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Comparison of text editors

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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of text editors. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions or external programs..

General information

This table gives basic general information about the different editors.

Creator First public release date Latest stable version Cost (USD) Software license
Acme Rob Pike 1993 Distributed with 4th Ed. Plan 9 Free LPL (OSI approved)
Alpha Pete Keleher, now the Alpha-development cabal 1990 8.0 $40 shareware Core is closed source, but with BSD components
Alphatk Vince Darley 1999 8.3.3 $40 Proprietary, with BSD components
BBEdit Rich Siegel April 1992 8.2.3 $199, $129 cross-upgrade, $49 educational Proprietary
BDV Notepad Badevlad company 2002 5.0 Free Freeware
Bluefish Bluefish Dev Team 1999 1.0.4 Free GPL
Crimson Editor Ingyu Kang ? 3.7 Free Proprietary
CRiSP Paul D. Fox 1986 9.1.2c $99, plus commercial licensing Proprietary
ConTEXT Eden Kirin 1999 0.98.2 Free Proprietary
ed Ken Thompson 1970 always the same Free Free
EditPlus ES-Computing March 20, 1998 2.20 $30 (1-user) Proprietary
EditPad Lite JustGreatSoftware 1996 5.4.5 Free Proprietary
EditPad Pro JustGreatSoftware 1996 5.4.5 $40 Shareware
gedit GNU Project 2000 2.12 Free GPL
GNU Emacs GNU Project 1984 21.4 Free GPL
Kate KDE Project December 2000 2.5.0 Free GPL
KWrite KDE Project 2000 4.5 Free GPL
jEdit Slava Pestov 1998 (?) 4.2 Free GPL
JOE Joseph Allen 1992 (?) 3.3 Free GPL
Nano GNU Project 1999 1.2.5 Free GPL
Notepad Microsoft ? ? Bundled with Microsoft Windows Proprietary
Notepad++ Don Ho November 252003 3.3 Free GPL
Notepad2 Florian Balmer April 2004 1.0.12 Free GPL
nvi Keith Bostic ? 1.79 Free BSD license
Pico University of Washington ? ? Free Proprietary
PSPad Jan Fiala ? 4.3.3 Free Proprietary
SubEthaEdit TheCodingMonkeys 2003 2.1.1 $35 for Commercial Use Proprietary
TextPad Helios Software Solutions ? 4.7.3 $29 Shareware
UltraEdit IDM Computer Solutions 1994 11.10c $40 Proprietary
Vim Bram Moolenaar 1991 6.4 Free GPL-compatible
XEmacs Lucid Inc. 1991 21.0 Free GPL
Zeus Xidicone P/L 1995 3.95f $39.95 Proprietary
Creator First public release date Latest stable version Cost (USD) Software license

Operating system support

This table lists the operating systems that different editors can run on (note: some editors run on operating systems not listed in the table).

Windows Mac OS X GNU/Linux BSD Unix OpenVMS
Acme No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Alpha No Yes No No No No
Alphatk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
BBEdit No Yes No No No No
BDV Notepad Yes No No No No No
Bluefish No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Crimson Editor Yes No No No No No
ConTEXT Yes No No No No No
ed Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
EditPad Lite Yes No Yes No No No
EditPad Pro Yes No Yes No No No
EditPlus Yes No No No No No
gedit No No Yes Yes Yes No
GNU Emacs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kate No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
KWrite No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
jEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
JOE No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Nano No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Notepad Yes No No No No No
Notepad++ Yes No No No No No
Notepad2 Yes No No No No No
nvi No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Pico No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
PSPad Yes No No No No No
SubEthaEdit No Yes No No No No
TextPad Yes No No No No No
UltraEdit Yes No No No No No
Vim Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
XEmacs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Zeus Yes No No No No No
Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix OpenVMS

Document interface

This table lists common document interfaces supported natively by different editors.

Single document interface Single document window splitting Multiple document interface
Overlappable windows Tabbed document interface Window splitting
Acme Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Alpha Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Alphatk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
BBEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes No
BDV Notepad No No No No No
Bluefish Yes No No Yes No
Crimson Editor No ? Yes Yes ?
ConTEXT No No Yes Yes No
CRiSP Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ed Yes No No No No
EditPad Lite Yes No No Yes No
EditPad Pro Yes No No Yes No
EditPlus No Yes Yes Yes ?
gedit No ? Yes Yes ?
GNU Emacs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kate No Yes Yes Yes Yes
KWrite Yes No No No No
jEdit Yes Yes No Yes Yes
JOE No Yes No Yes Yes
Nano Yes No No No No
Notepad Yes No No No No
Notepad++ No Yes No Yes Yes
Notepad2 Yes No No No No
nvi Yes Yes No No No
Pico Yes No No No No
PSPad No ? Yes Yes ?
SubEthaEdit Yes Yes No No No
TextPad No Yes Yes Yes No
UltraEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Vim Yes Yes No Yes Template:Refun Yes
XEmacs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Zeus No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Single document interface Single document window splitting Overlappable windows Tabbed document interface Window splitting
  • Via script.

Basic features

This table lists common basic features supported natively by different editors.

Spell checking Regex-based find & replace Encoding conversion Newline conversion
Acme No Yes No No
Alpha Yes Yes No Yes
Alphatk Yes Yes Yes Yes
BBEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes
BDV Notepad No Yes Yes Yes
Bluefish Yes Yes Yes ?
Crimson Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes
ConTEXT No Yes No Yes
ed No Yes No No
EditPlus Yes Yes Yes Yes
EditPad Lite No No Yes Yes
EditPlus Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes
gedit Yes Template:Refun No Yes ?
GNU Emacs Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kate Yes Yes Yes Yes
KWrite Yes Yes Yes Yes
jEdit Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes
JOE Yes Template:Refun Yes Template:Refun Yes Yes
Nano Yes Yes No Yes
Notepad No No No No
Notepad++ No Yes Yes Yes
Notepad2 No Yes Yes Yes
nvi No Yes No No
Pico Yes No No No
PSPad Yes Yes Yes Yes
SubEthaEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes
TextPad Yes Yes Yes Yes
UltraEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes
Vim No Template:Refun Yes Yes Yes
XEmacs Yes Yes Yes Yes
Zeus Yes Yes Yes Yes
Spell checking Regex-based find & replace Encoding conversion Newline conversion
  • Spell Checking is added for version 7, however it's still in the alpha stage.
  • As a standard plugin.
  • Requires ispell or aspell.
  • Non-standard regexp syntax.

Programming features

This table lists common programming features implemented natively by different editors. See Source code editor.

Syntax highlighting Multiple undo/redo Rectangular block selection Bracket matching Auto indentation Auto completion Code folding Text folding Compiler integration
Acme No Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes
Alpha Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Alphatk Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
BBEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
BDV Notepad No Yes No No No No No No No
Bluefish Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes No No No
Crimson Editor Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes
ConTEXT Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
CRiSP Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ed No No No No No No No No No
EditPad Light No Yes No No Yes No No No No
EditPad Pro Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No ?
EditPlus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
gedit Yes Yes No ? Yes ? No ? ?
GNU Emacs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kate Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
KWrite Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
jEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
JOE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes
Nano Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
Notepad No No No No No No No No No
Notepad++ Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun Yes ? ?
Notepad2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
nvi No Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No No No
Pico No Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
PSPad Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
SubEthaEdit Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
TextPad Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes
UltraEdit Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Vim Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
XEmacs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Zeus Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Syntax highlighting Multiple undo/redo Rectangular block selection Bracket matching Auto indentation Auto completion Code folding Text folding Compiler integration
  • Supported via supplied/user-created lists.

Extra features

This table lists other features implemented natively by different editors.

Text shell integration Graphical shell integration Macro Collaborative editing
Acme Yes Yes Yes No
Alpha Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun No
Alphatk Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun No
BBEdit Yes Yes Yes Template:Refun No
BDV Notepad No Yes No No
Bluefish No Yes ? ?
Crimson Editor No Yes Yes No
ConTEXT No Yes Yes No
CRiSP Yes Yes Yes No
ed No No No No
EditPad Lite No No No No
EditPad Pro ? ? Yes No
EditPlus No Yes Yes No
gedit ? ? ? No
GNU Emacs Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kate Yes Yes No No
KWrite No No No No
jEdit No No Yes No
JOE Yes No Yes No
Nano ? ? ? No
Notepad Yes Yes No No
Notepad++ No Yes Yes ?
Notepad2 No No No No
nvi Yes No No ?
Pico ? ? ? No
PSPad Yes Yes Yes No
SubEthaEdit Yes Yes No Yes
TextPad No Yes Yes No
UltraEdit Yes Yes Yes No
Vim Yes Yes Yes No
XEmacs Yes Yes Yes No
Zeus No Yes Yes No
Text shell integration Graphical shell integration Macro Collaborative editing

Protocol support

This table lists Internet protocols that different editors support for remote file editing.

FTP HTTP SSH WebDAV
Acme Yes Yes Yes No
Alpha Yes No No No
Alphatk Yes No No Yes
BBEdit Yes No No No
BDV Notepad No No No No
Bluefish Yes Yes ? Yes
Crimson Editor Yes No No No
ConTEXT No No No No
CRiSP Yes Yes Yes No
ed No No No No
EditPad Lite No No No No
EditPad Pro No No No No
EditPlus Yes No No No
gedit ? ? ? ?
GNU Emacs Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kate Yes Yes Yes Yes
KWrite Yes Yes Yes Yes
jEdit Yes Template:Refun No Yes Template:Refun No
JOE No No No No
Nano No No Yes No
Notepad No No No No
Notepad++ No No No No
Notepad2 No No No No
nvi No No No No
Pico ? ? ? No
PSPad Yes No No No
SubEthaEdit Yes No No No
TextPad No No No No
UltraEdit Yes No No No
Vim Yes Yes Yes No
XEmacs Yes ? ? No
Zeus Yes Yes Yes No
FTP HTTP SSH WebDAV

Encoding support

This table lists some of the most common character encodings that different editors support.

ASCII UTF-8 UTF-16
Acme Yes Yes No
Alpha Yes No No
Alphatk Yes Yes Yes
BBEdit Yes Yes Yes
BDV Notepad Yes No Yes
Bluefish Yes Yes ?
Crimson Editor Yes No Yes
ConTEXT Yes No ?
CRiSP Yes Yes Yes
ed Yes Yes No
EditPad Light Yes Yes Yes
EditPad Pro Yes Yes Yes
EditPlus Yes Yes Yes
gedit Yes Yes ?
GNU Emacs Yes Yes Yes
Kate Yes Yes Yes
KWrite Yes Yes Yes
jEdit Yes Yes Yes
JOE Yes Yes No
Nano Yes Yes No
Notepad Yes Yes Yes
Notepad++ Yes Yes Yes
Notepad2 Yes Yes Yes
nvi Yes No No
Pico Yes No No
PSPad Yes Yes Yes
SubEthaEdit Yes Yes Yes
TextPad Yes Yes Yes
UltraEdit Yes Yes Yes
Vim Yes Yes Yes
XEmacs Yes Yes Yes
Zeus Yes Yes Yes
ASCII UTF-8 UTF-16

Newline support

This table states which newline character sequences different editors support.

DOS (CR/LF) Unix (LF) Mac (CR)
Acme No Yes No
Alpha Yes Yes Yes
Alphatk Yes Yes Yes
BBEdit Yes Yes Yes
BDV Notepad Yes Yes Yes
Bluefish ? ? ?
Crimson Editor Yes Yes Yes
ConTEXT Yes Yes Yes
CRiSP Yes Yes Yes
ed No Yes No
EditPad Light Yes Yes Yes
EditPad Pro Yes Yes Yes
EditPlus Yes Yes Yes
gedit ? ? ?
GNU Emacs Yes Yes Yes
Kate Yes Yes Yes
KWrite Yes Yes Yes
jEdit Yes Yes Yes
JOE Yes Yes No
Nano Yes Yes Yes
Notepad Yes No No
Notepad++ Yes Yes Yes
Notepad2 Yes Yes Yes
nvi ? Yes ?
Pico ? Yes ?
PSPad Yes Yes Yes
SubEthaEdit Yes Yes Yes
TextPad Yes Yes Yes
UltraEdit Yes Yes Yes
Vim Yes Yes Yes
XEmacs Yes Yes Yes
Zeus Yes Yes No
DOS (CR/LF) Unix (LF) Mac (CR)

References

  • "GNU Emacs manual". GNU Emacs Manual 14th edition. March 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help) "The Emacs Editor"

See also

Categories: