Alternatives to CodeRunner
A lightweight macOS programming editor that runs and debugs code in many languages. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
CodeRunner
A lightweight macOS programming editor that runs and debugs code in many languages.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as CodeRunner.
Nova
A native macOS code editor and IDE from Panic with built-in terminals, Git and debugging.
Nova is Panic's paid native macOS editor with terminals, Git, debugging and managed language servers in one window, but it requires macOS 15.6 or later.
Visual Studio Code
Microsoft's code editor, free to use but shipped under a Microsoft licence rather than an open one.
Visual Studio Code is free on Windows, macOS and Linux with extensions for nearly every language and an integrated debugger, but is Electron-based and collects telemetry by default.
Sublime Text
A fast native editor for code and prose, paid for but with an evaluation that never stops working.
Sublime Text is a paid native editor for Windows, macOS and Linux with fast multi-cursor editing, but it relies on third-party packages instead of CodeRunner's built-in run and debug support.
BBEdit
A long-running macOS text and code editor for writers, web authors and software developers.
BBEdit is a freemium macOS text and code editor with strong grep search and SFTP editing, oriented toward editing rather than running and debugging code in many languages.
TextMate
An open-source macOS text editor known for bundles, snippets, multiple carets and scoped settings.
TextMate is a free open-source macOS editor with bundles, snippets and commands in any scripting language, but lacks CodeRunner's built-in breakpoint debugging and receives infrequent updates.
CodeEdit
A lightweight, open-source code editor for macOS, built natively in Swift.
CodeEdit is a free open-source native macOS editor written in Swift, still in development at version 0.3.6, without CodeRunner's ready-made code running and debugging.
VSCodium
Visual Studio Code built from the same source without Microsoft’s branding, telemetry or licence.
VSCodium is the MIT-licensed build of VS Code for Windows, macOS and Linux without Microsoft telemetry, using Open VSX extensions for running and debugging code.
Also worth comparing
These listings name CodeRunner as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Textastic
A text and code editor for iPad and iPhone with syntax highlighting, SFTP and SSH.
CodeRunner is a paid macOS editor that runs and debugs code in 25 languages, but has no iPad or iPhone version.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Xcode
Apple's IDE for developing, testing and distributing apps for all Apple platforms.
JupyterLab
A web-based interactive environment for notebooks, code and data, used widely in data science.
Spyder
An open-source Python IDE for scientific work with a variable explorer and an IPython console.
Thonny
A Python IDE for beginners that comes bundled with Python and includes a simple debugger.
