Notepad++ Alternatives
Notepad++
Notepad, which is built to every computer running Windows, is a useful tool for jotting down quick, well, notes or ideas that can be easily saved, accessed, and shared. That said, it is a very basic program with little in the way of formatting options. In fact, until Windows 10, it didn't even support one of the most basic formatting options in the form of Word Wrap. Luckily, Notepad++ addresses the need for a more robust yet accessible text tool.
Notepad++ can be considered a sort of jack of all trades. With this comes a sort of added complexity. Simpler programs can be found in Notepad and its alternatives, though you would be giving up features that Notepad++ offers: features like autocompletion, support for multiple languages, and a variety of formatting options.
As Notepad++ is a Windows exclusive app, it may be necessary to use alternatives available on macOS and Linux.
If you're looking for a text editor more focused on having a featureset comparable to an integrated development environment, software like Geany and its alternatives might be more your speed.
Best Free Notepad++ Alternatives
If you want similar software to Notepad++, we have a list for that. Are there Notepad++ alternatives out there? Let's find out.
Vim
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxBSDHaikuOpenSolarisVim ("Vi IMproved") is an advanced text editor that allows syntax highlighting, word completion and has a huge amount of contributed content. Vim offers several “modes” for editing with efficiency. This makes vim a non-user-friendly application but it is also a strength. The normal mode binds alphanumeric keys to task-oriented commands. The visual mode highlights text. The command-line mode offers more tools (for search&replace, defining functions, etc.
Features:
- Lightweight
- Customizable
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Syntax Highlighting
- Keyboard focused
- Plugins
- Well documented
- Built-in terminal emulation
- Command line interface
- Configurable
- For geek
- Hackable
- MarkDown support
- Batch Editing
- Command line
- Configurable
- Dedication to home row
- Developer Tools
- Support for Large File
- Lightweight
- Mnemonic key bindings
- Modal editor
- Native application
- Plugin manager
- Regex substitution
- Spell checking
- Terminal-based
- Vim Buffers
- Vim folding
- Visual Mode
- Word completion
Atom
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxChrome OSBSDElectron / Atom ShellAtom is an open-source, Electron based text editor with a massive ecosystem of plugins and themes that are easily accessible through a built-in package manager. Being built with Electron, it uses web technology (HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Node.js) and offers the same editing experience across Mac, Windows and Linux desktops. Different from most editors, it uses that same technology for themes so the UI is highly configurable through HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Features:
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Customizable
- Support for Themes
- Community based
- Package Control
- GIT support
- Teletype
- GitHub integration
- Hackable
- Syntax Highlighting
- Autocompletion
- Clean design
- Code completion
- Collaborative writing
- Electron based
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Folder Hierarchy
- Fuzzy Finder
- Gitlab integration
- Interior Design
- Live collaboration
- Minimap
- Modular System
- Multiple languages
- Multiple cursors
- Night mode/Dark Theme
- Distraction-free UI
- Package Manager
- Plugin API
- Plugin manager
- Real time collaboration
- Separated workspaces
- Support for NodeJS
- Tabbed interface
- Unit Testing
Visual Studio Code
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxChrome OSElectron / Atom ShellCode combines the streamlined UI of a modern editor with rich code assistance and navigation, and an integrated debugging experience – without the need for a full IDE.
Features:
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Lightweight
- Built-in Terminal
- Autocompletion
- Intellisense
- Customizable
- Syntax Highlighting
- Code completion
- GIT support
- Plugins
- C++ support
- C# Scripting
- C support
- Graphical interface
- IDE
- Support for Javascript
- MarkDown support
- Multiple cursors
- Night mode/Dark Theme
- Ruby support
- Source code debugging
- Supports loads of file formats
- Supports Python
- Bugs
- Code formatting
- Code navigation
- Color coding of code
- Electron based
- Embedded debugger
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Extensions
- Git integration
- Mercurial support
- Minimap
- PHP IDE
- Remote Debugging
- Run Android Apps on Desktop
- Support for NodeJS
- Version and Source control
gedit
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxChrome OSBSDGNOMEOpenSolarisOfficial 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.
Features:
- Lightweight
- Autocompletion
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Spell checking
- Syntax Highlighting
Geany
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxBSDPortableApps.comXfceGeany is a small and lightweight Integrated Development Environment. It was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few dependencies from other packages. Another goal was to be as independent as possible from a special Desktop Environment like KDE or GNOME - Geany only requires the GTK2 runtime libraries.
Features:
- Better syntax highlighting support
- Debian package compatible
- FOSS
- IDE
- Lightweight
- Multiplatform
- Shell integration
- Support for Themes
- Automatic Indentation
- Built-in Terminal
- Code navigation
- Customizable
- Support for Large File
- Minimalistic
- Portable
- Shortcut keys
- Spell checking
- Syntax Highlighting
- Vim plugin
Brackets
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxElectron / Atom ShellBrackets is an open-source editor for web design and development built on top of web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The project was created and is maintained by Adobe, and is released under an MIT License. With focused visual tools and preprocessor support, Brackets is a modern text editor that makes it easy to design in the browser. It's crafted from the ground up for web designers and front-end developers. Brackets is a lightweight, yet powerful, modern text editor.
Features:
- Live Preview
- Autocompletion
- Integrated FTP client
- Syntax Highlighting
- Built-in Level Editor
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- File-sync
- Git integration
- Multiple languages
- Streamlined interface
- Web Development
GNU Emacs
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxBSDGNU 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: * Content-sensitive editing modes, including syntax coloring, for a variety of file types including plain text, source code, and HTML. * Complete built-in documentation, including a tutorial for new users.
Features:
- Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
- Cross-platform
- Customizable
- Editable text color schemes
- Extensions
- Syntax Highlighting
- IDE
- IDE All Languages
- Package Control
- Scripting
- Self-documenting
- Terminal-based
Kate
FreeOpen SourceMacWindowsLinuxBSDKDEThe 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. In addition, we provide KWrite, a simple SDI editor shell which allows the user to select his/her favourite editor component. Kate Kate is a multi-document editor part of KDE since release 2.2.
Features:
- Editable text color schemes
- Native application
- Built-in Terminal
- Built-in themes
- Code formatting
- File management
- MarkDown support
- Notetaking
- Support for regular expressions
- Syntax Highlighting
- Tabbed interface
- Themes
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