Windows Notepad AlternativesOnly apps from the EU

The best alternative to Windows Notepad is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Windows Notepad and many of them are so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting alternatives to Windows Notepad are Vim, Kate, Notepad2 and PSPad.

filter to find the best alternatives

Windows 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 Open Source, Text Editors, Linux, Windows + Free, Windows and Windows + Lightweight. 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.
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Alternatives list

  1. Notepad++ icon
     4966 likes

    Notepad++ 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.

    255 Notepad++ alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
     
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    6
  2. Vim icon
     1360 likes

    Advanced text editor with syntax highlighting, word completion, multiple editing modes for efficiency, plugin and script extensibility, GUI and command-line operation, a thorough help system, and cross-platform support across various operating systems.

    220 Vim alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
     
  3. Kate icon
     323 likes

    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.

    151 Kate alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
     
  4. Notepad2 icon
     291 likes

    Notepad2 is a fast and light-weight Windows Notepad like text editor with syntax highlighting. Simple as possible, but yet powerful. Has full Unicode support. Can be run out of the box without installation, and does not touch your system's...

    117 Notepad2 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
     
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    2
  5. PSPad icon
     203 likes

    PSPad is a freeware programmers editor in 8 languages for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Some features are highlighted syntax, ftp, projects and so on. Code explorer for Pascal, C/C++, INI, HTML, XML, PHP and more in development, internal web browser with APACHE support.

    172 PSPad alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
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    2
  6. Xed icon
     23 likes

    A text editor forked from Pluma and Gedit. Xed is the default text editor of Linux Mint. It can be customized and is available in multiple languages.

    159 Xed alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  7. Mousepad icon
     35 likes

    A simple text editor for the Xfce desktop environment. Mousepad aims to be an easy-to-use and fast editor for quickly editing text files, not a development environment or an editor with a huge bunch of plugins.

    78 Mousepad alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Xfce
     
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    2
  8. Text Editor Pro icon
     10 likes

    Text Editor Pro (formerly EditBone) is a powerful text editing tool that comes with syntax highlighting, support for over 50 languages and scripts, 22 different styles, a handy file comparison feature and support for multiple directories and search results.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  9. Smultron icon
     71 likes

    Smultron is a text editor for Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 which is both easy to use and powerful. It is designed to neither confuse newcomers nor disappoint advanced users. It should work perfectly for a whole variety of needs - like web programming, script editing, making a to do...

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  10. Notes (PFA) icon
     3 likes

    Privacy Friendly Notes allows you to take and manage notes on Android devices. It belongs to the Privacy Friendly Apps group developed by the research group SECUSO at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. More information can be found an secuso.org/pfa

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • F-Droid
    • Android
     
  11. TwistPad icon
     8 likes

    Twistpad is a fully featured text and code editor for Windows. Twistpad can be used as a simple notepad replacer, or a featured packed editor targeting web and software developers.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  12. Byword icon
     53 likes

    Byword is designed to make writing more enjoyable with Markdown on your Mac, iPhone and iPad.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
12 of 28 Windows Notepad alternatives