Kate Alternatives

Kate is described as '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' and is a very popular Code Editor in the development category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Kate for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD and Flathub apps. The best Kate alternative is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Kate are Visual Studio Code, VSCodium, Sublime Text and Vim.

Kate iconKate
  301
  • ...

The Kate project develops two main products: KatePart, the advanced editor component which is used in numerous KDE...

More about Kate
More about Kate
Kate alternatives page was last updated May 20, 2025
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  1. Edit icon

    Edit

     14 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.

    53 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 Kate

     
  2. Helix icon

    Helix

     33 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 .

    85 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.  No Tracking
    5.  Code Formatting
    6. Git icon  Git Support
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Terminal-based
    9.  Modal editor

    Helix VS Kate

     
  4. 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.

    52 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 Kate

     
  5. 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.

    203 Notepad3 alternatives

    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 Kate

     
  6. 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.

    155 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 Kate

     
  7. CudaText icon

    CudaText

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

    188 CudaText alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • RU flagRussia

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    Multi-selections, Replace dialog at bottom

    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 VS Kate

     
  9. Lapce icon

    Lapce

     26 likes
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    Lightning-fast and Powerful Code Editor written in Rust.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • CN flagChina

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Lapce screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Rust
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Built-in terminal emulation
    4.  Syntax Highlighting
    5. Git icon  Git Support
    6.  No registration required
    7.  Full-Text Search
    8.  Portable
    9.  Ad-free
    10.  Works Offline
    11.  Dark Mode
    12.  Modal editor

    Lapce VS Kate

     
  10. Aptana Studio icon

    Aptana Studio

     333 likes
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    Aptana Studio is a complete web development environment that combines powerful authoring tools with a collection of online hosting and collaboration services that help you and your team do more. Includes support for PHP, CSS, FTP, and more...

    119 Aptana Studio alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Aptana Studio screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    The last update is from Feb 2021 and the last release is from Jul 2018.

    Aptana Studio Features

    1.  Real time collaboration
    2.  Support for FTP

    Aptana Studio VS Kate

     
  11. Zasper icon

    Zasper

     10 likes
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    A powerful IDE for data science, Zasper excels with massive concurrency support, enabling numerous simultaneous connections, minimal memory usage, and speedy performance. Suited for REPL-style data apps like Jupyter notebooks, fully supported on Mac with limited Linux support.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Zasper screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  No Tracking
    2.  Works Offline
    3.  Syntax Highlighting
    4.  No registration required
    5.  Dark Mode
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  Built-in terminal emulation
    8.  Data science
    9.  Version Control Integration
    10.  Electron based

    Zasper VS Kate

     
  12. Windows Notepad icon

    Windows Notepad

     182 likes
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    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.

    139 Windows Notepad alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Windows Notepad screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Minimalistic

    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

    Windows Notepad VS Kate

     
    Comments about Windows Notepad as an Alternative to Kate
    Guest
    Negative Sep 23, 2015
    0

    Notepad is not an advanced text editor.

    Kate Icon
    Windows Notepad icon
    • Windows Notepad is Free and ProprietaryKate is Free and Open Source
    • Windows Notepad is LightweightKate is not according to our users
  13. UltraEdit icon

    UltraEdit

     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).

    204 UltraEdit alternatives

    License model

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    UltraEdit features an integrated FTP browser and supports syntax highlighting for hundreds of languages, with more always in the works. And with an integrated SSH/telnet client, scripting, custom tools, macros and Smart Templates, UltraEdit's ready for any coding session.

    UltraEdit Features

    1.  Column based text editing
    2.  Support for large files
    3.  Hex Editor

    UltraEdit VS Kate

     

    • UltraEdit is the most popular commercial alternative to Kate.

    • UltraEdit is Paid and ProprietaryKate is Free and Open Source
  14. Phoenix Code icon

    Phoenix Code

     9 likes
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    Phoenix Code is a text editor designed to make coding as intuitive and fun as playing a video game - specially crafted for web developers, designers, and students.

    31 Phoenix Code alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Phoenix Code screenshot 1

    Properties

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

    Features

    1.  Live Preview
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  Syntax Highlighting
    5.  Support for MarkDown
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  No registration required
    8.  No Tracking
    9.  No Coding Required
    10.  Dark Mode

    Phoenix Code VS Kate

     

    • Phoenix Code is the most popular Self-Hosted alternative to Kate.

    • Phoenix Code is Free and Open SourceKate is also Free and Open Source
    • Phoenix Code is Lightweight and Privacy focusedKate is not according to our users
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