Alternatives to Sublime Text
A fast native editor for code and prose, paid for but with an evaluation that never stops working. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Sublime Text
A fast native editor for code and prose, paid for but with an evaluation that never stops working.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Sublime Text.
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 with extensions for nearly every language and remote development, but it is Electron-based and heavier than Sublime Text's native build.
Zed
A Rust editor from the people who built Atom, written for speed and for two people editing one file.
Zed is a native Rust editor with GPU rendering, built-in language server support and collaboration, open source under mostly GPL terms with a smaller extension ecosystem.
VSCodium
Visual Studio Code built from the same source without Microsoft’s branding, telemetry or licence.
VSCodium is a free MIT-licensed build of VS Code without telemetry, trading Sublime Text's native speed for a much larger Open VSX extension catalogue.
Notepad++
The fast Windows text and source code editor that replaced Notepad for a generation of users.
Notepad++ is free, open source and quick to start, but it runs only on Windows and has no built-in language server support.
Lapce
A code editor written in Rust with GPU rendering, built-in LSP support, optional modal editing and remote development.
Lapce is a free Rust editor with GPU rendering and built-in LSP support, but it is still pre-1.0 with a tiny plugin ecosystem.
Kate
KDE's text editor: syntax highlighting for over 400 languages, split views, multi-cursor editing and an embedded terminal.
Kate is a free KDE editor with multi-cursor editing, split views and an embedded terminal, available on Windows and Linux but with no macOS build.
Lite XL
Edit text and code in a lightweight Lua-based editor.
Lite XL is a free, lightweight open source editor extended through Lua plugins, with a far smaller feature set than Sublime Text.
Pulsar
Community-maintained continuation of the Atom text editor.
Pulsar continues the Atom editor with its package ecosystem, free and MIT-licensed, but Electron-based with higher memory use and slower startup.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Sublime Text as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
BBEdit
A long-running macOS text and code editor for writers, web authors and software developers.
Sublime Text runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and handles very large files quickly, but it is closed source and paid, with an evaluation that nags on save.
Bluefish
A lightweight open-source code and text editor for programmers and web developers.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor for Windows, macOS and Linux with multiple cursors and goto-anything, but it is paid, closed source software rather than GPL.
CodeEdit
A lightweight, open-source code editor for macOS, built natively in Swift.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor for Windows, macOS and Linux that handles large files well, but it is closed source and paid.
CodeRunner
A lightweight macOS programming editor that runs and debugs code in many languages.
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.
CotEditor
A free, open-source plain-text and code editor made for macOS.
Sublime Text runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and handles very large files with multiple cursors, but it is closed source and paid.
CudaText
A fast, cross-platform open-source code editor written in Object Pascal and extensible with Python.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor on the same three desktops with strong multiple cursors and large-file handling, but it is closed source and paid.
ecode
A lightweight multi-platform code editor built on a hardware-accelerated GUI, focused on responsiveness and performance.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor for Windows, macOS and Linux that handles very large files, but it is paid, closed source software.
EmEditor
A Windows text editor built for very large files, CSV data, logs and code.
Sublime Text handles very large files quickly on Windows, macOS and Linux, but it is paid, closed source and has no dedicated CSV editing tools.
Geany
A small, fast IDE built on GTK that starts instantly and does not depend on a heavy desktop environment.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor with goto-anything and multiple cursors, but it is closed source and paid, with a nagging evaluation.
gedit
A general-purpose text editor for Linux that is easy to learn and integrates with GNOME.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor on Linux, Windows and macOS with multiple cursors and large-file handling, but it is closed source and paid.
GNOME Text Editor
A simple text editor for the GNOME desktop focused on a pleasing default experience.
Sublime Text is a fast native cross-platform editor with multiple cursors and large-file handling, but it is closed source and paid.
GNU Emacs
An editor that is really a Lisp environment, extensible to the point where people run their email, calendar and shell inside it.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor that handles very large files, but it is closed source, paid, and extended through third-party packages.
jEdit
A mature, plugin-driven programmer's text editor written in Java for many operating systems.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor for Windows, macOS and Linux with no Java runtime needed, but it is closed source and paid.
Notepad3
A lightweight open-source Notepad replacement for Windows with syntax highlighting and code folding.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor on Windows, macOS and Linux with multiple cursors and goto-anything, but it is paid and closed source.
Notepad4
A lightweight Scintilla-based text editor for Windows with syntax highlighting, folding and auto-completion.
Sublime Text is a paid, closed-source native editor that also runs on macOS and Linux, with multiple cursors, goto-anything and fast handling of very large files.
Notepads
Use a lightweight Windows text editor with tabs and Markdown preview.
Sublime Text is a fast native cross-platform editor with multiple cursors and goto-anything, but it is paid and closed source.
Nova
A native macOS code editor and IDE from Panic with built-in terminals, Git and debugging.
Sublime Text is a paid native editor for macOS, Windows and Linux that handles very large files, but its language support relies on third-party packages.
Phoenix Code
An open-source code editor for web development that continues the Brackets project, with live preview.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor that handles very large files with multiple cursors, but it is paid, closed source and has no browser version.
PhpStorm
A commercial JetBrains IDE for PHP, with built-in JavaScript, TypeScript and SQL support.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor that handles very large files, with PHP support through third-party packages, but it is paid and closed source.
PSPad
A freeware text and code editor for Windows with syntax highlighting, hex editing and a built-in FTP client.
Sublime Text is a paid native editor for Windows, macOS and Linux with multiple cursors and goto-anything, relying on packages instead of built-in FTP and hex tools.
RJ TextEd
A freeware Unicode text and source code editor for Windows with web preview, hex mode and SFTP.
Sublime Text is a paid, closed-source native editor for Windows, macOS and Linux with multiple cursors and fast handling of very large files.
RubyMine
A JetBrains IDE for Ruby and Ruby on Rails with navigation, debugging and integrated tools.
Sublime Text is a fast native paid editor whose Ruby support relies on third-party packages rather than an integrated debugger.
Textadept
A fast, minimalist programmer's text editor that can be scripted and extended with Lua.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor with strong multiple cursors, but it is paid, closed source and extended through Python packages.
TextMate
An open-source macOS text editor known for bundles, snippets, multiple carets and scoped settings.
Sublime Text is cross-platform with similar multiple cursors and snippets, but it is paid, closed source and nags on save during evaluation.
UltraEdit
A commercial text, code and hex editor for Windows, macOS and Linux that handles very large files.
Sublime Text is a fast native paid editor on Windows, macOS and Linux that handles very large files, but without built-in hex editing.
WebStorm
JavaScript and TypeScript IDE with first-class framework support.
Sublime Text is a fast native editor that relies on third-party packages for language support, with no built-in debugger or test runners.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Neovim
A modern rewrite of Vim with a built-in language server client, Lua configuration and an embeddable API.
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.
Helix
A modal terminal editor with language servers and multiple selections built in, and no plugins to install.
Cursor
An AI code editor built on VS Code, with coding agents that plan and carry out tasks.
