TextEdit AlternativesText Editors and other similar apps like TextEdit

TextEdit is described as 'When you need to create text documents, TextEdit is a highly versatile word processor, including tools to format and layout your page, edit and stylize text, check spelling, create tables and lists, import graphics, work with HTML, and even add music and movie files' and is a Text Editor in the office & productivity category. There are more than 100 alternatives to TextEdit for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD and Flathub apps. The best TextEdit alternative is Sublime Text. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Vim or gedit. Other great apps like TextEdit are GNU nano, CudaText, TextMate and CodeEdit.

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TextEdit alternatives are mainly Text Editors but may also be Code Editors or IDEs. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of TextEdit.

TextEdit

Text Editor
Free • Proprietary

When you need to create text documents, TextEdit is a highly versatile word processor, including tools to format and layout your page, edit and stylize text, check spelling, create tables and lists, import graphics, work...

More about TextEdit

TextEdit alternatives page was last updated Mar 21, 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 TextEdit
Is Sublime Text a good alternative to TextEdit?
- Most users think Sublime Text is a great TextEdit alternative.
- Sublime Text is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to TextEdit.
- Sublime Text is the most popular commercial alternative to TextEdit.
- Sublime Text is Paid and ProprietaryTextEdit is Free and Proprietary
- Sublime Text is Lightweight and CustomizableTextEdit is not according to our users

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 TextEdit
Is Vim a good alternative to TextEdit?
Comments about Vim as an Alternative to TextEdit

Ihsan Praditya
TextEdit is best for simple GUI text editing with a control of font size, alignment, non latin alphabeth, and much more but not for code editing. it's seem a minimal package of MS Word. VIM is like Code Editor which you shouldn't put then non latin font, let alone right to left language font.
Negative comment •Nov 10, 2022
2
Guest
Vim is best in class for what it is designed to do (CLI text editing) but is not at all like the GUI TextEdit. The average TextEdit user would not even recognize Vim.
Negative comment •Jun 18, 2020
3
- Some users think Vim is a great TextEdit alternative, some don't.
- Vim is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to TextEdit.
- Vim is Free and Open SourceTextEdit is Free and Proprietary
- Vim is Lightweight and CustomizableTextEdit 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 TextEdit
Is gedit a good alternative to TextEdit?

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EmEditor
EmEditor is a versatile text, code, and CSV editor designed for Windows. It offers lightweight, user-friendly, and extendable platform, with both 32-bit and 64-bit builds. The software also features AI-assisted writing.

https://www.emeditor.com
Learn More
GNU nano
GNU 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.
142 GNU nano alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Haiku
+1
GNU nano Features
1. Command line interface
2. Terminal-based
3. Search and Replace
4. Lightweight
5. Automatic Indentation
Show all NaN GNU nano features ▾
GNU nano VS TextEdit
Is GNU nano a good alternative to TextEdit?
Comments about GNU nano as an Alternative to TextEdit

Guest
GNU nano is a terminal based editor which does not at all resemble TextEdit
Negative comment •Dec 30, 2020
1
Guest
Nano is a great terminal based editor, but anyone looking for an alternative to TextEdit is of course expecting a GUI application.
Negative comment •Jun 18, 2020
1
- GNU nano is Free and Open SourceTextEdit is Free and Proprietary
- GNU nano is LightweightTextEdit is not according to our users

CudaText
CudaText is a cross-platform text editor, written in Lazarus / Free Pascal.
190 CudaText alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Flathub
+3
Top CudaText Features
1. Lightweight
2. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
3. Native application
4. Customizable
5. Minimap
6. Command palette
7. Autocompletion
8. Syntax Highlighting
9. Support for Themes
10. Ad-free
11. No registration required
12. Portable
Show all NaN CudaText features ▾
CudaText VS TextEdit
Is CudaText a good alternative to TextEdit?

TextMate
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.
159 TextMate alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Code Editor
- Text Editor
Platforms
- Mac
Top TextMate Features
1. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
2. Support for Themes
3. Syntax Highlighting
4. Support for MarkDown
5. Lightweight
6. Search and Replace
7. No registration required
8. Dark Mode
9. Code Formatting
10. Ad-free
11. Works Offline
12. Automatic Indentation
Show all NaN TextMate features ▾
Discontinued
Last commit and version is from 2021

TextMate VS TextEdit
Is TextMate a good alternative to TextEdit?

CodeEdit
CodeEdit is a code editor built by the community, for the community, written entirely and unapologetically for macOS. Features include syntax highlighting, code completion, project find and replace, snippets, terminal, task running, debugging, git integration, code review...
18 CodeEdit alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Code Editor
- Text Editor
Platforms
- Mac
+1
CodeEdit Features
1. Syntax Highlighting
2. Live Preview
3. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
4. Snippets
5. Code review
6. Debugging
7. Collaborative Code Editor
8. Git integration
9. Code Completion
10. Swift
Show all NaN CodeEdit features ▾
CodeEdit VS TextEdit
Is CodeEdit a good alternative to TextEdit?

Notepad
Fastest and lightweight simple text editor bundled with all Windows OS. Just plain text, saves in .txt format. So it has been used by people for long time Since 1980s. Features improved especially since 2018.
136 Notepad alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application type
- Text Editor
Platforms
- Windows
+2
Notepad Features
1. Minimalistic
2. Simple text editor
3. Support for Unicode
4. Save as txt
5. No Tracking
6. Lightweight
7. Ad-free
8. Works Offline
9. Dark Mode
10. Bundled with Windows
Show all NaN Notepad features ▾
Notepad VS TextEdit
Is Notepad a good alternative to TextEdit?
Comments about Notepad as an Alternative to TextEdit

Guest
Notepad lacks rich text editing
Negative comment •Aug 3, 2019
1
- Notepad is Free and ProprietaryTextEdit is also Free and Proprietary
- Notepad is LightweightTextEdit is not according to our users

Aptana Studio
Aptana Studio is a complete web development environment that combines powerful authoring tools with a collection of online hosting and collaboration services that help you and your team do more. Includes support for PHP, CSS, FTP, and more...
123 Aptana Studio alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- IDE
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Aptana Studio Features
Real time collaboration
Support for FTP
Show all NaN Aptana Studio features ▾
+5
Discontinued
The last update is from Feb 2021 and the last release is from Jul 2018.

Aptana Studio VS TextEdit
Is Aptana Studio a good alternative to TextEdit?

UltraEdit
UltraEdit is the ideal text, HTML and HEX editor, and an advanced PHP, Perl, Java and JavaScript editor for programmers. An industry-award winner, UltraEdit supports disk-based 64-bit file handling (standard) on 32-bit Windows platforms (Windows 2000 and later).
211 UltraEdit alternatives
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
- Code Editor
- Text Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
UltraEdit Features
Column based text editing
Support for large files
Hex Editor
Show all NaN UltraEdit features ▾
+1
UltraEdit VS TextEdit
Is UltraEdit a good alternative to TextEdit?

PSPad
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.
166 PSPad alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Windows
+3
Top PSPad Features
1. Syntax Highlighting
2. Support for MarkDown
3. Support for scripting
4. No registration required
5. Portable
6. WYSIWYG Support
7. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
8. Code Formatting
9. Ad-free
10. Lightweight
11. Works Offline
12. Hex Editor
Show all NaN PSPad features ▾
PSPad VS TextEdit
Is PSPad a good alternative to TextEdit?

SciTE
SciTE is a SCIntilla based Text Editor. Originally built to demonstrate Scintilla, it has grown to be a generally useful editor with facilities for building and running programs. It is best used for jobs with simple configurations - I use it for building test and demonstration...
150 SciTE alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Xfce
SciTE VS TextEdit
Is SciTE a good alternative to TextEdit?