The Best Notepad AlternativesTop Text Editors and other similar apps like Notepad
Notepad is described as 'Fast, lightweight editor bundled with Windows since 1985. Supports plain text, UTF-8, Linux newline, over 100 languages, with improved features' and is a very popular Text Editor in the os & utilities category. There are more than 100 alternatives to Notepad for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD and Flathub apps. The best Notepad alternative is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Notepad are Sublime Text, Vim, Kate and gedit.
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Notepad alternatives are mainly Text Editors, but if you're looking for Code Editors or IDEs you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Notepad.- Text Editor
- Free • Proprietary
227 Notepad++ alternativesNotepad++ 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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
France
EU
Platforms
- Windows
- PortableApps.com
Notepad++ VS Notepad
Comments about Notepad++ as an Alternative to Notepad
Top Positive CommentMost Recent CommentjmNY68I like Notepad++, but it is focused on more of programming. I prefer a simpler UI layout and options.
Yeah it's better than Windows' notepad, feature rich and dark mode support.
191 Sublime Text alternativesPowerful 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.
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
Australia
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Sublime Text VS Notepad
206 Vim alternativesVim ("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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
Netherlands- EU
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Haiku
- AmigaOS
- OpenSolaris
- MorphOS
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Snapcraft
Vim VS Notepad
137 Kate alternativesThe 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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
Germany- EU
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE Plasma
- Flathub
- Flatpak
- Snapcraft
Kate VS Notepad
183 gedit alternativesOfficial 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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Chrome OS
- BSD
- GNOME
- OpenSolaris
- Flathub
gedit VS Notepad
205 Notepad3 alternativesNotepad3 is a fast and light-weight text editor with syntax highlighting for programming jobs. Auto-completion, Multi-language, Dark mode more.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
South Africa
Platforms
- Windows
Notepad3 VS Notepad
Comments about Notepad3 as an Alternative to Notepad
Most Recent CommentXahkyenIt's the best alternative that I was looking for: more powerful, while being lightweight, simply to use and full with useful features.
Noah SeanLightweight, easy to use, and offers syntax highlighting.
jmNY68I tried Notepads and several other alternatives, looking for simple, lightweight app that had more features than Notepad and was less cluttered than Notepad++, as I am just using it to edit .txt files, not programming, markup, HTML or otherwise. This fits fairly well. Thanks, developers.
142 GNU nano alternativesGNU 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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Haiku
GNU nano VS Notepad
Comments about GNU nano as an Alternative to Notepad
It works, even on very large text files. Not all these alternatives do work.
166 GNU Emacs alternativesGNU 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:
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
- United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- BSD
- F-Droid
- Haiku
- Homebrew
- Snapcraft
- Debian
- MacPorts
GNU Emacs VS Notepad
Considering that most text editors are eather too heavy or look too old, the author came up with Notepads, designed to be a modern-looking UWP app.
Notepads VS Notepad
Comments about Notepads as an Alternative to Notepad
Most Recent Comment35 MB is not lightweight, its 24 floppys or 18 Gameboy cartridges for a single app for notes
burakyakWindows should just implement this as new notepad...
Wolf IcefangNotepads makes a real attempt to integrate with Windows 10 and work as a modern Notepad app. It installs from the Microsoft Store, it loads almost instantly, and it implements Fluent Design elements. This app made such a good first impression that I've already uninstalled Microsoft's built in Notepad app. It may not be the "best text editor", but it is the best alternative for Windows 10's Notepad.
Good at everything, best text editor for Windows if you don't need a hands on IDE.