Notepad++ Alternatives for Linux

Notepad++ is not available for Linux but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on Linux with similar functionality. The best Linux alternative is Sublime Text. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Visual Studio Code or Geany. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Notepad++ and loads of them are available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux alternatives to Notepad++ are Kate, Vim, VSCodium and gedit.

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Notepad++ alternatives are mainly Text Editors but may also be Code Editors or IDEs. Other popular filters includes Mac + Free. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Notepad++.

Notepad++

4825

Text Editor
Free • Open Source

Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages.

More about Notepad++

Notepad++ alternatives page was last updated Sep 5, 2024

Sublime Text
Powerful editor blending code, markup, and prose editing with enhanced features like multi-tab selection, side-by-side definition viewing, and multiple selection tools for swift code navigation.
194 Sublime Text alternatives
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
+1
Top Sublime Text Features
1. Lightweight
2. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
3. Customizable
4. Package Control
5. Syntax Highlighting
6. IDE
7. No Tracking
8. Dark Mode
9. Support for MarkDown
10. Distraction-free
11. Works Offline
12. Git Support
Show all NaN Sublime Text features ▾
Sublime Text VS Notepad++
Is Sublime Text a good alternative to Notepad++?
Comments about Sublime Text as an Alternative to Notepad++

914ian914
It has all the features I need without having to install more than a few extensions.
Top positive comment •Feb 21, 2018
3
Hexaae
Crazy pricing. June 2022: 99$/3yrs
Top positive comment •Jun 12, 2022
2
Nuncio Bitis
Sublime Text is too slow, big, and heavy, and a memory hog.
Top negative comment •Jan 27, 2022
-1
Afroz Syed
I 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.
Positive comment •Jun 21, 2021
0
Guest
Support for many languages, good debugging without any plugins.
Positive comment •Jul 6, 2020
-1
Show more comments
5 of 19 comments
- Most users think Sublime Text is a great Notepad++ alternative.
- Sublime Text is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Notepad++.
- Sublime Text is the most popular commercial alternative to Notepad++.
- Sublime Text is Paid and ProprietaryNotepad++ is Free and Open Source
- Sublime Text is CustomizableNotepad++ is not according to our users

Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a free and extensible code editor for building web, desktop, and mobile applications, using any programming language and framework.
206 Visual Studio Code alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application types
- Code Editor
- IDE
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Chrome OS
+2
Top Visual Studio Code Features
1. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
2. Customizable
3. Autocompletion
4. IDE
5. Built-in terminal emulation
6. Syntax Highlighting
7. Code Completion
8. Multiple languages
9. Git Support
10. GitHub Integration
11. Support for Themes
12. Dark Mode
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Visual Studio Code VS Notepad++
Is Visual Studio Code a good alternative to Notepad++?
Comments about Visual Studio Code as an Alternative to Notepad++

CeesT
Cross-platform, superior highlighting and plugins.
Top positive comment •Jan 9, 2019
2
SFZ
Great features and lots of good extensions
Top positive comment •Feb 19, 2020
4
redtrillix
Its 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.
Top negative comment •Jun 30, 2021
11
aaronfranke
Visual 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.
Positive comment •Jul 9, 2021
-1
Hau_Kai
It's more than just an environment to view code with highlighting. It is a basic yet complete coding environment to write and run code.
Positive comment •Jan 27, 2021
-1
Show more comments
5 of 18 comments
- Most users think Visual Studio Code is a great Notepad++ alternative.
- Visual Studio Code is the most popular Web-based alternative to Notepad++.
- Visual Studio Code is the most popular free alternative to Notepad++.
- Visual Studio Code is Free and ProprietaryNotepad++ is Free and Open Source
- Visual Studio Code is CustomizableNotepad++ is not according to our users

Geany
Geany is a powerful, stable and lightweight programmer's text editor that provides tons of useful features without bogging down your workflow.
144 Geany alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- PortableApps.com
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Snapcraft
+5
Top Geany Features
1. Lightweight
2. Support for Themes
3. Multiplatform
4. IDE
5. Minimalistic
6. Syntax Highlighting
7. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
8. Support for LaTeX
9. Ad-free
10. Distraction-free
11. Autocompletion
12. Code Formatting
Show all NaN Geany features ▾
Geany VS Notepad++
Is Geany a good alternative to Notepad++?
Comments about Geany as an Alternative to Notepad++

Guest
Virtually the same features and on top of it it's cross platform and open source.
Top positive comment •Jan 19, 2020
10
Guest
Geany in functionality and interface is very similar to Notepad++
Top positive comment •Feb 29, 2016
18
Stefan Monov
Breaks 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.
Top negative comment •Dec 27, 2021
0
AntumDeluge
So 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.
Positive comment •Aug 19, 2022
1
Projjal Moitra
It's lightweight, fast and more customizable than Notepad++, and have basic IDE-like features, which are useful for programmer-users.
Positive comment •Jun 25, 2021
1
Show more comments
5 of 12 comments
- Almost everyone thinks Geany is a great Notepad++ alternative.
- Geany is the most popular Open Source alternative to Notepad++.
- Geany is Free and Open SourceNotepad++ is also Free and Open Source
- Geany is MinimalisticNotepad++ is not according to our users

Kate
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
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE Plasma
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Snapcraft
Top Kate Features
1. Native application
2. Themes
3. Editable text color schemes
4. Syntax Highlighting
5. Built-in terminal emulation
6. Tabbed interface
7. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
8. Git Support
9. Lightweight
10. Support for MarkDown
11. Code Formatting
12. Built-in themes
Show all NaN Kate features ▾
Kate VS Notepad++
Is Kate a good alternative to Notepad++?
Comments about Kate as an Alternative to Notepad++

RR JJ
Great syntax highlighting, and good plugin support. Fast and easy to use.
Positive comment •May 29, 2017
8
David
Kate 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.
Positive comment •Feb 9, 2020
2
Guest
lightweight, code syntax highlighting, regex find and replace
Positive comment •May 27, 2020
1
Max Fisher
Kate doesn't have as robustness as Notepad++ has. And feature wise it hasn't got "cache" thing when you want to close a tab and the editor shouldn't be asking whether save it or not.
Negative comment •Sep 5, 2024
0
- Almost everyone thinks Kate is a great Notepad++ alternative.
- Kate is Free and Open SourceNotepad++ is also Free and Open Source

Vim
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.
207 Vim alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Code Editor
- Text Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Haiku
- AmigaOS
- OpenSolaris
- MorphOS
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Snapcraft
Top Vim Features
1. Lightweight
2. Keyboard focused
3. Customizable
4. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
5. Syntax Highlighting
6. Hackable
7. Command line interface
8. Works Offline
9. Support for MarkDown
10. No registration required
11. Portable
12. Batch Editing
Show all NaN Vim features ▾
Vim VS Notepad++
Is Vim a good alternative to Notepad++?
Comments about Vim as an Alternative to Notepad++

Marcin
Serves same purpose, similar features, different approach, multiplatform, ubiquitous.
Top positive comment •Mar 3, 2018
6
Guest
Fastest in use. You can improve your productivity and performance when writing.
Top positive comment •Jan 12, 2017
2
Guest
Vim is a console app and require to know its commands to use it, while Notepad++ is UI driven, anyone can use it.
Top negative comment •Mar 23, 2015
26
Xandros Darkstorm
Notepad++ is a gui application, while vim is strictly for terminals.
Negative comment •Nov 19, 2021
-1
RemovedUser
Although 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.
Negative comment •Apr 17, 2019
-2
Show more comments
5 of 9 comments
- Most users think Vim is a great Notepad++ alternative.
- Vim is Free and Open SourceNotepad++ is also Free and Open Source
- Vim is CustomizableNotepad++ is not according to our users

VSCodium
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.
195 VSCodium alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Code Editor
- IDE
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Electron
- Flathub
Top VSCodium Features
1. No Tracking
2. Prevent telemetry
3. IDE
4. Customizable
5. Privacy focused
6. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
7. Works Offline
8. No registration required
9. MIT License
10. Autocompletion
11. Git integration
12. Syntax Highlighting
Show all NaN VSCodium features ▾
VSCodium VS Notepad++
Is VSCodium a good alternative to Notepad++?
Comments about VSCodium as an Alternative to Notepad++

aaronfranke
VS Codium does everything Notepad++ can do but better. It has more features, is more extensible/customizable, is fairly lightweight, and is cross-platform.
Positive comment •Jul 9, 2021
4
Guest
The power of Visual Studio without all the tracking of Microsoft in a simple and intuitive layout
Positive comment •Sep 8, 2020
4
- Almost everyone thinks VSCodium is a great Notepad++ alternative.
- VSCodium is Free and Open SourceNotepad++ is also Free and Open Source
- VSCodium is Customizable and Privacy focusedNotepad++ is not according to our users

gedit
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.
183 gedit alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Chrome OS
- BSD
- GNOME
- OpenSolaris
- Flathub
+2
gedit Features
1. Lightweight
2. Syntax Highlighting
3. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
4. Customizable
5. Autocompletion
6. Works Offline
7. Ad-free
8. Spell Checking
9. Privacy focused
10. Support for Unicode
Show all NaN gedit features ▾
gedit VS Notepad++
Is gedit a good alternative to Notepad++?
Comments about gedit as an Alternative to Notepad++

rmpbklyn
no sorting and don't reconize regular expression when 'replace' or search
Negative comment •Sep 20, 2015
6
Guest
Gedit can't fold code, can't make ident lines, and the ident is strange!
Negative comment •Jul 4, 2016
12
Guest
Some essential plugins missing especially around code formatting tools
Negative comment •Mar 21, 2017
4
- Most users think gedit is a great Notepad++ alternative.
- gedit is Free and Open SourceNotepad++ is also Free and Open Source
- gedit is Privacy focusedNotepad++ is not according to our users