A powerful, feature packed, fully configurable IDE specifically designed for Windows developers.
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VS Code Alternatives
Visual Studio Code is a cross-platform, extension-driven code editor with IntelliSense-style completion plus integrated Git and debugging workflows. Users praise its versatility and ease of use for many programming workflows, though some complain it can feel resource-intensive and may get slower over time, especially after updates.
VSCodium tops the rankings as a fully open-source build of Code - OSS that removes telemetry while keeping most VS Code functionality and extensibility. Privacy-focused developers who want a VS Code-like experience often choose VSCodium specifically to avoid telemetry, though some Microsoft extensions may be unavailable. Sublime Text ranks second and is repeatedly praised for outstanding speed and being less resource-intensive than VS Code, making it popular with developers on slower machines or large projects.
The alternatives landscape spans lightweight text editors like Vim and Notepad++ to newer AI-first editors like Zed Editor, with over 100 alternatives covering code editors, full IDEs, and terminal-based editors.
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Visual Studio Code is a code editor, but the alternatives span different approaches to development workflows. Open source options like VSCodium, Vim, and GNU Emacs appeal to users who want transparent licensing and community-driven tooling. For privacy-focused development, VSCodium and Helix emphasize no-tracking and telemetry prevention features.
Linux users have native options in VSCodium, Kate, and Lapce. Web-based development suits users who want browser-based environments - Replit and Firebase Studio run online for coding without local setup. For developers who live in the terminal, Micro, Neovim, and Helix target command-line workflows useful for SSH-heavy or low-overhead environments.
Alternatives list
125 TextPad alternativesTextPad 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.
Chocolat is a new text editor for Mac OS X, that combines native Cocoa with powerful text editing tools.
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Codeit is a mobile code editor connected to Git. Runs on the web, open source and free. Supports HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, Bootstrap, XML and more. Easy to use without how to.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Online
- Self-Hosted
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
54 Notepad alternativesNotepad is a fast and distraction-free online writing space. Capture thoughts, take notes, and share instantly. Perfect for quick ideas, to-do lists, etc.
It's a cross between Glade / Visual Studio — the idea is that most 'action' code for an application is actually quite simple - so entering the code on the event handlers for a widget makes the proximity of code to action better.
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4 Powershell ISE alternativesThe Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) is a host application for Windows PowerShell. In Windows PowerShell ISE, you can run commands and write, test, and debug scripts in a single Windows-based graphic user interface with multiline editing, tab completion...
Vrode Script Editor is an easy-to-use, lightweight and effective editor for JavaScript, Python, VBScript, HTML and CSS files with code completion, syntax highlighting, code navigation, context-sensitive help and debugging support.
Replace notepad with free Unicode notepad replacement, rich in innovative features, text-processing functions, tools and hot-keys.
Intype is a powerful and intuitive code editor for Windows with lightning fast response. It is easily extensible and customizable, thanks in part to its support for scripting and native plug-ins. It makes development in any programming or scripting language quick and easy.
Cost / License
- Paid
- Proprietary
Application types
Alerts
- Discontinued
Platforms
- Windows
Tilde is a text editor for the console/terminal, which provides an intuitive interface for people accustomed to GUI environments such as Gnome, KDE and Windows. Example: copy current selection is Control-C; paste previously copied text is Control-V.
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