Best Text Editors in 2026
Updated
82 text editors ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
82ranked
3free plans on this page
$0.99/molowest paid tier
8 Oct 2026last checked
Text Editors, ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going. 4 of the 25 on this page can be tried for free.
- 51 Kakoune
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 52 EditPad Lite
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 53 Vovsoft Text Edit PlusPaid from $19/mo
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 54 MacVim
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 55 XML MarkerPaid from $50/mo
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 56 Text Editor Pro
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 57 NoteTabPaid from $39.95/mo
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 58 GNU TeXmacs
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 59 Notepad2
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 60 ExpressoPaid from $0.99/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 61 LearnWell LanguagesPaid from $6.99/mo
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 62 Notepad3
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 63 PolyEdit
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 64 ACTSFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 65 GNOME Text Editor
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 66 FeatherPad
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 67 Summernote
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 68 Ghost Commander
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 69 HTML-Kit
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 70 Microsoft Edit
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 71 MacDown 3000Free plan
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 72 Code Writer
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 73 Joe's Own Editor
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 74 Visual Regression Tracker
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 75 SmultronPaid from $9.99/mo
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: not on record
Compare all 25 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | Supported platforms | Multi-cursor editing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | Kakoune | 6.5 | No | — | Yes | — | Linux, macOS | Yes |
| 52 | EditPad Lite | 6.5 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows | — |
| 53 | Vovsoft Text Edit Plus | 6.5 | No | $19/mo | No | — | Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) | — |
| 54 | MacVim | 6.4 | No | — | — | — | macOS | — |
| 55 | XML Marker | 6.4 | No | $50/mo | No | — | windows | — |
| 56 | Text Editor Pro | 6.4 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows | Yes |
| 57 | NoteTab | 6.4 | No | $39.95/mo | Yes | — | Windows; Linux through Wine | — |
| 58 | GNU TeXmacs | 6.3 | No | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| 59 | Notepad2 | 6.3 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows | — |
| 60 | Expresso | 6.3 | Free plan | $0.99/mo | Yes | — | macOS | — |
| 61 | LearnWell Languages | 6.3 | No | $6.99/mo | Yes | — | macOS | — |
| 62 | Notepad3 | 6.2 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows | Yes |
| 63 | PolyEdit | 6.2 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows | — |
| 64 | ACTS | 6.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 65 | GNOME Text Editor | 6.1 | No | — | — | — | — | — |
| 66 | FeatherPad | 6.1 | No | — | — | — | Linux, macOS | — |
| 67 | Summernote | 6.1 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows, macOS, Linux; Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Edge | — |
| 68 | Ghost Commander | 6.1 | No | — | Yes | — | Android | — |
| 69 | HTML-Kit | 6.0 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows | — |
| 70 | Microsoft Edit | 6.0 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows, macOS, Linux | — |
| 71 | MacDown 3000 | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 72 | Code Writer | 5.8 | No | — | Yes | — | Windows | — |
| 73 | Joe's Own Editor | 5.8 | No | — | Yes | — | Linux, macOS (Unix-like systems) | — |
| 74 | Visual Regression Tracker | 5.7 | No | — | — | — | — | — |
| 75 | Smultron | 5.6 | No | $9.99/mo | No | — | macOS | — |