Windows Notepad AlternativesOnly apps categorised as IDEs

The best IDE alternative to Windows Notepad is Sublime Text, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Windows Notepad and 16 are IDEs so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting IDE alternatives to Windows Notepad are Vim, Kate, Notepad3 and GNU Emacs.

filter to find the best alternatives

Windows Notepad alternatives are mainly IDEs, but if you're looking for Code Editors or Text Editors 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 Windows Notepad.
Windows Notepad iconWindows Notepad
  182
  • ...

Fast, lightweight editor bundled with Windows since 1985. Supports plain text, UTF-8, Linux newline, over 100 languages, with improved features.

More about Windows Notepad
More about Windows Notepad
Windows Notepad alternatives page was last updated May 16, 2025
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  1. Sublime Text icon

    Sublime Text

     2021 likes
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    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.

    190 Sublime Text alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • AU flagAustralia

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Sublime Text screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Customizable
    3.  Clean design
    4.  Distraction-free

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Package Control
    3.  Syntax Highlighting
    4.  Text editing
    5.  Multiple Cursors
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Simple text editor
    9.  Tabbed interface
    10.  Support for MarkDown
    11.  Works Offline
    12.  No registration required

    Sublime Text VS Windows Notepad

     

    • Most users think Sublime Text is a great Windows Notepad alternative.

    • Sublime Text is the most popular Mac & Linux alternative to Windows Notepad.

    • Sublime Text is Freemium and ProprietaryWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
    • Sublime Text is Lightweight and CustomizableWindows Notepad is not according to our users
  2. Vim icon

    Vim

     1319 likes
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    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.

    205 Vim alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • NL flagNetherlands
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Vim screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Keyboard focused
    3.  Customizable
    4.  Configurable

    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 VS Windows Notepad

     
  4. Kate icon

    Kate

     296 likes
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    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.

    137 Kate alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Kate screenshot 1

    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 VS Windows Notepad

     
  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.

    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 Windows Notepad

     
    Comments about Notepad3 as an Alternative to Windows Notepad
    Most Recent Comment
    Xahkyen
    Positive Mar 21, 2022
    3

    It's the best alternative that I was looking for: more powerful, while being lightweight, simply to use and full with useful features.

    Noah Sean
    Positive Feb 29, 2024
    1

    Lightweight, easy to use, and offers syntax highlighting.

    jmNY68
    Positive Jul 16, 2024
    0

    I 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.

    Windows Notepad Icon
    Notepad3 icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Notepad3 is a great Windows Notepad alternative.

    • Notepad3 is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
    • Notepad3 is Lightweight and Privacy focusedWindows Notepad is not according to our users
  6. GNU Emacs icon

    GNU Emacs

     379 likes
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    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:

    167 GNU Emacs alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    • F-Droid
    • Haiku
    • Homebrew
    • Snapcraft
    • Debian
    • MacPorts
    The GNU Emacs Manual calls Emacs the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Distraction-free

    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 VS Windows Notepad

     

    • GNU Emacs is the most popular Android alternative to Windows Notepad.

    • GNU Emacs is Free and Open SourceWindows Notepad is Free and Proprietary
    • GNU Emacs is CustomizableWindows Notepad is not according to our users
  7. 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.

    157 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 Windows Notepad

     
  9. ecode icon

    ecode

     5 likes
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    ecode is a lightweight multi-platform code editor designed for modern hardware with a focus on responsiveness and performance. It has been developed with the hardware-accelerated eepp GUI, which provides the core technology for the editor.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    ecode screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes
    3.  Minimalistic

    Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Dark Mode
    4.  Portable
    5.  Syntax Highlighting
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  No registration required
    8.  Full-Text Search
    9.  Autocompletion
    10.  No Tracking
    11.  Color Palette
    12.  Tree view

    ecode VS Windows Notepad

     
  10. SynWrite icon

    SynWrite

     30 likes
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    SynWrite is a free source code editor and notepad replacement for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • RU flagRussia

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Total Commander
    SynWrite screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    Last update was on 29-08-2017. Synwrite is continued on CudaText.Only there is no Total Commander plug-in with CudaText.

    SynWrite Features

    1.  Spell Checking
    2.  Syntax Highlighting
    3.  Portable
    4.  Tree structure

    SynWrite VS Windows Notepad

     
  11. TextPad icon

    TextPad

     58 likes
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    TextPad is designed to provide the power and functionality to satisfy the most demanding text editing requirements. It can edit files up to the limits of virtual memory, and it will work with the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, Server 2003 and 2008.

    125 TextPad alternatives

    License model

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Running in Vista

    TextPad Features

    1.  Search and Replace

    TextPad VS Windows Notepad

     
9 of 16 Windows Notepad alternatives