleEditor VS GNU Emacs

     
  12. Lines code editor icon

    Lines code editor

     3 likes
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    Lines is a modern and minimalist text editor - IDE with support for over 150 programming languages, embedded code inspectors and many other cool tools to help you write better code.

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Responsive preview, code outline, project explorer, tabs. (new version 5.2)

    Properties

    1.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Autocompletion
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  Built-in Color Picker
    5.  Javascript scripting
    6.  External commands
    7.  Integrated Search
    8.  Integrated Web Browser

    Lines code editor VS GNU Emacs

     
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