VS Code AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Text Editors

The best Text Editor alternative to Visual Studio Code is VSCodium, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Visual Studio Code and loads of them are Text Editors so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Text Editor alternatives to Visual Studio Code are Sublime Text, Notepad++, Vim and Kate.

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Visual Studio Code alternatives are mainly Text Editors, but if you're looking for Code Editors or IDEs you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Online, Android, Windows, Linux, Open Source, iPad and Chrome OS. 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 Visual Studio Code.
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Alternatives list

  1. VSCodium icon
     426 likes

    VSCodium offers a privacy-focused, open-source alternative to Visual Studio Code, eliminating telemetry and proprietary components. It provides a similar code editing experience across Mac, Windows, and Linux without sacrificing functionality, customization, or support.

    201 VSCodium alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Electron
    • Snapcraft
    • Homebrew
    • Chocolatey
     
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    24
  2. Sublime Text icon
     2056 likes

    Sublime Text, a popular commercial alternative to Visual Studio Code, is renowned for its speed and lightweight design. While both support plugins and customization, Sublime offers swifter navigation and less resource usage, making it a fast and efficient choice.

    199 Sublime Text alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
     
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    4
  3. Notepad++ icon
     4953 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.

    253 Notepad++ alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
     
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    12
  4. Vim icon
     1354 likes

    Vim, or "Vi IMproved", is an advanced text editor that provides a myriad of features including syntax highlighting, word completion, and a vast amount of contributed content. This tool comes with a GUI version known as GVim. Vim's top features include being lightweight, keyboard-focused, and customizable. It supports a wide range of operating systems such as Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD, Haiku, AmigaOS, OpenSolaris, and MorphOS. Vim is recognized as an open-source software and is available for free.

    In comparison to Visual Studio Code, Vim presents itself as a viable alternative. Both being Text Editor & Code Editors, they share some similar features such as customizability. However, Vim stands out with its lightweight design and keyboard-focused operation. Vim has received positive comments as an alternative to Visual Studio Code, with users noting it as 'the lightest alternative with the most features', praising its readiness to work as soon as it is opened, and its massive amount of extendable, open-source plugins.

    218 Vim alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
     
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    6
  5. Kate icon
     320 likes

    Kate is a product of the Kate project, which primarily develops two key products: KatePart and Kate. KatePart is an advanced editor component, utilized in a myriad of KDE applications that require a text editing component. On the other hand, Kate is a MDI text editor application. It is a native application that comes with a variety of themes and supports syntax highlighting. Kate has been well-received by users and has garnered numerous positive reviews. It is compatible with multiple platforms including Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD, and KDE.

    As a popular open source and free alternative to Visual Studio Code, Kate offers certain advantages. Unlike Visual Studio Code which is an Electron app, Kate is a compiled C++ application, which results in a more performant operation. This difference is often noted by users who prefer Kate over Visual Studio Code. Additionally, users have pointed out that while Kate may not be suitable for larger projects as of yet, it is an excellent choice for smaller ones due to its syntax highlighting and other features. It's important to note that while both Kate and Visual Studio Code serve as Text Editor, Code Editor & IDE, Visual Studio Code is known for its extensibility through plugins/extensions, customization options, and autocompletion feature.

    148 Kate alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
     
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    5
  6. Zed Editor icon
     122 likes

    Blazing fast code editor offering real-time multi-user collaboration, language-aware syntax highlighting, integrated terminal, multi-buffers for tab-free editing, built-in Vim mode, searchable outline, AI coding assistance, advanced keyboard commands, and cross-platform support.

    96 Zed Editor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
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    3
  7. Eclipse icon
     1148 likes

    Eclipse is an extensible development platform with runtimes and application frameworks for building, deploying and managing software across the entire software lifecycle. Many people know Eclipse as a Java IDE, but it is much more than that- Eclipse actually consists of over 60...

    148 Eclipse alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
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    3
  8. Neovim icon
     193 likes

    Neovim is a text editor, code editor, and integrated development environment (IDE) that is often described as 'Vim out of the box.' It is highly regarded in the software community, with numerous positive reviews. Among its top features are its lightweight design, its configurability, and its extensibility through plugins and extensions. Neovim is compatible with a range of operating systems, including Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and BSD.

    As an alternative to Visual Studio Code, Neovim stands out in several ways. While both are text editors, code editors, and IDEs, Neovim is particularly popular among Android users. Both Neovim and Visual Studio Code offer extensibility through plugins and extensions, and both are customizable. However, Visual Studio Code also offers autocompletion as one of its top features. It is worth noting that while Visual Studio Code supports Mac, Windows, Linux, Online, and Chrome OS, it does not have support for Android or BSD, both of which are supported by Neovim.

    109 Neovim alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chocolatey
    • Flathub
    • Snapcraft
     
  9. GNU Emacs icon
     387 likes

    GNU Emacs, often simply referred to as Emacs, is an extensible and customizable text editor. Its core functionality is powered by an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language that has been extended to support text editing. This software's key features include extensibility, customizability, and the ability to be further extended by plugins and extensions. It is compatible with a wide range of operating systems including Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD, Haiku, Homebrew, Android, and F-Droid.

    As an alternative to Visual Studio Code, GNU Emacs is recognized for its speed and advanced autocomplete capabilities. It's also noted for its ability to run in a command line and its extensive collection of available plugins. Users have highlighted its extensive extensibility, stating that it surpasses Visual Studio Code in this regard. Unlike Visual Studio Code, GNU Emacs is not based on a web browser and can be used without a mouse. It's also appreciated for its compatibility with OpenBSD and its ability to handle all the tasks required for daily work. While both GNU Emacs and Visual Studio Code share features like extensibility by plugins/extensions and customizability, GNU Emacs is particularly popular among Android users.

    185 GNU Emacs alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • F-Droid
    • Haiku
    • Debian
    • MacPorts
    • Homebrew
     
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    5
  10. Geany icon
     579 likes

    Geany is a powerful, stable and lightweight programmer's text editor that provides tons of useful features without bogging down your workflow.

    157 Geany alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak
    • Haiku
     
  11. gedit icon
     696 likes

    Extensible text editor with UTF-8 support, syntax highlighting for several programming and markup languages, remote editing, file reverting, print preview, clipboard operations, powerful search, customizable fonts and colors, line numbering, and plugin support.

    194 gedit alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • GNOME
    • OpenSolaris
     
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    1
  12. PyCharm icon
     298 likes

    Cross-platform IDE for Python and Django with refactoring capabilities, code completion, VCS integration, deployment, issue tracking, remote debugging, and Community Edition, though lacking database support and web technologies.

    58 PyCharm alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
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    2
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