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 May 20, 2025
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  1. Kate icon

    Kate

     296 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.

    137 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 GNU Emacs

     
  2. gedit icon

    gedit

     687 likes
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    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.

    183 gedit alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • GNOME
    • OpenSolaris
    • Flathub
    The Default look under GNOME with Adwaita

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused
    3.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  Autocompletion
    5.  Works Offline
    6.  Spell Checking
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Support for Unicode

    gedit VS GNU Emacs

     
  4. GNU nano icon

    GNU nano

     287 likes
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    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.

    145 GNU nano alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    GNU nano screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Terminal-based
    3.  Search and Replace
    4.  No Tracking
    5.  Automatic Indentation

    GNU nano VS GNU Emacs

     
    Comments about GNU nano as an Alternative to GNU Emacs
    Guest
    Negative Jul 27, 2021
    0

    GNU nano is a simple text editor from the terminal, GNU emacs is meant to be much larger than a text editor.

    GNU Emacs Icon
    GNU nano icon

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

    • GNU nano is Free and Open SourceGNU Emacs is also Free and Open Source
    • GNU nano is LightweightGNU Emacs is not according to our users
  5. Pulsar Editor icon

    Pulsar Editor

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

    67 Pulsar Editor alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • Electron
    Welcome tab

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Clean design
    3.  Support for Themes
    4.  Distraction-free
    5.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Community-based
    3.  Hackable
    4.  Works Offline
    5.  No registration required
    6.  Multiple languages
    7.  Add-ons
    8.  Tabbed interface
    9.  Ad-free
    10.  Support for MarkDown
    11.  Dark Mode
    12. Git icon  Git Support

    Pulsar Editor VS GNU Emacs

     
  6. Micro icon

    Micro

     79 likes
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    Micro is a terminal-based text editor that aims to be easy to use and intuitive, while also taking advantage of the full capabilities of modern terminals.

    39 Micro alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • FreeBSD
    • OpenBSD
    Micro screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  User friendly
    2.  Intuitive Interface
    3.  Lightweight
    4.  Distraction-free
    5.  Privacy focused
    6.  Support for Themes
    7.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Terminal-based
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Zero configuration
    4.  Syntax Highlighting
    5.  Works Offline
    6.  No registration required
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  Portable
    10.  Plugin system
    11.  Color Palette
    12.  Lua scripting

    Micro VS GNU Emacs

     
  7. Lite XL icon

    Lite XL

     49 likes
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    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.

    51 Lite XL alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Lite XL screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Customizable
    3.  Support for Themes
    4.  Distraction-free
    5.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Dark Mode
    3.  Syntax Highlighting
    4.  Works Offline
    5.  Multiple Cursors
    6.  Portable
    7.  Hackable
    8.  Support for scripting
    9.  Full-Text Search
    10.  Community-based
    11.  Autocompletion
    12.  Code Completion

    Lite XL VS GNU Emacs

     
  9. Edit icon

    Edit

     12 likes
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    Open-source command-line text editor for Windows with a modern interface inspired by MS-DOS Editor, featuring key bindings, lightweight build under 250KB, multi-file handling with ctrl + P, keyboard-optimized navigation, and direct file editing for developers.

    52 Edit alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Edit screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Vi keybindings
    3.  Simple text editor
    4.  Built-in code editor

    Edit VS GNU Emacs

     
  10. Helix icon

    Helix

     32 likes
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    Helix is a fast text editor for the terminal inspired by modal editors like Kakoune and Neovim. Built as a native app using .

    84 Helix alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Helix screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes
    3.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Syntax Highlighting
    2.  Command line interface
    3.  Autocompletion
    4.  Code Formatting
    5.  No Tracking
    6. Git icon  Git Support
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Modal editor
    9.  Terminal-based

    Helix VS GNU Emacs

     
  11. Notepad3 icon

    Notepad3

     59 likes
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    Notepad3 is a fast and light-weight text editor with syntax highlighting for programming jobs. Auto-completion, Multi-language, Dark mode more.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • ZA flagSouth Africa

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Supports RTL languages out of the box.

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused
    3.  Support for Themes
    4.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Support for Unicode
    2.  Small-footprint
    3.  Multiple languages
    4.  Search and Replace
    5.  Syntax Highlighting
    6.  Portable
    7.  Support for regular expressions
    8.  No registration required
    9.  Works Offline
    10.  Ad-free
    11.  No Tracking
    12.  Dark Mode

    Notepad3 VS GNU Emacs

     
  12. TextMate icon

    TextMate

     269 likes
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    TextMate brings Apple's approach to operating systems into the world of text editors. By bridging UNIX underpinnings and GUI, TextMate cherry-picks the best of both worlds to the benefit of expert scripters and novice users alike.

    157 TextMate alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    TextMate screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    Last commit and version is from 2021

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3.  Support for MarkDown
    4.  Search and Replace
    5.  Automatic Indentation
    6.  No registration required
    7.  Dark Mode
    8.  Code Formatting
    9.  Ad-free
    10.  Works Offline
    11.  Snippets Manager

    TextMate VS GNU Emacs

     
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