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1 more ways to get BBEdit
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install --cask bbedit
About BBEdit
BBEdit is a text, HTML and source code editor for macOS. It has grep pattern matching, search and replace across multiple files, project tools, function navigation, syntax coloring for many languages, code folding, and the ability to open files over FTP and SFTP.
A 30-day evaluation unlocks every feature. After that, BBEdit keeps working in a free mode with no nag screens. You can restore the extra features by buying a license or subscribing through the Mac App Store. The current major version is BBEdit 16.
Strengths
- Grep search and replace across many files
- Free mode stays usable after the trial with no nag screens
- Opens and edits files over FTP and SFTP
- Handles prose, source code and text data
Limitations
- macOS only
- Some features require a paid license or subscription
Details
- Pricing
- FreemiumFree mode after a 30-day trial; full features need a license or Mac App Store subscription.
- License
- Proprietary
- Developer
- Bare Bones Software
- Platforms
- macOS
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Best suited for
- Mac users who edit a lot of text, HTML or code and want strong search tools
- Categories
- Code editors
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to BBEdit
Compare allSoftware that can replace BBEdit for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Sublime Text
A fast native editor for code and prose, paid for but with an evaluation that never stops working.
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.
Visual Studio Code
Microsoft's code editor, free to use but shipped under a Microsoft licence rather than an open one.
Visual Studio Code adds cross-platform builds, an integrated terminal, Git and a large extension ecosystem, but it is Electron-based, not open source and collects telemetry by default.
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, multiple carets and scoped settings, though it lacks FTP and SFTP editing and updates are infrequent.
CotEditor
A free, open-source plain-text and code editor made for macOS.
CotEditor is a free, open-source native macOS editor with regular-expression find and replace and syntax highlighting for over 60 languages, but it has no paid tier or FTP editing.
Nova
A native macOS code editor and IDE from Panic with built-in terminals, Git and debugging.
Nova is a paid native macOS editor from Panic that adds terminals, Git, debugging and managed language servers, and it requires macOS 15.6 or later.
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, but it is still in development at version 0.3.6 and lacks BBEdit's long feature history.
Zed
A Rust editor from the people who built Atom, written for speed and for two people editing one file.
Zed is a fast Rust editor with language servers and real-time collaboration on macOS, Windows and Linux, mostly under GPL 3.0 or later.
UltraEdit
A commercial text, code and hex editor for Windows, macOS and Linux that handles very large files.
UltraEdit runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and combines text, code and hex editing for very large files, but requires a paid licence and is proprietary.
BBEdit as an alternative
Listings that name BBEdit as an alternative.
CodeRunner
A lightweight macOS programming editor that runs and debugs code in many languages.
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.
Textastic
A text and code editor for iPad and iPhone with syntax highlighting, SFTP and SSH.
BBEdit is a freemium macOS editor with FTP and SFTP editing and multi-file grep, but it does not run on iPad or iPhone.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
MacVim
A port of the Vim text editor that runs as a native macOS application.
Aquamacs
An editor based on GNU Emacs and adapted to feel at home on macOS.
EmEditor
A Windows text editor built for very large files, CSV data, logs and code.
Notepad++
The fast Windows text and source code editor that replaced Notepad for a generation of users.
