Best Nova Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from text editors ranked against Nova on the same published basis.
- 1Nova vs Visual Studio Code
- 2Nova vs Neovim
- 3Nova vs Kate
- 4Nova vs Zed
- 5Nova vs Notepad++
- 6Nova vs BBEdit
- 7Nova vs EmEditor
- 8Nova vs Geany
- 9Nova vs Lapce
- 10Nova vs Bluefish
- 11Nova vs TeXworks
- 12Nova vs Micro
- 13Nova vs EditiX
- 14Nova vs Fresh
- 15Nova vs Calmly Writer
- 16Nova vs Vim
- 17Nova vs Helix
- 18Nova vs jEdit
- 19Nova vs SciTE
- 20Nova vs Sublime Text
Nova 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 | 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 |
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Questions about Nova alternatives
What is the best alternative to Nova?
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 Nova?
Visual Studio Code is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 14 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.