Best BBEdit Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from text editors ranked against BBEdit on the same published basis.
- 1BBEdit vs Visual Studio Code
- 2BBEdit vs Neovim
- 3BBEdit vs Kate
- 4BBEdit vs Zed
- 5BBEdit vs Notepad++
- 7BBEdit vs EmEditor
- 8BBEdit vs Geany
- 9BBEdit vs Lapce
- 10BBEdit vs Bluefish
- 11BBEdit vs TeXworks
- 12BBEdit vs Micro
- 13BBEdit vs EditiX
- 14BBEdit vs Fresh
- 15BBEdit vs Calmly Writer
- 16BBEdit vs Vim
- 17BBEdit vs Helix
- 18BBEdit vs jEdit
- 19BBEdit vs SciTE
- 20BBEdit vs Sublime Text
- 21BBEdit vs UltraEdit
BBEdit alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visual Studio Code | 8.2 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 2 | Neovim | 8.2 | Free plan | Free | Android, API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 3 | Kate | 8.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 4 | Zed | 8.0 | Free plan | $10/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 5 | Notepad++ | 7.9 | Free plan | Free | Windows |
| 7 | EmEditor | 7.8 | No | $0.42/mo | Windows |
| 8 | Geany | 7.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 9 | Lapce | 7.7 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 10 | Bluefish | 7.7 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 11 | TeXworks | 7.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 12 | Micro | 7.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 13 | EditiX | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 14 | Fresh | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 15 | Calmly Writer | 7.2 | Free plan | — | Android, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 16 | Vim | 6.9 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 17 | Helix | 6.9 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 18 | jEdit | 6.8 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 19 | SciTE | 6.7 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 20 | Sublime Text | 6.6 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 21 | UltraEdit | 6.6 | No | $7.91/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
Make your app an alternative to BBEdit
See the priceThe sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled Sponsored.
Questions about BBEdit alternatives
What is the best alternative to BBEdit?
Visual Studio Code, number 1 in text editors with a score of 8.2 out of 10. The others here: Neovim, Kate, Zed and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to BBEdit?
Visual Studio Code is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 13 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked free-and-open first: a usable free tier and open-source code, then the platforms it runs on and its documentation.