Due to technological advancements and increased passion and love for coding best text editors are now needed the most. You must be well acquainted and using a text editor frequently if you are a code-loving person or if your work is based on that. For all those who don't know what a Text Editor is actually- it is a basic computer program that edits your code or text. It allows you to format them, has several functions and is used to have changes in your programming language. Due to the increased use of Mac we always search for the best text editor for Mac. The tech world has launched plenty of text editor for mac and advancements are made every day but choosing the best is tough.
Best Text Editors for Mac
Here's a list of 11 best text editor for MAC which will help you in your daily life. It will enhance your knowledge and make your day-to-day work easy.
1. Brackets
It is one of the best text editors for MAC in 2020. The app is easily accessible if you have the MIT License. It is designed by Adobe Systems. It was also launched by the same system. Its primary aim is web development. It is written in three programming languages i.e – JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The app was officially released on November 4, 2014. Since then it has been a popular text editor among others with nearly 100,000 downloads for each version.
It's a cross-platform text editor actually, but you can use it as a Mac text editor, smoothly. Sublime Text 2 is a paid tool but offers an unlimited evaluation period, making it free. Of course, from writing your creative notes — in minimal environment — to coding in PHP or Python, Sublime Text 2 can be used. Chocolat is a text editor app for Mac OS X, that combines native Cocoa with powerful text editing tools. Chocolat Native text editor for Mac. Markdown can be written using any text editor, markdown editors are powered by features like exporting, creating table, view and extended plug-ins which extend Markdown using rich and interesting features. Read Also: 10 Best HTML Text Editors for Your Mac.
Pros and cons
We think the current best free macOS/Mac OS X WYSIWYG HTML Editor is SeaMonkey, part of the lovely free and open source Mozilla Project. First, it's a completely free WYSIWYG editor and is part of a larger suite that includes its composer, an Internet browser, email & newsgroup client with an included web feed reader, HTML editor, IRC chat. Since you want to open 'a' text editor. It shouldn't be wrong if you use a command line text editor such as vim or vi. User vim filename. Looking at the other answers this might seem controversial. But as you work mostly inside the the terminal. Using vim or Gedit is the ideal choice.
- It allows quick edit. ✅
- Live preview (HTML, CSS editing function) available. ✅
- The Version 1.0 of Brackets allowed it's users to extract design information from a PSD file. This is not available due to its low usage. ❌
2. Text Wrangler
Text Wrangler was designed and launched by Bare Bones Software. It was originally launched in the tech world as a commercial product and later immerged as a text editor.
Pros and cons
- It lacks basic formatting options. ❌
- The style option is also unavailable. ❌
- It has found and replaces options; spells check and other important options among all. ✅
- It also provides several options for reformatting texts. ✅
3. Sublime Text
Sublime text works with the Python application programming interface. Supporting many programming languages, it emerged as the best text editor for Mac.
Pros and Cons
- Anyone can access it under a free software license.✅
- Allows project-specific preferences.❌
- Version 2 and 3 of the apps ensures several features like bracket highlighter, sidebar enhancements.✅
4. Espresso
Recently it is one of the most used and appreciated app making it the best text editor. It's productively level is amazing. Designed as extremely user-friendly it offers a real simplified text editing platform. More importantly, it's widely used because it saves a lot of time.
Movie editing programs for mac. Pros and Cons
- It is Highly Productive.✅
- Drag and drop feature is available in the new versions.✅
- It is really expensive and supports only MaC. ❌
5. Atom
Atom was designed and launched by GitHub. It supports JavaScript, CSS and it runs on the electron. The most interesting feature of this app is that it is customizable. If you want to add any extra feature you can add it easily in it. Added to that it is available free of cost and ensures you the best text editor experience.
Pros and cons
Mac Text Editor Built In
- It is free.✅
- It is customizable. ✅
- The use of a lot of packages to enhance the app can make it work slow.❌
6. BBEdit 13
Just like Text Wrangler, this app is also designed by Bare Bones Software. It is one of the oldest and most trusted and best text editor and more interestingly it also shares its craze among writers.
Pros and Cons
- Includes built-in tools for text manipulations.✅
- Other features and tools for fast text editing are available.❤️
- User-friendly✅
- It is expensive.❌
7. Coda 2
Coda 2 brings to your multiple features like find and replace, code folding among others. Its new version has launched a variety of features making it a widely chosen text editor for Mac.
It is also highly customizable as Atom.
Pros and Cons
- Enables a great search feature.✅
- It can be announced as a web developer's best choice.✅
- It is truly expensive.❌
- Lacks some features which can be customized though.❌
8. Visual studio code
The text editor was designed by Microsoft and is extremely packed with features. Some of its new features include built-in Git commands, IntelliSense, debugging and extensions. You can debug any code right from the editor. With its all-new updates, you can surely grab this as one of the best text editors in 2020.
Text Editor For Windows 10
Pros and cons Revit mac version.
- Slow at times.❌
- To make it rich in features you need to have a lot of plugins installed.❌
- Free app.✅
- Overall gives a good performance.✅
9. UltraEdit
It is a text editor for Microsoft Windows and Mac. It was created in 1994 by Ian.D. Mead. UltraEdit was initially launched as MEDIT and could run only on Windows 3.1. Further updates and versions made it popular and a text editor for Mac. It was renamed in version 14.00. The app takes nearly 100 MB of your disk space. It allows multi caret editing along with find and replace feature, editor themes, log file polling, project management, file encryption, and decryption.
Pros and Cons
- It includes UltraCompare professional features.✅
- Supports many languages.✅
- Fast experience.✅
- It is expensive.❌
10. Vim
You don't have enough budget but is in urgent need of a powerful text editor for Mac, just grab Vim. It is the perfect option for you.
- It lacks basic formatting options. ❌
- The style option is also unavailable. ❌
- It has found and replaces options; spells check and other important options among all. ✅
- It also provides several options for reformatting texts. ✅
3. Sublime Text
Sublime text works with the Python application programming interface. Supporting many programming languages, it emerged as the best text editor for Mac.
Pros and Cons
- Anyone can access it under a free software license.✅
- Allows project-specific preferences.❌
- Version 2 and 3 of the apps ensures several features like bracket highlighter, sidebar enhancements.✅
4. Espresso
Recently it is one of the most used and appreciated app making it the best text editor. It's productively level is amazing. Designed as extremely user-friendly it offers a real simplified text editing platform. More importantly, it's widely used because it saves a lot of time.
Movie editing programs for mac. Pros and Cons
- It is Highly Productive.✅
- Drag and drop feature is available in the new versions.✅
- It is really expensive and supports only MaC. ❌
5. Atom
Atom was designed and launched by GitHub. It supports JavaScript, CSS and it runs on the electron. The most interesting feature of this app is that it is customizable. If you want to add any extra feature you can add it easily in it. Added to that it is available free of cost and ensures you the best text editor experience.
Pros and cons
Mac Text Editor Built In
- It is free.✅
- It is customizable. ✅
- The use of a lot of packages to enhance the app can make it work slow.❌
6. BBEdit 13
Just like Text Wrangler, this app is also designed by Bare Bones Software. It is one of the oldest and most trusted and best text editor and more interestingly it also shares its craze among writers.
Pros and Cons
- Includes built-in tools for text manipulations.✅
- Other features and tools for fast text editing are available.❤️
- User-friendly✅
- It is expensive.❌
7. Coda 2
Coda 2 brings to your multiple features like find and replace, code folding among others. Its new version has launched a variety of features making it a widely chosen text editor for Mac.
It is also highly customizable as Atom.
Pros and Cons
- Enables a great search feature.✅
- It can be announced as a web developer's best choice.✅
- It is truly expensive.❌
- Lacks some features which can be customized though.❌
8. Visual studio code
The text editor was designed by Microsoft and is extremely packed with features. Some of its new features include built-in Git commands, IntelliSense, debugging and extensions. You can debug any code right from the editor. With its all-new updates, you can surely grab this as one of the best text editors in 2020.
Text Editor For Windows 10
Pros and cons Revit mac version.
- Slow at times.❌
- To make it rich in features you need to have a lot of plugins installed.❌
- Free app.✅
- Overall gives a good performance.✅
9. UltraEdit
It is a text editor for Microsoft Windows and Mac. It was created in 1994 by Ian.D. Mead. UltraEdit was initially launched as MEDIT and could run only on Windows 3.1. Further updates and versions made it popular and a text editor for Mac. It was renamed in version 14.00. The app takes nearly 100 MB of your disk space. It allows multi caret editing along with find and replace feature, editor themes, log file polling, project management, file encryption, and decryption.
Pros and Cons
- It includes UltraCompare professional features.✅
- Supports many languages.✅
- Fast experience.✅
- It is expensive.❌
10. Vim
You don't have enough budget but is in urgent need of a powerful text editor for Mac, just grab Vim. It is the perfect option for you.
It can work on several platforms like macOS, Windows NT, ioS, Android, MS-DOSS.
Pros and cons
- It can be used on many platforms.✅
- It has a complex user-interface.❌
- Has got a massive command set. ✅
11. TextMate
TextMate is one of the most used and best text editors in 2020 for Mac. Used widely by pros and beginners it comes with the best project management feature.
Pros and Cons
- It is lightweight.✅
- Supports only MacOS❌
- The free trial is available but is expensive. ❌
Text editors are essential for coding, and it's crucial to have the right one for your needs. Just like with integrated development environments, the software needs to meet the specific purposes of your project. While there are several free options, some boast premium functionalities, so come with a price tag. Let's check out the features of what's on offer so that you can take your pick from these best text editors for Mac.
1. Sublime Text
Here's a text editor that's packed with functionality and provides a premium user experience. Some of the notable features include the split-editing, quick shortcuts, and a distraction-free writing mode.
Moreover, it supports a ton of keyboard shortcuts that ease your workflow. One of the most useful of these is the 'Goto Anything' feature that allows you to instantly jump to symbols, lines, or words that you are looking for.
Price: Free Trial & $80
2. Atom
This one's a highly customizable text editor that's free. It's packed full of useful features, and you can add a lot more thanks to the open-source packages.
The software is marketed as a 'hackable' text editor because you can customize it and add your own tweaks by editing the CSS in its back end. The downside, though, is that it's quite sizeable and not a light app.
Price: Free
3. UltraEdit
If you work with many massive text files, this can be one of the best Mac text editors for you. It supports a wide range of languages, from HTML and PHP to Javascript.
The interface is highly customizable to suit your unique needs. Further, there are many add-ons and extra features such as debugging, auto-complete, Templates, etc. Make use of custom keyboard shortcuts to work fast and smart.
Price: $79.95 per year
4. Notepad +
This free text editor features a tabbed document interface, support for macros and plugins, and an autosave function that automatically saves files temporarily before giving you the option of saving them to another location.
An interesting aspect is that it optimizes as many routines as possible without losing user-friendliness. This makes the system throttle down and reduces power consumption to be more environmentally friendly.
Price: Free
5. Brackets
Web designers will get a lot of use of the free Brackets text editor. It's been designed by Adobe and boasts a helpful 'Live Preview' feature, which allows you to see any CSS and HTML changes in real-time while you edit.
This proves useful in avoiding mistakes and keeping an eye on the final result. Another excellent plus point is that it works really well with other Adobe programs. For instance, you can quickly get the correct color, font, gradient, and measurement information from a photoshop file. This eases your workflow, and it can be made even more efficient with other extensions.
Price: Free
6. Visual Studio Code
Any roundup of text editors would be incomplete without a mention of Microsoft's Visual Studio Code. It includes a terminal and debugger as well as integration with numerous source control tools. You can also download a variety of free extensions and packages for additional functionality.
Further, it's been optimized for Mac and can highlight syntax for over 30 languages. The keyboard-centric interface, automatic real-time API description, and other features make this one worth checking out.
Price: Free
7. BBEdit
No matter the complexity of your coding projects, you can trust this text editor to handle it. It's speedy, smooth, and packed full of convenient features.
Where Is The Text Editor On Mac
For instance, when you copy a large chunk of text and open a new BBEdit document, it will automatically appear, ready to work on. It supports dozens of languages and provides helpful tools for both coders and writers.
Price: $3.99 per month
8. Espresso
As the name suggests, this app will supercharge your productivity when it comes to text editing. It's got an impressive user interface with a three-column view for real-time editing that shows the code editor, your files, and the navigator.
You can see changes reflected instantly in the browser and the interface. Moreover, it supports drag-and-drop for ease of use. This is a Mac-only app and is especially well-suited for editing CSS.
Price: $99.00
9. Komodo Edit
Whether it's Python, Perl, Ruby, HTML/CSS, Javascript, etc., Komodo IDE can handle it all. It's free to use and has all the features you may need to get your project done, complete with debugging and testing.
Further, you can customize it with plugins and macros. Some of the extensions available include additional language supports, user interface enhancements, a functions list, etc. The speed and efficiency make it one of the best text editors for Mac.
Price: Free
10. Textmate 2
TextMate is a lightweight and minimalist app that's still packed with the essential project management features. It also works with Xcode and comes with extensive documentation.
Some of the notable features include version control, file search, macros, snippets, etc. All in all, it's a powerful and customizable text editor with support for several programming languages.
Price: Free
Summing Up
Have you tried any of these text editors for Mac yet? If you're into app development, you might also like to check out the best iOS emulators.
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I have been writing about tech for over 10 years now. I am passionate about helping people solve their tech problems with easy and practical solutions. What is the latest mac update. At iGeeksBlog, I write and edit how-to guides and accessory reviews for all things Apple. My work has previously appeared in Live IT and Woman's Era magazines. When not working, I love reading and traveling.
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