Vim AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Text Editors for Mac

There are many alternatives to Vim for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac Text Editor alternative is Visual Studio Code, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Vim and loads of them are Text Editors available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac Text Editor alternatives to Vim are Neovim, VSCodium, Sublime Text and GNU Emacs.

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Vim 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 Vim.

Vim

1298

Code Editor
Free • Open Source

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.

More about Vim

Vim alternatives page was last updated Sep 5, 2024

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
Show all NaN Visual Studio Code features ▾
Visual Studio Code VS Vim
Is Visual Studio Code a good alternative to Vim?
Comments about Visual Studio Code as an Alternative to Vim

IndigoLily
Can't be used from within terminal
Negative comment •Sep 13, 2021
6
filiphanes
Visual Studio Code is GUI only full IDE, not terminal based efficient text editor.
Negative comment •Jul 15, 2022
0
Aleksandr Dikov
VSC has very good Vi extension what helps to mix Vi experience with well-integrated Microsoft solution.
Positive comment •Aug 10, 2018
2
Guest
It is superslow and bloated. Even if you have 2-3 plugins you can tell the difference in speed and lightness of vim with vscode. Vim doesn't slow down at all even if you have a hell lot of plugins and now with neovim 0.5 release and lua substituting vimscript, there cannot be made a comparison between them
Negative comment •Aug 10, 2021
0
- Most users think Visual Studio Code is a great Vim alternative.
- Visual Studio Code is the most popular Web-based, Mac & Linux alternative to Vim.
- Visual Studio Code is Free and ProprietaryVim is Free and Open Source

Neovim
Refactored version of Vim, simplifying maintenance, improving developer contributions, and enabling new user interfaces. Features extensible plugin architecture, lightweight resource usage, syntax highlighting, no registration, ad-free, and distraction-free mode.
97 Neovim alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Code Editor
- Text Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- BSD
Top Neovim Features
1. Lightweight
2. Configurable
3. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
4. Lua scripting
5. Terminal-based
6. Syntax Highlighting
7. Asynchronous
8. Vim
9. Distraction-free
10. Ad-free
11. No registration required
12. Autocompletion
Show all NaN Neovim features ▾
Neovim VS Vim
Is Neovim a good alternative to Vim?
Comments about Neovim as an Alternative to Vim

benni347
A better more modern alternative to vim.
Top positive comment •Oct 27, 2023
0
Nyquist
It's basically Vim, but with improvements like plugins that don't halt the user interface. At least on Linux, I'd recommend Neovim over Vim.
Top positive comment •Aug 13, 2017
2
daviwalle
Neovim it's like Vim, but without packages that aren't needed
Positive comment •May 13, 2020
-1
Guest
Clean, faster than Vim but based on that.
Positive comment •Mar 9, 2020
0
Colin Hughes
It's Vim except built with the future in mind, and certain backend improvements such as asynch processing
Positive comment •Dec 9, 2019
0
Show more comments
5 of 8 comments
- Almost everyone thinks Neovim is a great Vim alternative.
- Neovim is the most popular Android alternative to Vim.
- Neovim is Free and Open SourceVim is also Free and Open Source

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 Vim
Is VSCodium a good alternative to Vim?

Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features.
194 Sublime Text alternatives
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
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. Distraction-free
10. Support for MarkDown
11. Works Offline
12. Portable
Show all NaN Sublime Text features ▾
Sublime Text VS Vim
Is Sublime Text a good alternative to Vim?
- Most users think Sublime Text is a great Vim alternative.
- Sublime Text is the most popular commercial alternative to Vim.
- Sublime Text is Paid and ProprietaryVim is Free and Open Source

GNU Emacs
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:
171 GNU Emacs alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Text Editor
- Code Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- BSD
- F-Droid
- Haiku
- Homebrew
- Snapcraft
- Debian
- MacPorts
+6
Top GNU Emacs Features
1. Extensibility
2. Customizable
3. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
4. Org-mode
5. Self-documenting
6. IDE
7. Terminal-based
8. Multi OS
9. Syntax Highlighting
10. Support for scripting
11. Command line interface
12. No Tracking
Show all NaN GNU Emacs features ▾
GNU Emacs VS Vim
Is GNU Emacs a good alternative to Vim?
Comments about GNU Emacs as an Alternative to Vim

Guest
Maybe much better than Vi? ;)
Positive comment •Mar 21, 2021
0
- Most users think GNU Emacs is a great Vim alternative.
- GNU Emacs is Free and Open SourceVim is also Free and Open Source

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 Vim
Is Geany a good alternative to Vim?

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 Vim
Is Kate a good alternative to Vim?

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

Guest
No where near the shortcut capabilities, and also no built-in syntax highlighting!
Negative comment •Mar 21, 2021
1
- Almost everyone thinks GNU nano is a great Vim alternative.
- GNU nano is Free and Open SourceVim is also Free and Open Source