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GNU Emacs vs GNU nano: catalog facts
GNU Emacs	GNU nano
Free Free software under the GPL, part of the GNU Project.	Free Free and open source under the GPL.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Extensible in Emacs Lisp at runtime, so any behaviour can be changed without rebuilding Org mode is a genuinely excellent system for notes, tasks and literate documents	Shortcuts shown on screen, so there is nothing to memorise Installed or one package away on practically every Unix system
A steep learning curve, with keybindings unlike any other editor A usable configuration takes substantial time, hence Doom and Spacemacs	No plugins, projects or language intelligence Not designed for editing large codebases
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-3.0	License: GPL-3.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.