Alternatives to Helix
A modal terminal editor with language servers and multiple selections built in, and no plugins to install. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Helix
A modal terminal editor with language servers and multiple selections built in, and no plugins to install.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Helix.
Neovim
A modern rewrite of Vim with a built-in language server client, Lua configuration and an embeddable API.
Neovim offers a built-in LSP client and tree-sitter plus a Lua plugin system, but uses Vim's verb-first keys and usually needs plugin assembly.
Vim
The editor that is already on every server, with a graphical build for Windows and a licence that asks you to donate to Ugandan children.
Vim is already installed on nearly every server and has decades of plugins, but language server support requires plugins and configuration is in Vimscript.
GNU Emacs
An editor that is really a Lisp environment, extensible to the point where people run their email, calendar and shell inside it.
GNU Emacs runs in the terminal and is extensible in Emacs Lisp at runtime, with a steep learning curve and substantial configuration work.
micro
A terminal editor with the keybindings you already know: Ctrl-S to save, Ctrl-C to copy, Ctrl-Z to undo.
micro is a terminal editor with common Ctrl-key bindings and multiple cursors, but it has no language server support or project tooling.
Lapce
A code editor written in Rust with GPU rendering, built-in LSP support, optional modal editing and remote development.
Lapce is a graphical Rust editor with built-in LSP and optional modal editing, plus a WASI plugin system, but it is still pre-1.0.
Zed
A Rust editor from the people who built Atom, written for speed and for two people editing one file.
Zed is a graphical Rust editor with tree-sitter and language servers built in and real-time collaboration, with an extension system Helix lacks.
Kakoune
A modal terminal code editor where multiple selections are the main way of editing.
Kakoune is the selection-first modal terminal editor Helix draws from, extensible where Helix is not, but without Helix's built-in language server setup.
Lem
A general-purpose editor and IDE written in and extensible with Common Lisp, with Emacs and Vim keybindings.
Lem is an open-source editor extensible in Common Lisp with Vim-like and Emacs-like modes and built-in LSP support, but its GUI is in transition.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Helix as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
GNU nano
Small terminal text editor with the shortcuts printed on screen.
Helix brings language servers and multiple selections without plugins, using modal selection-first keys shown through on-screen prompts.
GoLand
Go IDE with completion, refactoring and an integrated debugger.
Helix is a free modal terminal editor with language servers built in and no plugins to install, and no integrated debugger or test runner.
Microsoft Edit
Edit text with a familiar interface inside your terminal.
Helix is a modal terminal editor with language servers and multiple selections built in, requiring new selection-first keybindings.
RustRover
A JetBrains IDE for Rust with code analysis, refactoring, debugging, testing and Cargo integration.
Helix is a free modal terminal editor with language servers built in and no plugins, offering far less than RustRover's debugger and test runner.
vis
A modal, vi-like terminal text editor built around Plan 9's structural regular expressions.
Helix is a selection-first modal terminal editor with built-in language servers and tree-sitter, but has no plugin system and keys that differ from vi.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
