Best MacVim Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from text editors ranked against MacVim on the same published basis.
- 1MacVim vs Visual Studio Code
- 2MacVim vs Neovim
- 3MacVim vs Kate
- 4MacVim vs Vim
- 5MacVim vs Zed
- 6MacVim vs Notepad++
- 7MacVim vs BBEdit
- 8MacVim vs EmEditor
- 9MacVim vs jEdit
- 10MacVim vs Geany
- 11MacVim vs SciTE
- 12MacVim vs KWrite
- 13MacVim vs Bluefish
- 14MacVim vs Lapce
- 15MacVim vs CudaText
- 16MacVim vs Textadept
- 17MacVim vs CotEditor
- 18MacVim vs TeXworks
- 19MacVim vs EditiX
- 20MacVim vs Fresh
MacVim 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 | Vim | 8.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 5 | Zed | 8.0 | Free plan | $10/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | Notepad++ | 7.9 | Free plan | Free | Windows |
| 7 | BBEdit | 7.8 | Free plan | $59.99/mo | Mac |
| 8 | EmEditor | 7.8 | $0.42/mo | Windows | |
| 9 | jEdit | 7.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 10 | Geany | 7.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 11 | SciTE | 7.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 12 | KWrite | 7.7 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 13 | Bluefish | 7.7 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 14 | Lapce | 7.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 15 | CudaText | 7.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 16 | Textadept | 7.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 17 | CotEditor | 7.4 | Free plan | Free | Mac |
| 18 | TeXworks | 7.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 19 | EditiX | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 20 | Fresh | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
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Questions about MacVim alternatives
What is the best alternative to MacVim?
Visual Studio Code, number 1 in text editors with a score of 8.2 out of 10. The others here: Neovim, Kate, Vim and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to MacVim?
Visual Studio Code is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 19 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.