Top 10 Sublime Text Alternatives You Can Use
Jun. 7, 20191. Notepad++
Notepad++ is a free source code editor which supports several programming languages under the MS Windows environment. Ituses the Scintilla editor componentand is written in C++ with “Win32 API calls using only STL to increase performance and reduce program size”. While the software hassupport for macros and plugins, it isn’t as feature-rich as many of the other editors on this list. However, its simplicity and familiar UI means that it is an easy recommendation for someone just getting into coding. While advanced programmers will probably look for something a bit beefier, Notepad++ does come with most of the features you’d expect from a basic code editor, including syntax highlighting, syntax folding, search/replace, split-screen editing, synchronized scrolling and multi-document tab interface.
Platform:WindowsDownload:(Free)
Unlike Sublime Text,Atom supports the drag/dropaction for files and folders in tree view, which is a definite plus for regular users. If you’re the type who works on multiple files at the same time, you’d also appreciate Atom’ssplit-pane editingfeature. Atom also comes with a number of default plugins that make it compatible with a whole bunch of programming languages, including C, C++, C#, HTML, Java, Python, SQL and more. The inherent benefit of being one of Github’s own projects is that it has great git integration. Overall, it’s a great piece of software if flexibility and customization come at the top on your list of priorities.
Platforms:Windows, Linux, macOSDownload:(Free)
Arguably the best professional HTML andtext editor for macOS, BBEdit is another great Sublime Text alternative you can check out. BBEdit provides users anintelligent interfacethat gives users easy access to all of its amazing features, including grep pattern matching, search and replace across multiple files, project definition tools, function navigation and syntax coloring for numerous source code languages, code folding, and a lot more. One of the best features packed within BBEdit is itsability to compare two documents and find differencesin them.
BBEdit supports syntax highlighting for a number of popular computer languages, includingANSI C, C++, CSS, Fortran 95, HTML, Java, JavaScript, JSP, Lasso, Object Pascal, Objective-C, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, SQL, XML, YAML, among others, making it a brilliant alternative to Sublime Text. It also offers users a ton of customization features, however, accessing these features might seem like a problem to new users as they’re buried deep within the settings. Once you know where all the features are located though, using BBEdit is a breeze. Needless to say, BBEdit is one of the best Sublime Text alternatives that you can get on Mac right now.
Platforms:macOS
Download:($49.99, 30-day free evaluation period)
Visual Studio Code is a FOSS source code editor and debugger that’sdeveloped by Microsoftand ishosted on Github. The software is available not just on Windows, but also on macOS and Linux. It includes support for embedded Git control, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets and code refactoring. It is also customizable, which allows users to change the editor’s theme, keyboard shortcuts and other preferences. Like Atom,VS Code is based on the Electron frameworkusing Node and HTML/CSS, but instead of using Atom, it employs ‘Monaco’ – the same editor component used in Visual Studio Team Services.
Platforms:Windows, Linux, macOSDownload:(Free)
Vim is a free and open source cross-platform command line text editor that’s available on a wide variety of platforms ranging from Windows, Linux, macOS and Unix to Android, iOS, Amigaos and more. The software is aclone of the open source Vi text editor program for Unix, and its name is a contraction of ‘Vi Improved’ as a reference to the original program written by renowned computer scientist and Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy in 1976. The program has an army of power users supporting it and, has around 15,000 packages that bring tree explorers, syntax highlighters, theming, Git integration, etc. You can visitVimAwesomefor some of the best plugins the community has to offer.
Unlike Sublime Text,Vim doesn’t have a GUIthat would allow you to use a mouse to navigate conveniently, so the opening, closing, editing and saving actions are all donevia keyboard shortcutslike you’d do on a terminal. While not having a GUI means it has more of a niche appeal, it is still one of the most flexible and powerful source code editors you can use today. There are also a lot ofpre-configured Vim configuration filesthat you can find on the net by just searching for.vimrc.If you want to take the time to learn about this incredibly powerful tool in more detail, you can go over toVim-Adventureswhere you can play an online game to learn about all the basic commands in a fun way.
Platforms:Windows, Linux, macOSDownload:(Free)
GNU Emacs are generally considered to be the world’s most extensible and customizable source code editors, and Spacemacs happens top be one of the most popular Emacs starter kits. As you’d already know by now, it is a free and open source text editorbased on GNU Emacsand, features both graphical and command-line UIs that are executable under X display manager as well as within the Unix terminal. The program brings the full power of theEmacs plugin ecosystem and the vi keybindings(via EViL), making it a powerful and versatile Sublime Text alternative. The software aids the productiveness of Vi users while allowing regular Emacs users to still use the software effectively.
Spacemacs uses thespace bar as a default leader key, which is where the program gets its name from. The syntax highlighting feature on Spacemacs is enabled by default for all major programming languages, and it is configurable manually through configuration files as well as via internal commands. For all its positives, the programcan be quite a bit glitchyat times. From annoying keybinding conflicts to non-functional LaTex support and substandard tab/workspace plugins, Spacemacs can be a bit much for some, but if you like your yak-shaving tasks, this could very well be the perfect project for you.
Platforms:Windows, Linux, Unix, macOSDownload:(Free)
Brackets is yet another example that free and open source software can also sometimes come from the biggest names in commercial software. Adobe, better known for expensivesoftware like Photoshopand Premier Pro, is the company behind this program which is licensed under the MIT License and is currently hosted on GitHub (repository). Brackets was specificallywritten for web developers in HTML, CSS and JavaScriptusing CodeMirror in a Node.js container. It is available on a number of platforms, including Windows, macOS and Linux.
Some of the notable features of Brackets includeQuick Edit, Live Preview, Split View and Theseus integration. In terms of language support, the software supports C, C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML, Python, Perl and Ruby, among others. Like Sublime Text, Brackets, too, supports extensions that can enhance the functionality of the software greatly, thanks to a built-in extension manager. One thing that needs to be mentioned here is that Brackets sends user data over to Adobe servers by default, but you can always turn it off if you want to, by going over to Help > Health Report.
Platforms:Windows, Linux, macOSDownload:(Free)
On its official website, Light Table describes itself as the“next-generation code editor”that aims to provide a flexible interface, real-time evaluation, instant execution, live visualization, debugging and documentation. Like many of the other software on the list and unlike Sublime Text, Light Table is a free and open source program that’s released under the MIT License. It’s iswritten in ClojureScriptwith a Node-Webkit wrapper, and though it started off as an environment for Clojure and ClojureScript, it has since added support for other programming languages, such as Python, JavaScript, HTML and CSS.
While Light Table has limited language support compared to Sublime Text, it does come with a a few nice touches, such as Auto-complete everywhere, split views and a command palette. It also comes with a good selection of themes, but one of the major negatives of the program is that you can’t view image files in it in spite of the fact that it’s based on a browser platform. Overall, Light Table is an interesting, relatively-new project that’slightweight and fast, but users do have a steep learning curve, which may be a problem for many given how its not as feature-rich as some of the other software above it on this list.
Platforms:Windows, Linux,macOSDownload:(Free)
UltraEdit is one of the most powerful and versatile text editors that you can get to replace Sublime Text. First of all, like Sublime Text, UltraEdit is available on three major platforms including macOS, Windows, and Linux. I love that the app is fully themeable. You canchoose built-in themes, themes created by the community, or create your own themes. When it comes to features, UltraEdit is second to none. It brings intuitive multi-caret editing along with multi-selection capabilities. It features a robust search engine that lets you search your code instantly.
Platform:Windows, macOS, and Linux
Download:(Free trial, $79.95/year)
If you are a macOS user who is looking for a cheaper Sublime Text alternative, look no further than TextMate. TextMate is a native macOS application that is rich in features. Unlike the other cross-platform options featured in this list, TextMate looks and behaves like a native macOS application. Talking about its features, it brings all the bells and whistles that you expect from a pro text editor.You get support for multiple carrots, robust search, version control, support for snippets, and macros,and more. This is one of the best text editors on the market right now.
Platform:macOS
Download:(Free trial, $52.88)
Eclipse is a free and open source (FOSS) source-code editor like most of the other entries on our list, but it is much more thanjusta source code editor. It is actually afull-fledged cross-platform IDE(Integrated Development Environment) that’s available on Windows, Linux, macOS and Solaris. The program itself is written mostly in Java and, started life as a Java environment for the most part, but thanks to alarge number of plugins and extensions, it now supports a wide array of programming languages, including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, COBOL, Fortran, JavaScript, PHP, Java and more. While Python isn’t supported out-of-the-box, the PyDev plugin gets the job done.
As for the features of this highly-popular IDE, it comes with a whole bunch of integrated debugging tools alongside Git/CVS support. The standard edition of Eclipse also comes with Java and Plugin Development Tooling. Developers can also choose from other packages that includetools for charting, modeling, reporting, testing and building GUIs. In case you’re interested in checking out the treasure trove of plugins available for the platform, you should go over to theEclipse Marketplace Clientthat allows users to install software directly from within an Eclipse installation.
Platforms:Windows, Linux, macOS, SolarisDownload:(Free)
While all of the source code editors and IDEs mentioned above are great Sublime Text alternatives for Windows, macOS and Linux because of the high levels of customization they offer, none of them are perfect if we’re being completely honest. They each have their own pros and cons, so ideally, you should give each one a try to see what works for you and what doesn’t. In case you’re already using or have used any of the programs mentioned above or think we’ve missed out on something that deserves to be on this list, do let us know in comment section below. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
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