Best Kakoune Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from text editors ranked against Kakoune on the same published basis.
- 1Kakoune vs Visual Studio Code
- 2Kakoune vs Neovim
- 3Kakoune vs Kate
- 4Kakoune vs Zed
- 5Kakoune vs Notepad++
- 6Kakoune vs BBEdit
- 7Kakoune vs EmEditor
- 8Kakoune vs Geany
- 9Kakoune vs Lapce
- 10Kakoune vs Bluefish
- 11Kakoune vs Textadept
- 12Kakoune vs TeXworks
- 13Kakoune vs Micro
- 14Kakoune vs EditiX
- 15Kakoune vs Fresh
- 16Kakoune vs Calmly Writer
- 17Kakoune vs Vim
- 18Kakoune vs Helix
- 19Kakoune vs jEdit
- 20Kakoune vs SciTE
Kakoune 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 |
| 6 | BBEdit | 7.8 | Free plan | $59.99/mo | Mac |
| 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 | Textadept | 7.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 12 | TeXworks | 7.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 13 | Micro | 7.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 14 | EditiX | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 15 | Fresh | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 16 | Calmly Writer | 7.2 | Free plan | — | Android, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 17 | Vim | 6.9 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 18 | Helix | 6.9 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 19 | jEdit | 6.8 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 20 | SciTE | 6.7 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
Make your app an alternative to Kakoune
See the priceThe sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled Sponsored.
Questions about Kakoune alternatives
What is the best alternative to Kakoune?
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 Kakoune?
Visual Studio Code is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 16 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.