JOE AlternativesText Editors and other similar apps like JOE

JOE is described as 'Full featured terminal-based screen editor which is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). JOE has been around since 1988 and comes standard with many Linux distributions' and is a Text Editor in the os & utilities category. There are more than 50 alternatives to JOE for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD and Flathub apps. The best JOE alternative is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like JOE are Visual Studio Code, VSCodium, Vim and Geany.

filter to find the best alternatives

JOE alternatives are mainly Text Editors but may also be Code Editors or IDEs.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of JOE.
JOE iconJOE
  18
  • ...

JOE is a full featured terminal-based screen editor which is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). JOE has been around since 1988 and comes standard with many Linux distributions.

More about JOE
More about JOE
JOE alternatives page was last updated Jan 5, 2024
  Suggest Alternatives
  1. Notepad++ icon
    Notepad++ icon

    Notepad++

     4854 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    228 Notepad++ alternatives
    Notepad++ screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Notepad++ screenshot 1
    Notepad++ screenshot 2
    +9
    TextFX plugin menu

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Configurable

    Features

    1.  Code Formatting
    2.  Portable
    3.  Tabbed interface
    4.  Search and Replace
    5.  Text formatting
    6.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    7.  Multiple Open Tabs
    8.  Multiple languages
    9.  Color coding
    10.  Support for Javascript
    11.  Built-in themes
    12.  Auto-saving
    Notepad++ iconJOE Icon

    Notepad++ VS JOE

    Is Notepad++ a good alternative to JOE?
     

    • Notepad++ is the most popular Windows alternative to JOE.

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

    • Notepad++ is Free and Open SourceJOE is also Free and Open Source
    • Notepad++ is LightweightJOE is not according to our users
  2. Visual Studio Code icon
    Visual Studio Code icon

    Visual Studio Code

     1305 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Free and extensible code editor with built-in Git support, smart IntelliSense, integrated debugger, 30,000+ extensions, works offline, supports markdown and syntax highlighting for numerous languages.

    204 Visual Studio Code alternatives
    Visual Studio Code screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Chrome OS
    Visual Studio Code screenshot 1
    Visual Studio Code screenshot 2
    +2
    Visual Studio Code screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Autocompletion
    3.  Built-in terminal emulation
    4.  Syntax Highlighting
    5.  Code Completion
    6.  Multiple languages
    7. Git icon  Git Support
    8. GitHub icon  GitHub Integration
    9.  Dark Mode
    10.  Supports Python
    11.  Multiple Cursors
    12.  C++
    Visual Studio Code iconJOE Icon

    Visual Studio Code VS JOE

    Is Visual Studio Code a good alternative to JOE?
     

    • Visual Studio Code is the most popular Web-based, Mac & Linux alternative to JOE.

    • Visual Studio Code is Free and ProprietaryJOE is Free and Open Source
    • Visual Studio Code is CustomizableJOE is not according to our users
  4. VSCodium icon
    VSCodium icon

    VSCodium

     335 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    This repository contains a build file to generate FLOSS release binaries of Microsoft's Visual Studio Code - Open Source ("Code - OSS") project, the open source core of the proprietary Visual Studio Code.

    196 VSCodium alternatives
    VSCodium screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Electron

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Privacy focused
    3.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  No Tracking
    2.  Prevent telemetry
    3.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    4.  Works Offline
    5.  No registration required
    6.  Autocompletion
    7.  MIT License
    8.  Dark Mode
    9. Git icon  Git integration
    10.  Syntax Highlighting
    11.  Ad-free
    12.  Minimap
    VSCodium iconJOE Icon

    VSCodium VS JOE

    Is VSCodium a good alternative to JOE?
     
  5. Vim icon
    Vim icon

    Vim

     1311 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    209 Vim alternatives
    Vim screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    GVim with netrw+airlines+ctrlspace+xkb-switch+monokai theme+Source Pro font
    Plugin Gitgutter shows added lines as '+' and altere as '~'.

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Keyboard focused
    3.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3.  Hackable
    4.  Well documented
    5.  Modal editor
    6.  Command line interface
    7.  Works Offline
    8.  Support for MarkDown
    9.  No registration required
    10.  Portable
    11.  Batch Editing
    12.  Terminal-based
    Vim iconJOE Icon

    Vim VS JOE

    Is Vim a good alternative to JOE?
     
  6. Geany icon
    Geany icon

    Geany

     563 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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
    Geany screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak
    Geany screenshot 1
    Geany screenshot 2
    +5
    Geany screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes
    3.  Minimalistic
    4.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Multiplatform
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3.  Code navigation
    4.  Automatic Indentation
    5.  Shell integration
    6.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    7.  Ad-free
    8. LaTeX icon  Support for LaTeX
    9.  Hierarchical Structure
    10.  Live Preview
    11.  Debian package compatible
    12.  Shortcut keys
    Geany iconJOE Icon

    Geany VS JOE

    Is Geany a good alternative to JOE?
     
  7. Kate icon
    Kate icon

    Kate

     293 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    139 Kate alternatives
    Kate screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Kate screenshot 1
    Kate with an ATOM color scheme using some RegEx to find and replace.

    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 iconJOE Icon

    Kate VS JOE

    Is Kate a good alternative to JOE?
     
  9. gedit icon
    gedit icon

    gedit

     686 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    185 gedit alternatives
    The Default look under GNOME with Adwaita

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • GNOME
    • OpenSolaris
    • Flathub
    gedit screenshot 1
    gedit screenshot 2
    +2
    gedit screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    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 iconJOE Icon

    gedit VS JOE

    Is gedit a good alternative to JOE?
     
  10. GNU Emacs icon
    GNU Emacs icon

    GNU Emacs

     379 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more. At its core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language with extensions to support text editing. The features of GNU Emacs include:

    171 GNU Emacs alternatives
    The GNU Emacs Manual calls Emacs the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    • F-Droid
    • Haiku
    • Homebrew
    • Snapcraft
    • Debian
    • MacPorts
    Beyond just being able to edit plain text files, Emacs includes special features to help you write in many different human languages and programming/markup languages
    GNU Emacs screenshot 2
    +6
    GNU Emacs screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Extensibility
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Org-mode
    4.  Self-documenting
    5.  Terminal-based
    6.  Syntax Highlighting
    7.  Support for scripting
    8.  Command line interface
    9.  No Tracking
    10.  Works Offline
    11.  Spell Checking
    12.  Ad-free
    GNU Emacs iconJOE Icon

    GNU Emacs VS JOE

    Is GNU Emacs a good alternative to JOE?
     

    • GNU Emacs is the most popular Android alternative to JOE.

    • GNU Emacs is Free and Open SourceJOE is also Free and Open Source
    • GNU Emacs is CustomizableJOE is not according to our users
  11. GNU nano icon
    GNU nano icon

    GNU nano

     285 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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.

    141 GNU nano alternatives
    GNU nano screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    GNU nano screenshot 1
    Color syntax
    +1
    GNU nano screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

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

    GNU nano VS JOE

    Is GNU nano a good alternative to JOE?
     
  12. Notepad3 icon
    Notepad3 icon

    Notepad3

     56 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

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

    207 Notepad3 alternatives
    Supports RTL languages out of the box.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Select Syntax Scheme
    Notepad3 screenshot 2
    +1
    Notepad3 screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    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 iconJOE Icon

    Notepad3 VS JOE

    Is Notepad3 a good alternative to JOE?
     
  13. Notepad icon
    Notepad icon

    Notepad

     181 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Fast, streamlined editor with extensive features, bundled with Windows since 1985. Supports plain text, UTF-8, and over 100 languages with enhanced functionality since 2018, including dark mode, Bing search, and large file handling.

    138 Notepad alternatives
    Notepad screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Notepad screenshot 1
    Notepad screenshot 2
    +2
    Notepad screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Simple text editor
    2.  Support for Unicode
    3.  Save as txt
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  No Tracking
    6.  Works Offline
    7.  Dark Mode
    8.  Bundled with Windows
    Notepad iconJOE Icon

    Notepad VS JOE

    Is Notepad a good alternative to JOE?
     
  14. CudaText icon
    CudaText icon

    CudaText

     50 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    CudaText is a cross-platform text editor, written in Lazarus / Free Pascal.

    193 CudaText alternatives
    Multi-selections, Replace dialog at bottom

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    Dark theme, Minimap
    2 groups shown, picture file opened, JavaScript fragment in HTML
    +3
    Code Tree for Pascal lexer

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Customizable
    3.  Support for Themes
    4.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Native application
    3.  Minimap
    4.  Syntax Highlighting
    5.  Command palette
    6.  Autocompletion
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Portable
    9.  Works Offline
    10.  No registration required
    11.  Dark Mode
    CudaText iconJOE Icon

    CudaText VS JOE

    Is CudaText a good alternative to JOE?
     
12 of 60 JOE alternatives