Helix Alternatives

Helix is described as 'Fast text editor for the terminal inspired by modal editors like Kakoune and Neovim. Built as a native app using ' and is a Code Editor in the development category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Helix for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD and Flathub apps. The best Helix alternative is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Helix are Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, VSCodium and Vim.

More about Helix

Helix alternatives page was last updated Jan 28, 2026

Liri Text
Like
Material Design text editor.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application type
Text Editor
Origin
Italy
EU
Platforms
Linux
Qt
Flathub
Flatpak
Is Liri Text a good alternative to Helix?
Bim text editor
Like
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...
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application types
Text Editor
Code Editor
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Linux
BSD
Is Bim text editor a good alternative to Helix?
Z
Z
Z-VI
Like
Smallest Vi-clone text editor for Windows (62KB) that runs in terminal and SSH sessions.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Text Editor
Origin
Isle of Man
Platforms
Windows
Z
Is Z-VI a good alternative to Helix?
Jollpi
Like
Jollpi is a lightweight, simple, and reliable text editor, built with Python 3, GTK4, and GtkSourceView 5. This version is a modern rewrite of the original 2010 Python 2 + PyGTK Jollpi text editor - now refreshed for modern Linux distributions.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application type
Code Editor
Platforms
Linux
Flathub
Flatpak
Is Jollpi a good alternative to Helix?
ptext
Like
A nano like text editor built with pure C.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (BSD-2-Clause)
Application type
Text Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Is ptext a good alternative to Helix?
Ami
Like
Ami is a native desktop app that lets you run coding agents locally, chat with your codebase in plain English, and see real-time edits tracked for confident commits.
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application type
AI Coding Assistant
Origin
United States
Platforms
Windows
Mac
Linux
+1
Is Ami a good alternative to Helix?
Ki Editor
Like
Ki Editor is a modal editor that supports multi-cursor structural editing.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (MPL-2.0)
Application type
Code Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Rust
Is Ki Editor a good alternative to Helix?
Whisk
Like
Tumult Whisk is the lightweight HTML and PHP editor with a live preview pane that displays the updated page as you type. It is an essential app for your web dev toolkit.
88 Whisk alternatives
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application type
Code Editor
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
+1
Is Whisk a good alternative to Helix?
A
A
ad
Like
ad (pronounced A.D.) is an attempt at combining a modal editing interface of likes of vi and kakoune with the approach to extensibility of Plan9's Acme. Inside of ad text is something you can execute as well as edit.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (MIT)
Application types
Code Editor
Text Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
A
Is ad a good alternative to Helix?
Black Playground
Like
The uncompromising Python code formatter.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (MIT)
Platforms
Online
Is Black Playground a good alternative to Helix?
znote
Like
Free text and markdown editor. Developer friendly thanks to integrated Dark mode and syntax highlighting of code. Secure your notes on the fly with our AES encoder. Multi-notes and draft support. Available on all platforms.
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Application type
Text Editor
Platforms
Mac
Windows
+1
Is znote a good alternative to Helix?