Notepad++ Alternatives
Notepad, which is built to every computer running Windows, is a useful tool for jotting down quick, well, notes or ideas that can be easily saved, accessed, and shared. That said, it is a very basic program with little in the way of formatting options. In fact, until Windows 10, it didn't even support one of the most basic formatting options in the form of Word Wrap. Luckily, Notepad++ addresses the need for a more robust yet accessible text tool.
Notepad++ can be considered a sort of jack of all trades. With this comes a sort of added complexity. Simpler programs can be found in Notepad and its alternatives, though you would be giving up features that Notepad++ offers: features like autocompletion, support for multiple languages, and a variety of formatting options.
As Notepad++ is a Windows exclusive app, it may be necessary to use alternatives available on macOS and Linux.
If you're looking for a text editor more focused on having a featureset comparable to an integrated development environment, software like Geany and its alternatives might be more your speed.
Notepad++ alternatives are mainly Text Editors but may also be Code Editors or IDEs. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Notepad++.Sublime Text
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Paid • Proprietary
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
- IDE
190 alternatives to Sublime Text- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features.
Sublime Text Features
Sublime Text vs Notepad++
AkootBetter looking UI and it's available across all platforms. Also, Package Control is amazing
It's fast and has powerful editor features. Usability and UX of Sublime Text are just outstanding.
NuncioBitisSublime Text is too slow, big, and heavy, and a memory hog.
HexaaeCrazy pricing. June 2022: 99$/3yrs
smsppakistanI haven't used Sublime Text but I've use Notepad++ and found it to be really useful! Will definitely try Sublime Text now that I know it is an alternative.
Support for many languages, good debugging without any plugins.
kylepiiraBoth are native text editors that don't use Electron
Visual Studio Code
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Proprietary
- Code Editor
- Text Editor
- IDE
189 alternatives to Visual Studio Code- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Chrome OS
Visual Studio Code is a free and extensible code editor for building web, desktop, and mobile applications, using any programming language and framework.
Visual Studio Code Features
Visual Studio Code vs Notepad++
swood544Very nice and fresh software for source code editing with a lot of features
avitalbennatanIncredibly performant and versatile editor. With the feeling of an editor and the power of an IDE
Yet another simple tool reimplemented in the extremely bloated Electron framework. No thanks.
aaronfrankeVisual Studio Code can do everything Notepad++ does but better. It has more features, is very extensible and customizable, has a great dark default theme, is cross-platform, and is fairly lightweight.
RedTrillixIts quite a big application, and if you wanna just edit a config file or text document, you dont want a big, slower application running.
Its a good coding app for projects and stuff, but not if you want to make a simple edit.
Hau_KaiIt's more than just an environment to view code with highlighting. It is a basic yet complete coding environment to write and run code.
Visual Studio Code is great but it is heavy and complex. Not a good replacement for simple GUI text editor with macro support which is Notepad++.
Atom
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free Personal • Open Source
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
- IDE
190 alternatives to Atom- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Chrome OS
- BSD
- Electron / Atom Shell
Atom is an open-source, Electron based text editor with a massive ecosystem of plugins and themes that are easily accessible through a built-in package manager. Being built with Electron, it uses web technology (HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Node.
Atom Features
Discontinuedhttps://github.blog/2022-06-08-sunsetting-atom/"Sunsetting AtomWe are archiving Atom and all projects under the Atom organization for an official sunset on December 15, 2022."
Atom vs Notepad++
Despite sometimes high demanding (for an text editor), good as an Editor/IDE.
Atom is a text editor that provides an all in one solution to all the absolute basic needs today's modern world expects in a notepad replacement. Sleek UI, extensible, cross-platform, and, actively developed, Atom is the defacto choice for the vast majority when wanting to replace notepad/NotePad++ with an editor that packs a real punch in default capabilities and usefulness.
What should be a simple application is implemented in the extremely bloated Electron framework. No thanks, I'll take something native.
D33pSh33pFeels bloated and sluggish compared to Notepad++. It makes my laptop sad when doing lots of multitasking. That's the main reason I don't use it.
NuncioBitisToo slow, big, and heavy, and a memory hog.
lian00I tried Atom and it’s probably the most heavy code editor I ever met (more than 1 Go installed).
edapmNotepad++ has a dated feel about it. Atom is lightweight, and feels modern and slick.
Vim
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
194 alternatives to Vim- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Haiku
- AmigaOS
- OpenSolaris
- MorphOS
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.
Vim Features
Vim vs Notepad++
marcinkowalskiServes same purpose, similar features, different approach, multiplatform, ubiquitous.
Fastest in use. You can improve your productivity and performance when writing.
Vim is a console app and require to know its commands to use it, while Notepad++ is UI driven, anyone can use it.
XandrosNotepad++ is a gui application, while vim is strictly for terminals.
RemovedUserAlthough it runs as a GUI, you still need to know the vi commands. Unless you don't mind using the menu bar to do everything.
superluminarvim is a console app and relies on a special keyboard command syntax which users need to learn and know. It is already a joke that people do not manage to remember how to quit vi(m) not to mention all the other things people might not remember about the commands.
I like to use the vim command line version on windows it feels pretty minimalistic and its appearance gives the impression it goes right to the job of editing text
Geany
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
- IDE
134 alternatives to Geany- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- PortableApps.com
- Xfce
Geany is a small and lightweight Integrated Development Environment. It was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few dependencies from other packages. Another goal was to be as independent as possible from a special Desktop Environment like KDE or GNOME -...
Geany Features
Geany vs Notepad++
ResdekFree, lightweight, multi platform, open source, customizable. What more do you want?
jovinSimple, lightweight. But there're syntax highlighting and code completion.
logixoulBreaks some of my basic workflows. E.g. can't drop files onto the Geany window (to open them), can't use F3 for "find next"... OTOH the UI is nice and sleek.
AntumDelugeSo far Geany is the best cross-platform alternative to Notepad++ I have tried. Its UI isn't hard to figure out & has a similar feel.
projjalIt's lightweight, fast and more customizable than Notepad++, and have basic IDE-like features, which are useful for programmer-users.
Fast, lightweight, functional.
niezniszczalnyHas the same features + some more features than Notepad++. And It's Free Software, on GPL license - huge PLUS for this! ++++
gedit
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
170 alternatives to gedit- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Chrome OS
- BSD
- GNOME
- OpenSolaris
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.
gedit Features
gedit vs Notepad++
Gedit can't fold code, can't make ident lines, and the ident is strange!
Some essential plugins missing especially around code formatting tools
rmpbklynno sorting and don't reconize regular expression when 'replace' or search
Kate
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
126 alternatives to Kate- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE
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.
Kate Features
Kate vs Notepad++
ricjacGreat syntax highlighting, and good plugin support. Fast and easy to use.
lightweight, code syntax highlighting, regex find and replace
UgotstaKate is also open-source like Notepad++ and likewise runs at the speed of a native app. Features align pretty nicely between the two, but Kate runs natively on all desktops, not just Windows. Same workflow on Windows, Mac and Linux.
VSCodium
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Code Editor
- Text Editor
- IDE
177 alternatives to VSCodium- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Electron / Atom Shell
- Code - OSS (vscode)
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.
VSCodium Features
VSCodium vs Notepad++
aaronfrankeVS Codium does everything Notepad++ can do but better. It has more features, is more extensible/customizable, is fairly lightweight, and is cross-platform.
The power of Visual Studio without all the tracking of Microsoft in a simple and intuitive layout
GNU Emacs
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
- IDE
160 alternatives to GNU Emacs- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Haiku
- Homebrew
- Android
- F-Droid
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:
GNU Emacs Features
GNU Emacs vs Notepad++
Emacs is a security hazard and its usage implies a certain political opinion.
Emacs is the be-all-end-all text editor. It takes a while to learn, but its code and text editing commands are extremely powerful. There's also a package manager for things like auto completion, automatic running, and more language support.
I don't want a fake psychologist nor to play tetris, I really just want a powerful IDE.
Neovim
Is this a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
- IDE
83 alternatives to Neovim- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- BSD
Neovim is Vim out of the box.
Neovim Features
Neovim vs Notepad++