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 Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD and Flathub apps. The best GNU Emacs alternative is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like GNU Emacs are Obsidian, Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text and VSCodium.

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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. UltraEdit icon
     161 likes
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    UltraEdit is the ideal text, HTML and HEX editor, and an advanced PHP, Perl, Java and JavaScript editor for programmers. An industry-award winner, UltraEdit supports disk-based 64-bit file handling (standard) on 32-bit Windows platforms (Windows 2000 and later).

    208 UltraEdit alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once or Subscription
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
    • UltraEdit is the most popular commercial alternative to GNU Emacs.

    • UltraEdit is Paid and ProprietaryGNU Emacs is Free and Open Source
  2. PSPad icon
     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
     
  3. SciTE icon
     150 likes
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    SciTE is a SCIntilla based Text Editor. Originally built to demonstrate Scintilla, it has grown to be a generally useful editor with facilities for building and running programs. It is best used for jobs with simple configurations - I use it for building test and demonstration...

    154 SciTE alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Xfce
     
  4. Athas icon
     8 likes
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    Lightweight, open-source code editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux featuring Vim keybindings, built-in Git support, agentic AI editing with multiple models, syntax highlighting, LSP for intelligent completion, fast performance, and efficient workflows.

    52 Athas alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  5. Squircle CE icon
     14 likes
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    Squircle CE is a fast, lightweight code editor and file manager with support for over 30 programming languages, remote file access via SFTP/FTP(S) and Git VCS integration. Whether you're a student, hobbyist, or professional developer, Squircle CE lets you write, manage, and...

    70 Squircle CE alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • F-Droid
     
  6. CotEditor icon
     41 likes
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    Syntax Highlighting: Colorize more than 50 pre-installed major languages like HTML, PHP, Python, Ruby or Markdown. You can also create your own settings.

    159 CotEditor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  7. Lumen AI icon
     9 likes
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    Minimalist productivity platform offers centralized notes, task management, meeting capture with audio summaries, inbox processing, and Markdown editing, all enhanced by AI prioritization, custom prompts, backlinks, and flexible workflows, supporting multiple methodologies.

    52 Lumen AI alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  8. Textadept icon
     39 likes
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    Textadept is a fast, minimalist, and ridiculously extensible cross-platform text editor for programmers. Written in a combination of C and Lua and relentlessly optimized for speed and minimalism over the years, Textadept is an ideal editor for programmers who want endless...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  9. RustRover icon
     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
     
  10. Kakoune icon
     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
     
  11. Leafpad icon
     68 likes
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    Leafpad is a lightweight text editor that emphasizes simplicity. As development focuses on keeping weight down to a minimum, only the most essential features are implemented in the editor.

    102 Leafpad alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Cygwin
    • MacPorts
     
  12. Xed icon
     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
     
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