Best Neovim Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from text editors ranked against Neovim on the same published basis.
- 1Neovim vs Visual Studio Code
- 3Neovim vs Kate
- 4Neovim vs Zed
- 5Neovim vs Notepad++
- 6Neovim vs BBEdit
- 7Neovim vs EmEditor
- 8Neovim vs Geany
- 9Neovim vs Lapce
- 10Neovim vs Bluefish
- 11Neovim vs TeXworks
- 12Neovim vs Micro
- 13Neovim vs EditiX
- 14Neovim vs Fresh
- 15Neovim vs Calmly Writer
- 16Neovim vs Vim
- 17Neovim vs Helix
- 18Neovim vs jEdit
- 19Neovim vs SciTE
- 20Neovim vs Sublime Text
- 21Neovim vs UltraEdit
Neovim alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visual Studio Code | 8.2 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Web, 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 | 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 |
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Questions about Neovim alternatives
What is the best alternative to Neovim?
Visual Studio Code, number 1 in text editors with a score of 8.2 out of 10. The others here: Kate, Zed, Notepad++ and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Neovim?
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.