Comparison of text editors

This article provides basic comparisons for common text editors. More feature details for text editors are available from the Category of text editor features and from the individual products' articles. This article may not be up-to-date or necessarily all-inclusive .

Feature comparisons are made between stable versions of software, not the upcoming versions or beta releases – and are exclusive of any add-ons, extensions or external programs (unless specified in footnotes).

Overview

List of text editors
Name	Creator	First public release	Latest stable version	Programming language used	Cost (US$)	Software license	Open source
Acme	Rob Pike	1993	Plan 9 and Inferno	C	Free	LPL (OSI approved)	Yes
AkelPad	Alexey Kuznetsov, Alexander Shengalts	2003	4.5.4	C	Free	BSD license	Yes
Alphatk	Vince Darley	1999	8.3.3		$40	Proprietary, with BSD components	No
Aquamacs	David Reitter	2005	2.1	C and Elisp	Free	GPL	Yes
BBEdit	Rich Siegel	1992-04	9.6.3		$125, $49 educational	Proprietary	No
Bluefish	Bluefish Development Team	1999	2.0.2	C	Free	GPL	Yes
Caditor	Caglow	2008	3.2.1	C#	Free	AFL	Yes
Coda^{[dubious – discuss]}	Panic, Inc.	2007	1.6.2		$99		No
ConTEXT	ConTEXT Project Ltd	1999	0.98.6	CodeGear Delphi	Free	BSD License	Yes
Crimson Editor	Ingyu Kang/ Emerald Editor Team	1999	3.72	C	Free	GPL	Yes
Diakonos	Pistos	2004	0.8.12	Ruby	Free	MIT	Yes
e	Alexander Stigsen	2005	1.0.30		Free
ed	Ken Thompson	1970	unchanged from original	C	Free	?	Yes
EditPad Lite	Just Great Software Co. Ltd.	2000	6.6.4	Delphi	Free	Proprietary	No
EditPad Pro	Just Great Software Co. Ltd.	2000	6.6.4	Delphi	$49.95	Proprietary	No
EditPlus	Sangil Kim	1998	3.12		$35	Shareware	No
EmEditor	Emurasoft, Inc.	1997	10.0.1		$39.99 (1-user)	Shareware	No
epsilon	Lugaru Software	1984	13.06	C	$250	proprietary	No
gedit	GNU Project	2000	2.32.0	C	Free	GPL	Yes
Geany	Enrico Tröger	2005	0.19.2	C and GTK2	Free	GPL	Yes
GNU Emacs	Richard Stallman	1984	23.2	C and Elisp	Free	GPL	Yes
Gobby	0x539 dev group	2005	0.4.12	C++	Free	GPL	Yes
JED	John E. Davis	1992	0.99-18	C	Free	GPL	Yes
jEdit	Slava Pestov	1998 (?)	4.3.2	Java	Free	GPL	Yes
JFE	Jens Altmann	2000	3.9		Free		No
JOE	Joseph Allen	1988	3.7	C	Free	GPL	Yes
Kate	KDE Project	2000-12	3.5.3	C++	Free	GPL	Yes
KEDIT	Mansfield Software Group, Inc.	1983	1.6		$129	proprietary	No
Komodo Edit	Activestate	open-sourced 2007	6	Python, JavaScript, Perl, Tcl, PHP, Ruby	Free	MPL, GPL, LGPL	Yes
Komodo IDE	Activestate	2007	6	Python, JavaScript, Perl, Tcl, PHP, Ruby	$295	Proprietary	No
KWrite	KDE Project	2000	4.4.5	C++	Free	GPL	Yes
LE	Alexander V. Lukyanov	1997	1.14.5	C++	Free	GPL	Yes
Metapad	Alexander Davidson	1999	3.51	C	Free	GPL	Yes
MinEd	Thomas Wolff	1992	2000.16	C	Free	GPL	Yes
MS-DOS Editor	Microsoft	1991	2.0.026		Bundled with MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows	Proprietary	No
Nano	Chris Allegretta	1999	2.2.5	C	Free	GPL	Yes
NEdit	Mark Edel	1991	5.5	C	Free	GPL	Yes
Notepad	Microsoft	1985	6.0		Bundled with Microsoft Windows	Proprietary	No
Notepad++	Don Ho	2003-11-25	5.8.5	C++	Free	GPL	Yes
Notepad2	Florian Balmer	2004-04	4.1.24	C++	Free	BSD license	Yes
NoteTab	Eric Fookes, Fookes Software	1995	6.20	CodeGear Delphi	Free, $10 Standard, $20 Pro	Proprietary	No
nvi	Keith Bostic	?	1.79	C	Free	BSD license	Yes
Pico	University of Washington	?	4.64		Free	Proprietary	No
PolyEdit	PolySoft Solutions	1998	5.0 Preview Release		$27.95	Shareware	No
Programmer's Notepad	Simon Steele	1998	2.2	C++	Free	BSD license	Yes
PSPad	Jan Fiala	2002	4.5.4	CodeGear Delphi	Free	Proprietary	No
Q10 (text editor)	Baara Estudio	?	1.2.21	?	Free	Proprietary	No
RJ TextEd	Rickard Johansson	2004	7.10	CodeGear Delphi	Free	Proprietary	No
RText	Fifesoft	2003	1.1.0	Java	Free	GPL	Yes
SciTE	Neil Hodgson	1999-03	2.21	C++	Free	HPND	Yes
skEdit	Sean Kelly, skti	2002	3.6.1		$24.95 for a Lifetime license	Proprietary	No
SlickEdit	SlickEdit, Inc.	1988	15.0.1	C and Slick-C	$299	Proprietary	No
Smultron	Peter Borg	2004	3.5.1	Objective-C	Free	Apache License	Yes
SubEthaEdit	TheCodingMonkeys	2003	3.5.2 (3294)		$35 for commercial use	Proprietary	No
TED Notepad	Juraj Simlovic	2001	5.4.2		Free	Freeware	No
TextEdit	Apple Inc.	2001	1.4		Bundled with Mac OS X	Proprietary	No
TextMate	MacroMates	2004-10-10	1.5.7	Objective-C++	€39	Proprietary, with MIT components	No
TextPad	Helios Software Solutions	1992	5.4.2		$30.00 (£16.50)	Shareware	No
TextWrangler	Bare Bones Software	2003	3.5.3		Free	Proprietary	No
The SemWare Editor	Sammy Mitchell	1985-11	4.4	C and SAL	$99	Proprietary	No
UltraEdit	IDM Computer Solutions	1994	16.10		$59.95	Proprietary	No
VEDIT	Ted Green, Greenview Data	1980	6.15.2	Assembly and C	standard $89 , Pro64 $239	Proprietary	No
Vim	Bram Moolenaar	1991	7.3	C and Vimscript	Free	GPL - compatible	Yes
XEmacs	Lucid Inc.	1991	21.4.22	C and Elisp	Free	GPL	Yes
Yi	Don Stewart	2005	0.6.2.2	Haskell	Free	GPL	Yes
Name	Creator	First public release	Latest stable version	Programming language used	Cost (US$)	Software license	Open source

Operating system support

This section lists the operating systems that different editors can run on. Some editors run on additional operating systems that are not listed.

Cross-platform text editors

Text editor support for various operating systems
	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	OpenVMS
Acme	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Alphatk	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bluefish	Partial ^[1]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Diakonos	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ed	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
epsilon	Yes	Yes^[2]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Geany	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
gedit	Yes	Yes ^[3]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gobby	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
JED	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
jEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
JOE	Partial ^[4]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Kate	Partial ^[5]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
KEDIT	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Komodo Edit	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
KWrite	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
LE	Partial ^[4]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
MinEd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Nano	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
NEdit	Partial ^[4]	Yes ^[6]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ne	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Notepad++	Yes	Partial ^[7]	Partial ^[7]	Partial ^[7]	Partial ^[7]	?
nvi	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Pico	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RText	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
SciTE	Yes	Yes ^[6]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
SlickEdit	Yes	Yes ^[6]	Yes	No	Yes	No
UltraEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Vim	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XEmacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Yi	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	OpenVMS

Java-based text editors

jEdit
RText

Windows-only text editors

Template:Multicol

Template:Multicol-break

Template:Multicol-end

Mac-only text editors

Natural language (localization)

Available languages for the UI
	English	German	French	Polish	Korean	Japanese	Italian	Dutch	Portuguese	Spanish	Swedish	Total
Acme	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
AkelPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	20
Alphatk	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Aquamacs	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
BBEdit	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
Bluefish	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	26
Caditor	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	3
ConTEXT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	22
Crimson Editor	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
Diakonos	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
e	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ed	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	0
EditPad Lite	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	10
EditPad Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	10
EditPlus	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	2
EmEditor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	12
epsilon	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
gedit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	82
Geany	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	21
GNU Emacs	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
Gobby	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
JED	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
jEdit	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
JOE	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	4
Kate	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	50 fully / 18 mostly [8]
KEDIT	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
Komodo Edit	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
KWrite	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	5
Metapad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	33 [9]
mined	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
MS-DOS Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	11
Nano	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	4
NEdit	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Notepad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	11
Notepad++	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	43
Notepad2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	6
NoteTab	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
nvi	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Pico	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	2
PolyEdit	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Programmer's Notepad	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PSPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	36
RJ TextEd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	18
Q10 (text editor)	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	6
RText	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	17
SciTE	Yes	Yes	Outdated (1.72)	Yes	?	Outdated (1.62)	Yes	Outdated (1.67)	Outdated (1.63)	Yes	Yes	39 [10]
skEdit	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SlickEdit	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Smultron	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	13
SubEthaEdit	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
TED Notepad	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
TextEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	18
TextMate	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
TextPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Outdated (4.7.3)	?	Yes	Outdated (4.7.3)	Outdated (4.7.3)	Outdated (4.7.3)	Outdated (4.7.3)	No	9
TextWrangler	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
The SemWare Editor	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
UltraEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	7
VEDIT	Yes	No	No	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
Vim	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	25
XEmacs	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Yi	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	1
	English	German	French	Polish	Korean	Japanese	Italian	Dutch	Portuguese	Spanish	Swedish	Total

Document interface

Text editor support for common document interfaces
	Multiple instances	Single document window splitting	MDI: Overlappable windows	MDI: Tabbed document interface	MDI: Window splitting
Acme	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
AkelPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alphatk	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aquamacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BBEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bluefish	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Caditor	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
ConTEXT	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Crimson Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Diakonos	Yes	No	No	No	No
e	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
ed	Yes	No	No	No	No
EditPad Lite	Yes	No	No	No	No
EditPad Pro	Yes	No	No	No	No
EditPlus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
EmEditor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Geany	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
gedit	Yes	Plugin ^[10]	Yes	Yes	Plugin ^[11]
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Plugin ^[12] ^[13]	Yes
Gobby	?	?	?	Yes	?
JED	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
jEdit	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
JOE	Yes	Yes	No	No^[14]	Yes
Kate	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
KEDIT	No	No	Yes	No	No
Komodo Edit	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
KWrite	Yes	No	No	No	No
LE	Yes	No	No	No	No
Metapad	Yes	No	No	No	No
mined	Yes	No	No ^[15]	No	No
MS-DOS Editor	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Nano	Yes	No	No	No	No
NEdit	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Notepad	Yes	No	No	No	No
Notepad++	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Notepad2	Yes	No	No	No	No
NoteTab	Yes	?	No	Yes	2 windows
nvi	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Pico	Yes	No	No	No	No
PolyEdit	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Programmer's Notepad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PSPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Q10 (text editor)	No	No	No	No	No
RJ TextEd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RText	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
SciTE	Yes	No	No	Yes ^[16]	No
skEdit	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
SlickEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Smultron	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
SubEthaEdit	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
TED Notepad	?	?	?	?	?
TextEdit	?	?	Yes	?	?
TextMate	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
TextPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextWrangler	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
The SemWare Editor	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
UltraEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VEDIT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vim	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[17]	Yes ^[18]	Yes
XEmacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Yi	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Multiple instances	Single document window splitting	MDI: Overlappable windows	MDI: Tabbed document interface	MDI: Window splitting

Notes

Multiple instances: multiple instances of the program can be opened simultaneously for editing multiple files. Applies both for SDI and MDI programs. Also applies for program that has a user interface that looks like multiple instances of the same program (such as some versions of Microsoft Word).
Single document window splitting: window can be split to simultaneously view different areas of a file.
MDI: Overlappable windows: each opened document gets its own fully movable window inside the editor environment.
MDI: Tabbed document interface: multiple documents can be viewed as tabs in a single window.
MDI: Window splitting: splitting application window to show multiple documents (non-overlapping windows).

Basic features

Text editor support for basic editing features
	Spell checking	Regex-based find & replace	Encoding conversion	Newline conversion	Multiple undo/redo	Rectangular block selection
Acme	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
AkelPad	Plugin	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alphatk	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aquamacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BBEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bluefish	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Caditor	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Coda	Yes	Some [11]	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
ConTEXT	No	Partial^[19]	Partial ^[20]	Yes	Yes	Yes
Crimson Editor	Instant/live (like Firefox)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Diakonos	Yes ^[21]	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
e	Plugin^[22]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ed	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
EditPad Lite	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
EditPad Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
EditPlus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
EmEditor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Geany	Plugin^[23]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
gedit	Yes ^[24]	Plugin^[25]	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gobby	?	?	?	?	?	?
JED	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
jEdit	Plugin^[26]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
JOE	Plugin^[27]	Partial^[28]	No^[29]	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kate	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
KEDIT	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Komodo Edit	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
KWrite	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
LE	No	Yes	No^[30]	Yes	Yes	Yes
Metapad	Partial^[31]	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
MinEd	No	Yes ^[32]	Yes ^[32]	Yes ^[33]	No	Yes
MS-DOS Editor	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Nano	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
	Spell checking	Regex-based find & replace	Encoding conversion	Newline conversion	Multiple undo/redo	Rectangular block selection
NEdit	Plugin^[34]	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Notepad	No	No	No	No	No	No
Notepad++	Plugin, on-demand only^[35]	Limited^[36]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Notepad2	No	Limited^[36]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
NoteTab	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
nvi	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	?
Pico	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	?
PolyEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Programmer's Notepad	No	Limited^[36]	Yes ^[37]	Yes ^[37]	Yes	Yes
PSPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Q10 (text editor)	?	?	?	?	?	?
RJ TextEd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RText	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
SciTE	No	Limited^[36]	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
skEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SlickEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Smultron	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SubEthaEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[38]
TED Notepad	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
TextEdit	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextMate	Yes	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextWrangler	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
The SemWare Editor	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
UltraEdit	Yes	Limited^[39]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VEDIT	Plugin^[40]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vim	Yes ^[41]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XEmacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Yi	?	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes
	Spell checking	Regex-based find & replace	Encoding conversion	Newline conversion	Multiple undo/redo	Rectangular block selection

Programming features

Text editor support for programming features (see source code editor)
	Syntax highlighting	Function list	Symbol database (ctags or equiv.)	Brace matching	Auto indentation	Auto completion	Code folding	Text folding	Compiler integration
Acme	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
AkelPad	Plugin	Plugin	Plugin	Plugin	Yes	Plugin	Plugin	No	Plugin
Alphatk	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aquamacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BBEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bluefish	Yes	?	?	Yes^[42]	Yes	Yes	Yes^[42]	No	Yes^[43]
Caditor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
ConTEXT	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Crimson Editor	Yes	No	Partial ^[44]	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Diakonos	Yes	?	Partial	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
e	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ed	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
EditPad Lite	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
EditPad Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
EditPlus	Yes	Yes^[45]	Partial ^[44]	Yes	Yes	Yes^[46]	Yes	Yes	Yes
EmEditor	Yes	Plugin	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Plugin ^[47]	Yes	Yes	Yes
Geany	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[48]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	Yes
gedit	Yes	Plugin	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Plugin	No	Plugin^[49]	Yes^[50]
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gobby	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
JED	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
jEdit	Yes	Plugin	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Plugin
JOE	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	Yes
Kate	Yes	Plugin	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Plugin
KEDIT	Yes	?	Macro	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Komodo Edit	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
KWrite	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
LE	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No^[51]
Metapad	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
mined	Yes ^[52]	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
MS-DOS Editor	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Nano	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
	Syntax highlighting	Function list	Symbol database (ctags or equiv.)	Bracket matching	Auto indentation	Auto completion	Code folding	Text folding	Compiler integration
NEdit	Yes	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Plugin	No	No	Yes
Notepad	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Notepad++	Yes	Plugin	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[53]	Yes	Yes	Yes
Notepad2	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
NoteTab	Partial ^[54]	?	?	No	?	Yes	?	?	Yes
nvi	No	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Pico	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
PolyEdit	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Programmer's Notepad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[55]	Yes ^[55]	Yes	Yes ^[55]	Yes	Yes ^[55]
PSPad	Yes	Yes	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Q10 (text editor)	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
RJ TextEd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes^{[citation needed]}	Yes^{[citation needed]}
RText	Yes	plugin	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
SciTE	Yes	No ^[56]	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
skEdit	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
SlickEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Smultron	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
SubEthaEdit	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
TED Notepad	No	?	?	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
TextEdit	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
TextMate	Yes	Yes	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[57]	Yes	Yes	No
TextPad	Yes	No	Plugin ^[58]	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
TextWrangler	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Plugin ^[59]
The SemWare Editor	Yes	Yes	Plugin ^[60]	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[61]	Partial ^[62]	No	Yes
UltraEdit	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[63]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VEDIT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[64]	No	No	Yes
Vim	Yes	Plugin ^[65]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
XEmacs	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Yi	Yes ^[66]	No	Yes ^[67]	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
	Syntax highlighting	Function list	Symbol database (ctags or equiv.)	Bracket matching	Auto indentation	Auto completion	Code folding	Text folding	Compiler integration

Notes

Syntax highlighting: Displays text in different colors and fonts according to the category of terms.
Function list: Lists all functions from current file in a window or sidebar and allows user to jump directly to the definition of that function for example by double-clicking on the function name in the list. More or less realtime (does not require creating a symbol database, see below).
Symbol database: Database of functions, variable and type definitions, macro definitions etc. in all the files belonging to the software being developed. The database can be created by the editor itself or by an external program such as ctags. The database can be used to instantly locate the definition even if it is in another file.
Bracket matching: Find matching parenthesis or bracket, taking into account nesting.
Auto indentation: May refer to just simple indenting to the same level as the line above, or intelligent indenting that is language specific. (Needs clarification?)
Compiler integration: Allows running compilers/linkers/debuggers from within editor, capturing the compiler output and stepping through errors, automatically moving cursor to corresponding location in the source file.

Extra features

Text editor support for other programming features
	Text shell integration	Graphical shell integration	Macro language	Collaborative editing	Large file support	Multi-line regex support^[68]
Acme	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	Yes
AkelPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	memory	Plugin
Alphatk	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[69]	No	?	?
Aquamacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	? yes	Yes
BBEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[70]	No	memory ^[71]	Yes
Bluefish	No	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes
Caditor	?	?	?	?	?	?
ConTEXT	No	Yes	Yes	No	memory ^[72]	No
Crimson Editor	No	Yes	Yes	No	? no	No
Diakonos	No	No	Yes	No	?	Yes
e	Yes	Yes	No^[73]	Yes	? yes	Yes
ed	No	No	No	No	?	?
EditPad Lite	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
EditPad Pro	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
EditPlus	?	Yes	Yes	No	memory	Yes
EmEditor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Geany	Yes	?	?	?	?	?
gedit	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[74]	Plugin	?	No
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No (512 MB) ^[75]	Yes
Gobby	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
JED	Yes	No	Yes	No	memory ^[76]	?
jEdit	Yes	No	Yes	No	No (heap) ^[77]	Yes
JOE	Yes	No	Yes	No	? yes	?
Kate	Yes	Yes	No	No	No ^[78]	No
KEDIT	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	? yes	Yes
Komodo Edit	?	?	Yes	No	?	Yes
KWrite	No	No	No	No	No ^[78]	No
LE	Yes	No	No	No^[79]	memory ^[80]	Yes
Metapad	Yes	Yes	No	No	memory ^[81]	?
mined	?	?	?	?	?	Yes
MS-DOS Editor	No	No	No	No	No (~300 KB)	No
Nano	Yes	No	No	No	?	?
	Text shell integration	Graphical shell integration	Macro language	Collaborative editing	Large file support	Multi-line regex support^[68]
NEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	? no	Yes
Notepad	Yes	Yes	No	No	memory	No
Notepad++	Yes	Yes	Yes	with plugin	No ^[82]	No
Notepad2	No	No	No	No	memory ^[83]	No
NoteTab	?	?	Yes	?	? no	Yes^[84]
nvi	Yes	No	No	?	?	?
Pico	?	?	?	No	?	?
PolyEdit	Yes	Yes	No	No	? yes	Yes
Programmer's Notepad	No	No	Yes ^[74]	No	slow ^[85]	No
PSPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	memory ^[86]	with plugin
Q10 (text editor)	?	?	?	?	?	?
RJ TextEd	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
RText	No	No	Yes	No	? no	Yes
SciTE	?	?	Yes	No	?	No
skEdit	Yes	Yes	No	Yes ^[87]	?	?
SlickEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	2 GB	Yes
Smultron	?	?	?	?	?	?
SubEthaEdit	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes
TED Notepad	Yes	Yes	No	No	? no	?
TextEdit	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	?
TextMate	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	? no	Yes
TextPad	No	Yes	Yes	No	memory ^[88]	Yes
TextWrangler	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	memory ^[71]	Yes
The SemWare Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	2 GB	No
UltraEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
VEDIT	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Vim	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
XEmacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No (256M) ^[75]	Yes
	Text shell integration	Graphical shell integration	Macro language	Collaborative editing	Large file support	Multi-line regex support^[68]

Large file support:

Yes	= Larger than 4GB (LFS)	2GB	= Up to 2GB (or 4GB), not limited by memory
memory	= Limited by available memory	No (64k)	= Some limit less than available memory (give max size if known)

In general, most text editors do not support large text files. Some restrict themselves to available in-core RAM while others use sophisticated virtual memory management techniques and paging algorithms.^[89]

Key bindings

Support for custom key bindings.

Text editor support for key bindings.
	Dynamically customizable	Mac OS X	Vi	Emacs	Pico
Acme	No	No	No	No	No
AkelPad	Yes	?	?	?	?
Alphatk	?	?	?	?	?
Aquamacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
BBEdit^[90]^[91]	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?
Bluefish	Yes	?	?	?	?
Caditor	?	?	?	?	?
ConTEXT	?	?	?	?	?
Crimson Editor	?	?	?	?	?
Diakonos	Yes	?	?	?	?
e	?	?	?	?	?
ed	No	No	No	No	No
EditPad Lite	No	No	No	No	No
EditPad Pro	Yes	No	No	No	No
EditPlus	Yes	?	?	?	?
EmEditor	Yes	?	?	?	?
Geany	Yes	?	?	?	?
gedit	Yes^[92]	?	?	?	?
GNU Emacs	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Gobby	?	?	?	?	?
JED	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?
jEdit	Yes	?	?	?	?
JOE	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
LE	Yes	?	No	?	?
Kate	Yes	?	Yes ^[93]	?	?
KEDIT	Yes	No	No	No	No
Komodo Edit	Yes	?	Yes	?	?
KWrite	Yes	?	?	?	?
Metapad	?	?	?	?	?
mined	?	?	?	Yes	?
MS-DOS Editor	No	No	No	No	No
Nano	Yes	?	?	?	Yes
NEdit	Yes	?	?	?	?
Notepad	No	No	No	No	No
Notepad++	Yes	?	?	?	?
Notepad2	No	No	No	No	No
NoteTab	?	?	?	?	?
nvi	?	?	Yes	?	?
Pico	?	?	No	No	Yes
PolyEdit	?	?	?	?	?
Programmer's Notepad	Yes	?	?	?	?
PSPad	Yes	?	?	?	?
Q10 (text editor)	?	?	?	?	?
RJ TextEd	Yes	?	?	?	?
RText	Yes	?	?	?	?
SciTE	Partial^[94]	?	No	No	No
skEdit	?	?	?	?	?
SlickEdit	?	?	Yes	Yes	?
Smultron	?	?	?	?	?
SubEthaEdit	?	?	?	?	?
TED Notepad	?	?	?	?	?
TextEdit	No	Yes	No	No	No
TextMate	?	Yes	No	No	No
TextPad	Yes	?	?	?	?
TextWrangler^[90]^[95]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
The SemWare Editor	Yes	?	?	?	?
UltraEdit	Yes	No	?	?	?
VEDIT	Yes	No	No ^[96]	No	No
Vim	Yes	?	Yes ^[97]	Partial ^[98]	?
XEmacs	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?
YI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Dynamically customizable	Standard Mac OS X	Vi	Emacs	Pico

Protocol support

Native internal support for editing files over a network or the internet.

Text editor support for remote file editing over Internet Protocols
	FTP	HTTP	SSH	WebDAV
Acme	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AkelPad	No	No	No	No
Alphatk	Yes	No	No	Yes
Aquamacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[99]
BBEdit	Yes	No	Yes	No
Bluefish	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Caditor	Yes	No	No	No
Coda	FTP, SFTP, FTP+SSL	?	Yes	Yes
ConTEXT	No	?	No	?
Crimson Editor	Yes	No	No	No
Diakonos	No	No	No	No
e	Yes	No	No	No
ed	No	No	No	No
EditPad Lite	Yes	No	No	No
EditPad Pro	Yes	No	No	No
EditPlus	Yes	No	No	No
EmEditor	No	No	No	No
Geany	No	No	No	No
gedit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gobby	?	?	?	?
JED	No	No	No	No
jEdit	Plugin^[100]	Yes ^[101]	No	Plugin.
JOE	No	No	No	No
LE	No	No	No	No
Kate	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
KEDIT	No	No	No	No
Komodo IDE	SFTP	No	Yes	No
KWrite	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Metapad	No	No	No	No
mined	?	?	?	?
MS-DOS Editor	No	No	No	No
Nano	No	No	Yes	No
	FTP	HTTP	SSH	WebDAV
NEdit	No	No	No	No
Notepad	No	No	No	No
Notepad++	Plugin for FTP, FTPS, FTPES, SFTP	No	No	No
Notepad2	No	No	No	No
NoteTab	No	?	No	?
nvi	No	No	No	No
Pico	No	No	No	No
PolyEdit	No	No	No	No
Programmer's Notepad	No	No	No	No
PSPad	Yes	No	No	No
Q10 (text editor)	?	?	?	?
RJ TextEd	FTP, SFTP	No	Yes	No
RText	No	No	No	No
SciTE	No	No	No	No
skEdit	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
SlickEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Smultron	Yes	?	?	?
SubEthaEdit	Yes	No	No	No
TED Notepad	No	?	No	?
TextEdit	No	No	No	No
TextMate	Yes ^[99]	No	No	No
TextPad	No	No	No	No
TextWrangler	FTP,SFTP	No	Yes	No
The SemWare Editor	No	No	No	No
UltraEdit	Yes	No	Yes	No
VEDIT	Yes	No	No	No
Vim	Plugin ^[102]	Plugin ^[102]	Plugin ^[102]	Plugin ^[102]
XEmacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Yi	No	No	No	No
	FTP	HTTP	SSH	WebDAV

Unicode and other character encodings

To support specified character encoding, the editor must be able to load, save, view and edit text in the specific encoding and not destroy any characters. For UTF-8 and UTF-16, this requires internal 16-bit character support.

Partial support is indicated if: 1) the editor can only convert the character encoding to internal (8 bit) format for editing. 2) If some encodings are supported only in some platforms. 3) If the editor can only display specific character set (such as OEM) by loading corresponding font, but does not support keyboard entry for that character set.

Text editor support for some of the most common character encodings
	ASCII	ISO-8859	DOS (OEM)	EBCDIC	UTF-8	UTF-16
Acme	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	No
AkelPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alphatk	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
Aquamacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
BBEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bluefish	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?
Caditor	?	?	?	?	?	?
ConTEXT	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[103]	No	No	No
Crimson Editor	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[103]	No	Partial	No
Diakonos	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?
e	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
ed	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	No
EditPad Lite	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
EditPad Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
EditPlus	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
EmEditor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Geany	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
gedit	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gobby	?	?	?	?	?	?
JED	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No
jEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
JOE	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
LE	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	No
Kate	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes
KEDIT	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[103]	No	No	No
Komodo Edit	?	?	?	?	Yes	?
KWrite	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
Metapad	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[103]	No	Yes	Yes
mined	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
MS-DOS Editor	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?
Nano	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	No
	ASCII	ISO-8859	DOS (OEM)	EBCDIC	UTF-8	UTF-16
NEdit	Yes	?	?	?	No	No
Notepad	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[103]	No	Yes	Yes
Notepad++	Yes	Yes	Yes	plugin	Yes	Yes
Notepad2	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
NoteTab	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[104]	Partial ^[104]
nvi	Yes	?	?	?	Yes ^[105]	No
Pico	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
PolyEdit	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
Programmer's Notepad	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
PSPad	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
Q10 (text editor)	?	?	?	?	?	?
RJ TextEd	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RText	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes^[106]	Yes	Yes
SciTE^[107]	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
skEdit	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
SlickEdit	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
Smultron	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
SubEthaEdit	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
TED Notepad	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes
TextEdit	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes
TextMate	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes
TextPad	Yes	?	?	?	Partial ^[108]	Partial ^[108]
TextWrangler	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
The SemWare Editor	Yes	Yes ^[109]	Partial ^[103]	plugin	No	No
UltraEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VEDIT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial ^[110]
Vim	Yes	Yes	Yes	No ^[111]	Yes	Yes
XEmacs	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes ^[112]	Yes
Yi	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	No
	ASCII	ISO-8859	DOS (OEM)	EBCDIC	UTF-8	UTF-16

Right-to-left and bidirectional text

Support for right to left (RTL) texts (like Hebrew, Arabic, Persian) and the mixture of left to right (LTR) and RTL known as bidirectional (bidi) support.

Depending on the algorithm used in the programs they might only render the bidirectional text correctly but may not be able to edit them. (e.g. Notepad++ 5.1.3 shows bidirectional texts correctly but you cannot edit it and you should change the window direction to be able to edit right to left texts correctly.)

Right to left (RTL) & bidirectional (bidi) support
	Right-to-left (RTL)	Bi-directional (Bidi)
Acme	No	No
AkelPad	No	No
Alphatk	?	?
Aquamacs	?	?
BBEdit	No	No
Bluefish	?	?
Caditor	?	?
ConTEXT	?	?
Crimson Editor	?	?
Diakonos	?	?
e	?	?
ed	?	?
EditPad Lite	No	No
EditPad Pro	No	No
EditPlus	?	?
EmEditor	No	No
Geany	?	?
gedit	Yes	Yes
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes
Gobby	?	?
JED	?	?
jEdit	?	?
JOE	?	?
LE	?	?
Kate	?	?
KEDIT	No	No
Komodo Edit	?	?
KWrite	?	?
Metapad	?	?
MS-DOS Editor	?	?
mined	?	?
Nano	?	?
	RTL	Bidi
NEdit	?	?
Notepad	Yes	Yes
Notepad++	Yes	No
Notepad2	No	No
NoteTab	?	?
nvi	?	?
Pico	?	?
PolyEdit	?	?
Programmer's Notepad	?	?
PSPad	?	?
Q10	?	?
RJ TextEd	Yes	Yes
RText	?	?
SciTE	?	?
skEdit	?	?
SlickEdit	?	?
Smultron	?	?
SubEthaEdit	Yes	Yes
TED Notepad	?	?
TextEdit	?	?
TextMate	?	?
TextPad	?	?
TextWrangler	?	?
The SemWare Editor	No	No
UltraEdit	No	No
VEDIT	?	?
Vim	Yes	No
XEmacs	?	?
Yi	?	?
	RTL	Bidi

Newline support

Text editor support for newline character sequence support
	Windows (CR/LF)	Unix (LF)	Mac (CR)
Acme	No	Yes	No
AkelPad	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alphatk	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aquamacs	Yes	Yes	Yes
BBEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bluefish	Yes	Yes	Yes
Caditor	Yes	Yes	Yes
ConTEXT	Yes	Yes	Yes
Crimson Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes
Diakonos	?	Yes	?
e	Yes	Yes	Yes
ed	No	Yes	No
EditPad Lite	Yes	Yes	Yes
EditPad Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes
EditPlus	Yes	Yes	Yes
EmEditor	Yes	Yes	Yes
Geany	Yes	Yes	Yes
gedit	Yes	Yes	Yes
GNU Emacs	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gobby	Yes	Yes	Yes
JED	Yes	Yes	Yes
jEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
JOE	Yes	Yes	?
LE	Yes	Yes	No
Kate	Yes	Yes	Yes
KEDIT	Yes	Yes	Yes
Komodo Edit	Yes	Yes	?
KWrite	Yes	Yes	Yes
Metapad	Yes	Yes	?
MS-DOS Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes
mined	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nano	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Windows (CR/LF)	Unix (LF)	Mac (CR)
NEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Notepad	Yes	No	No
Notepad++	Yes	Yes	Yes
Notepad2	Yes	Yes	Yes
NoteTab	Yes	Yes	Yes
nvi	?	Yes	?
Pico	?	Yes	?
PolyEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Programmer's Notepad	Yes	Yes	Yes
PSPad	Yes	Yes	Yes
Q10 (text editor)	Yes	Yes	Yes
RJ TextEd	Yes	Yes	Yes
RText	Yes	Yes	Yes
SciTE	Yes	Yes	Yes
skEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
SlickEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Smultron	Yes	Yes	Yes
SubEthaEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
TED Notepad	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextMate	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextPad	Yes	Yes	Yes
TextWrangler	Yes	Yes	Yes
The SemWare Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes
UltraEdit	Yes	Yes	Yes
VEDIT	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vim	Yes	Yes	Yes
XEmacs	Yes	Yes	Yes
Yi	?	Yes	?
	Windows (CR/LF)	Unix (LF)	Mac (CR)

References

^ Bluefish runs on Windows using Cygwin; native win32 port in progress.
^ Epsilon version 13
^ GEdit, when installed from MacPorts, runs in X11 and, therefore, does not have a native look and feel. However, precompiled native Mac OS X binaries for GEdit may be downloaded from the GEdit project page, or from the GEdit FTP download server.
^ ^a ^b ^c Requires Cygwin to run on Windows.
^ Does Kate/KWrite run on windows?Kate and KWrite run on Windows using cygwin.
^ ^a ^b ^c gedit, NEdit, SciTE, and SlickEdit run in the X11 window environment, and therefore do not use the native Aqua look-and-feel when running on Mac OS X.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Notepad++ runs on Linux, Unix, BSD and Mac OS X using Wine. [1].
^ ^a ^b Notepad, Notepad++, and Notepad2 run flawlessly on Linux and Mac OS X, via Wine. See Notepad++ on the WineHQ Application Database for more information.
^ The SemWare Editor (TSE): Linux beta version in progress.
^ gedit supports single document window splitting via plugins. [2].
^ gedit supports multiple document window splitting via plugins. [3].
^ GNU Emacs can use a tabbed document interface in a non OS-native way, using the tabbar plug-in.
^ GNU Emacs can support a tabbed document interface modelled after GNU Screen using the elscreen package.
^ JOE supports editing multiple files but only seeing one of them, and switching to others via Ctrl+K+N, which is functionally equivalent to having tabs but no visible tab bar.
^ mined supports Copy/Paste between multiple documents in separate windows, when these documents are in separate terminal windows
^ SciTE has a maximum number of buffers, which can only be set as high as 100.
^ Vim Provided GVim is used.
^ Vim version 7 supports a tabbed document interface. Earlier versions can emulate tabs through scripts, for example TabBar.
^ ConTEXT does not support regular expression backreferences in its search and replace function.[4]
^ ConTEXT only supports converting text to UTF-16. Also, it can only use one type of new-line format if converting to UTF-16.
^ Diakonos supports spell checking by calling the external program aspell.
^ e supports spell checking via a bundle command available at the e Bundles repository.
^ Geany supports spell checking via a plugin, but not for Windows at the moment.
^ gedit supports spell checking via a plugin, which is distributed with gedit.
^ gedit supports Regex-based find & replace via plugins ([5].
^ jEdit supports spell checking via an external plugin.
^ JOE supports spell checking via the ispell or aspell external plugins.
^ JOE uses a non-standard regular expression syntax.
^ JOE can easily pipe text through the GNU recode(1) utility; it detects locale settings and allows editing in any encoding set up by the environment.
^ LE can pipe text through the GNU recode(1) utility
^ Metapad spell checking by calling external program Aspell.
^ ^a ^b mined supports multiple lines in search and replacement expressions. Cite error: The named reference "minedEncoding" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ mined supports new-line conversion via a command-line option. Files with mixed newline types can be edited transparently; different kinds of new-line have different visual indications.
^ NEdit supports spell checking via a plugin
^ Notepad++ supports spell checking via the aspell plugin. Spell checking can only be done on-demand, as opposed to instantly by underlining misspelled words.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Scintilla-based editors such as SciTE, Programmer's Notepad, Notepad2 and Notepad++ do not support alternation (|) in regular expressions. Cite error: The named reference "Scintilla_regex" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Programmer's Notepad 2.
^ SubEthaEdit supports advanced block editing, including multi-line typing and non-contiguous block selections.
^ UltraEdit uses the Boost C++ regex library. While Boost supports backreferences past \9 with \g{10}, UltraEdit has not yet implemented this feature.
^ VEDIT spell checking: Macro package for integrating Aspell can be downloaded here. There is also Scribe spelling checker which has been written entirely in Vedit macro language.
^ Vim version 7 supports spell checking natively. Earlier versions require a script shown here.
^ ^a ^b bluefish: In the 1.1 development series only.
^ bluefish: Configurable via the outputbox feature.
^ ^a ^b With external tool OpenCTags
^ editplus: Opens in a window, not really integrated.
^ editplus: Enabled by editing the corresponding .acp file.
^ EmEditor Professional supports Auto Complete via plugins (32-bit or 64-bit).
^ Geany uses its own tags file format, not compatible with ctags, see the manual.
^ gedit-folding: Folding plugin for Gedit
^ gedit: Compiler integration: Functionality in plugins installed with gedit.
^ make can be launched from the LE text editor, but the output is not captured
^ mined: Syntax highlighting: HTML/XML, Javascript, JSP.
^ Notepad++: Auto complete: Supported via supplied/user-created lists.
^ NoteTab: Syntax highlighting only for html documents and NoteTab clip/scripts.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Programmer's Notepad 2
^ Function list(and stuff) avaliable in Ru-Board build, ver 1.79.66Ru and later
^ TextMate: Auto complete: Supported language bundles
^ Textpad uses an add-on (http://www.textpad.com/add-ons/)
^ TextWrangler can integrate with a compiler if you write a shell script that takes flag input of the code and compiles it. You place this in ~/Library/Application Support/TextWrangler/Unix Support/Unix Filters/. It should show in the #! menu.
^ TSE uses a macro http://www.semware.com/html/tseprofiles.php
^ The Semware Editor: Auto complete: Supported via supplied/user-created lists.
^ The Semware Editor: Text folding: Compressed view possible.
^ Not in the Linux version.
^ Vedit: Auto complete: Template editing, plus 3rd party macro for expanding symbols from tags database.
^ Vim has a popular TagList plugin that provides a function list.
^ unlike most editors that use regexps or ad hoc parsing, Yi" uses a algorithm of incremental parsing to dynamically update the syntax highlighiting
^ currently supports only haskell with hasktags -c
^ ^a ^b ^c Multi-line regex support Support for expressions spanning several lines (e.g. "\n\n(.+)\n\n")
^ Alpha Macro support via AppleScript, Tcl or text factories.
^ BBEdit Macro support via AppleScript, Perl, Python, shell scripts or text factories.
^ ^a ^b BBEdit and TextWrangler are technically capable of any size file, but limited practically by RAM and OS X limitation to files ≤ 384mb. Cf. BBEdit FAQ Entry 36.
^ ConTEXT claims Large File Support but load time is proportional to file size and a 1GB file gave an Out of Memory error.
^ e Macro support via Cygwin and languages like Ruby, Python, or Perl.
^ ^a ^b Cssed Macro support via Python.
^ ^a ^b [6]
^ JED Editor
^ jEdit: Limited by Java heap size. jedit-users forum
^ ^a ^b kwrite-devel, Large Files open slowly due to futile Syntax-Highlighting
^ LE text editor locks the file and warns if someone else has changed the file
^ LE text editor can view and edit large files or their parts in mmap-shared mode
^ metapad FAQ, Loading Large Files
^ Question Defense, Windows: File Is To Big To Be Opened By NotePad++, Use Wordpad As Alternative
^ Notepad2 -- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
^ NoteTab: Standard and Pro versions only.
^ Programmer's Notepad LFS, but not optimized. Editing is too slow to be useful.
^ PSPad Forum
^ skEdit Macro support via SCM plugins.
^ mozillaZine: Edit large mbox files
^ Comparison of Windows Text Editors for Large Files: Text editors for large files
^ ^a ^b Bare Bones Software | BBEdit Comparison Chart
^ Bare Bones Software | Features (BBEdit)
^ It is possible to customize all Gedit shortcuts because it is Gtk based.
^ Kate supports an optional VI Input Mode.
^ In SciTE, custom keystrokes may be assigned to Lua scripts, external programs or lexers (highlighters).
^ Bare Bones Software | Features (TextWrangler
^ Vedit: Old Unix and QNX versions could emulate Vi 100%. Windows version doesn't come with vi emulation.
^ Vim emulates vi keys fully when in 'compatible' mode
^ Vim With a script such as Vimacs
^ ^a ^b Aquamacs Supported via a Mac OS X mounted volume.
^ jEdit FTP and SFTP are supported via the FTP plugin.
^ jEdit: "HTTP is supported natively"
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Vim Supported via netrw plugin distributed in the standard Vim installation.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f when choosing e.g. Terminal font
^ ^a ^b Although NoteTab is not a native Unicode editor, you can open, edit, convert, and save such files reliably as long as all the text fits within a single ANSI code page supported by Windows.
^ nvi Gentoo
^ RText supports EBCDIC n z/OS and anywhere with a JVM that supports it
^ SciTE can open files in UTF or one single-byte encoding specified in a configuration file.
^ ^a ^b TextPad can load and save UTF-8 and UTF-16 text files, but cannot use or even preserve characters outside of the system encoding. [7]
^ when choosing e.g. New Courier font
^ Vedit can convert UTF-16 files to Windows character set and back.
^ Vim supports EBCDIC when compiled on a system that uses the EBCDIC character set.
^ from version 21.5.29

External links

"GNU Emacs manual". GNU Emacs Manual 14th edition. Retrieved March 11, 2005. "The Emacs Editor"
Quick reference card for TextPad
TED Notepad Manual
BBEdit 9.5 User Manual
EmEditor 10.0 User Manual

[bluefishWindows-1] Bluefish runs on Windows using Cygwin; native win32 port in progress.

[epsilon13-2] Epsilon version 13

[3] GEdit, when installed from MacPorts, runs in X11 and, therefore, does not have a native look and feel. However, precompiled native Mac OS X binaries for GEdit may be downloaded from the GEdit project page, or from the GEdit FTP download server.

[cygwin-4] Requires Cygwin to run on Windows.

[KWriteWindows-5] Does Kate/KWrite run on windows?Kate and KWrite run on Windows using cygwin.

[geditOSX-6] gedit, NEdit, SciTE, and SlickEdit run in the X11 window environment, and therefore do not use the native Aqua look-and-feel when running on Mac OS X.

[Notepad++WINE-7] Notepad++ runs on Linux, Unix, BSD and Mac OS X using Wine. [1].

[NotepadEditorsWine-8] Notepad, Notepad++, and Notepad2 run flawlessly on Linux and Mac OS X, via Wine. See Notepad++ on the WineHQ Application Database for more information.

[theSemwareEditorLinux-9] The SemWare Editor (TSE): Linux beta version in progress.

[10] gedit supports single document window splitting via plugins. [2].

[11] gedit supports multiple document window splitting via plugins. [3].

[tabbar-12] GNU Emacs can use a tabbed document interface in a non OS-native way, using the tabbar plug-in.

[elscreen-13] GNU Emacs can support a tabbed document interface modelled after GNU Screen using the elscreen package.

[joetabs-14] JOE supports editing multiple files but only seeing one of them, and switching to others via Ctrl+K+N, which is functionally equivalent to having tabs but no visible tab bar.

[minedOW-15] mined supports Copy/Paste between multiple documents in separate windows, when these documents are in separate terminal windows

[SciTE_max_buffers-16] SciTE has a maximum number of buffers, which can only be set as high as 100.

[vimOV-17] Vim Provided GVim is used.

[vimTDI-18] Vim version 7 supports a tabbed document interface. Earlier versions can emulate tabs through scripts, for example TabBar.

[ConTEXT_regex-19] ConTEXT does not support regular expression backreferences in its search and replace function.[4]

[ConTEXT_Character_Encoding-20] ConTEXT only supports converting text to UTF-16. Also, it can only use one type of new-line format if converting to UTF-16.

[diakonosSpellChecking-21] Diakonos supports spell checking by calling the external program aspell.

[eSpellChecking-22] supports spell checking via a bundle command available at the e Bundles repository.

[23] Geany supports spell checking via a plugin, but not for Windows at the moment.

[geditSpellChecking-24] gedit supports spell checking via a plugin, which is distributed with gedit.

[25] gedit supports Regex-based find & replace via plugins ([5].

[jeditSpellChecking-26] jEdit supports spell checking via an external plugin.

[joeSpellChecking-27] JOE supports spell checking via the ispell or aspell external plugins.

[joeRegexp-28] JOE uses a non-standard regular expression syntax.

[joeCharset-29] JOE can easily pipe text through the GNU recode(1) utility; it detects locale settings and allows editing in any encoding set up by the environment.

[LECharset-30] LE can pipe text through the GNU recode(1) utility

[metapadSpellChecking-31] Metapad spell checking by calling external program Aspell.

[minedEncoding-32] mined supports multiple lines in search and replacement expressions. Cite error: The named reference "minedEncoding" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[minedNewline-33] mined supports new-line conversion via a command-line option. Files with mixed newline types can be edited transparently; different kinds of new-line have different visual indications.

[neditSpellChecking-34] NEdit supports spell checking via a plugin

[nppSpellChecking-35] Notepad++ supports spell checking via the aspell plugin. Spell checking can only be done on-demand, as opposed to instantly by underlining misspelled words.

[Scintilla_regex-36] Scintilla-based editors such as SciTE, Programmer's Notepad, Notepad2 and Notepad++ do not support alternation (|) in regular expressions. Cite error: The named reference "Scintilla_regex" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[pn2-37] Programmer's Notepad 2.

[subEthaEditBlockEditing-38] SubEthaEdit supports advanced block editing, including multi-line typing and non-contiguous block selections.

[UERegexp-39] UltraEdit uses the Boost C++ regex library. While Boost supports backreferences past \9 with \g{10}, UltraEdit has not yet implemented this feature.

[VeditSpellChecking-40] VEDIT spell checking: Macro package for integrating Aspell can be downloaded here. There is also Scribe spelling checker which has been written entirely in Vedit macro language.

[vimSpellChecking-41] Vim version 7 supports spell checking natively. Earlier versions require a script shown here.

[bluefish-unstable2-42] bluefish: In the 1.1 development series only.

[bluefish-unstable3-43] bluefish: Configurable via the outputbox feature.

[openctags-44] With external tool OpenCTags

[editplus-unstable1-45] editplus: Opens in a window, not really integrated.

[editplus-unstable3-46] editplus: Enabled by editing the corresponding .acp file.

[47] EmEditor Professional supports Auto Complete via plugins (32-bit or 64-bit).

[geanytags-48] Geany uses its own tags file format, not compatible with ctags, see the manual.

[gedit-folding-49] t-folding: Folding plugin for Gedit

[geditPlugin-50] gedit: Compiler integration: Functionality in plugins installed with gedit.

[51] make can be launched from the LE text editor, but the output is not captured

[minedHighlighting-52] mined: Syntax highlighting: HTML/XML, Javascript, JSP.

[notepadPPAutoComplete-53] Notepad++: Auto complete: Supported via supplied/user-created lists.

[54] NoteTab: Syntax highlighting only for html documents and NoteTab clip/scripts.

[pn2ProgrammingFeatures-55] Programmer's Notepad 2

[SciTE_function_list-56] Function list(and stuff) avaliable in Ru-Board build, ver 1.79.66Ru and later

[textmateAutoComplete-57] TextMate: Auto complete: Supported language bundles

[TextpadCtagList-58] Textpad uses an add-on (http://www.textpad.com/add-ons/)

[TextWranglerCompilerIntgn-59] TextWrangler can integrate with a compiler if you write a shell script that takes flag input of the code and compiles it. You place this in ~/Library/Application Support/TextWrangler/Unix Support/Unix Filters/. It should show in the #! menu.

[TseCtagList-60] TSE uses a macro http://www.semware.com/html/tseprofiles.php

[theSemwareEditorAutoComplete-61] The Semware Editor: Auto complete: Supported via supplied/user-created lists.

[theSemwareEditorTextFolding-62] The Semware Editor: Text folding: Compressed view possible.

[63] Not in the Linux version.

[veditAutoComplete-64] Vedit: Auto complete: Template editing, plus 3rd party macro for expanding symbols from tags database.

[vimFunctionList-65] Vim has a popular TagList plugin that provides a function list.

[YiSyntaxHighlighting-66] unlike most editors that use regexps or ad hoc parsing, Yi" uses a algorithm of incremental parsing to dynamically update the syntax highlighiting

[YyHasktags-67] urrently supports only haskell with hasktags -c

[multi_line_regex-68] Multi-line regex support Support for expressions spanning several lines (e.g. "\n\n(.+)\n\n")

[alphaMacro-69] Alpha Macro support via AppleScript, Tcl or text factories.

[bbeditMacro-70] BBEdit Macro support via AppleScript, Perl, Python, shell scripts or text factories.

[bbeditBigFile-71] BBEdit and TextWrangler are technically capable of any size file, but limited practically by RAM and OS X limitation to files ≤ 384mb. Cf. BBEdit FAQ Entry 36.

[contextBigFile-72] ConTEXT claims Large File Support but load time is proportional to file size and a 1GB file gave an Out of Memory error.

[eMacro-73] Macro support via Cygwin and languages like Ruby, Python, or Perl.

[pythonMacro-74] Cssed Macro support via Python.

[EmacsFSLimit-75] [6]

[76] JED Editor

[77] Edit: Limited by Java heap size. jedit-users forum

[kwrite_fs-78] write-devel, Large Files open slowly due to futile Syntax-Highlighting

[79] LE text editor locks the file and warns if someone else has changed the file

[80] LE text editor can view and edit large files or their parts in mmap-shared mode

[81] tapad FAQ, Loading Large Files

[82] Question Defense, Windows: File Is To Big To Be Opened By NotePad++, Use Wordpad As Alternative

[83] Notepad2 -- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

[Notetab_StdPro-84] NoteTab: Standard and Pro versions only.

[slowLFS-85] Programmer's Notepad LFS, but not optimized. Editing is too slow to be useful.

[86] PSPad Forum

[skEditMacro-87] skEdit Macro support via SCM plugins.

[MozillaZine-88] zillaZine: Edit large mbox files

[large_text_editors-89] Comparison of Windows Text Editors for Large Files: Text editors for large files

[barebones.com/products/bbedit/comparison-90] Bare Bones Software | BBEdit Comparison Chart

[91] Bare Bones Software | Features (BBEdit)

[92] It is possible to customize all Gedit shortcuts because it is Gtk based.

[kateVi-93] Kate supports an optional VI Input Mode.

[94] In SciTE, custom keystrokes may be assigned to Lua scripts, external programs or lexers (highlighters).

[95] Bare Bones Software | Features (TextWrangler

[veditViKeyBindins-96] Vedit: Old Unix and QNX versions could emulate Vi 100%. Windows version doesn't come with vi emulation.

[vimvibind-97] Vim emulates vi keys fully when in 'compatible' mode

[vimemacsbind-98] Vim With a script such as Vimacs

[osxvolume-99] Aquamacs Supported via a Mac OS X mounted volume.

[100] jEdit FTP and SFTP are supported via the FTP plugin.

[101] jEdit: "HTTP is supported natively"

[netrw-102] Vim Supported via netrw plugin distributed in the standard Vim installation.

[DosOemFont-103] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f when choosing e.g. Terminal font

[NoteTab_Unicode-104] Although NoteTab is not a native Unicode editor, you can open, edit, convert, and save such files reliably as long as all the text fits within a single ANSI code page supported by Windows.

[nviUTF8Gentoo-105] nvi Gentoo

[106] RText supports EBCDIC n z/OS and anywhere with a JVM that supports it

[107] SciTE can open files in UTF or one single-byte encoding specified in a configuration file.

[TextPad_Unicode-108] TextPad can load and save UTF-8 and UTF-16 text files, but cannot use or even preserve characters outside of the system encoding. [7]

[TseIso_8859_1-109] when choosing e.g. New Courier font

[Vedit_Unicode-110] Vedit can convert UTF-16 files to Windows character set and back.

[vim_ebcdic-111] Vim supports EBCDIC when compiled on a system that uses the EBCDIC character set.

[XEmacs_Unicode-112] rom version 21.5.29

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Overview

Operating system support

Cross-platform text editors

Java-based text editors

Windows-only text editors

Mac-only text editors

Natural language (localization)

Document interface

Notes

Basic features

Programming features

Notes

Extra features

Key bindings

Protocol support

Unicode and other character encodings

Right-to-left and bidirectional text

Newline support

See also

References

External links