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.
These buttons open the developer's own site, repository or store listing in a new tab. wares.gg does not host downloads.
5 more ways to get Vim
Other download sites
Run by third parties, not by Bram Moolenaar / Vim Project. Prefer the official page above when it works.
Package managers
- winget
winget install --id vim.vim - Chocolatey
choco install vim - Homebrew
brew install vim - Flathub
flatpak install flathub org.vim.Vim
About Vim
Vim improves on the original Unix vi with multi-level undo, syntax highlighting, command history, spell checking, scripting and a graphical interface, while keeping vi compatibility so anyone with vi in their fingers can still work. Every command is a normal keyboard character, which is why experienced users are fast.
It is everywhere. A minimal build ships as the default vi on most Linux distributions, and it runs on Windows, macOS, Haiku, VMS and essentially every flavour of Unix. gVim is the Windows graphical package with installers for x64, x86 and ARM64.
Strengths
- Already installed on nearly every server you will ever log into
- Decades of plugins, and configuration knowledge that does not expire
- Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, Haiku and VMS
- Very small and fast even on a constrained machine
Limitations
- The learning curve is the standard example of a steep learning curve
- Language server and completion support needs plugins that Neovim handles better
- Configuration is Vimscript unless you add more plugins
- Bram Moolenaar, who led the project for thirty years, died in 2023
Details
- Pricing
- Free · Free under the Vim licence, which is GPL-compatible charityware and asks for a donation to ICCF Holland.
- License
- Vim
- Developer
- Bram Moolenaar / Vim Project
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Editing anything over SSH, and any machine where you cannot install software
- Categories
- Code and text editors
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus downloads catalog (Editors); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 2 sources on file.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Neovim
A modern rewrite of Vim with a built-in language server client, Lua configuration and an embeddable API.
Helix
A modal terminal editor with language servers and multiple selections built in, and no plugins to install.
Sublime Text
A fast native editor for code and prose, paid for but with an evaluation that never stops working.
