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Helix vs Neovim: catalog facts
Helix	Neovim
Free Free and open source under the MPL 2.0.	Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence, with some parts under the Vim licence.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Language server and tree-sitter support without installing anything Selection-first editing makes multiple cursors a first-class tool	Built-in LSP client for semantic code inspection and refactoring Tree-sitter parsing for fast, accurate highlighting, navigation and text objects
No plugin system, so anything missing stays missing Selection-first keys are genuinely different from Vim muscle memory	Modal editing is a real learning curve if you have not used Vim A usable setup usually means assembling plugins or adopting someone else’s configuration
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MPL-2.0	License: Apache-2.0
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 20, 2026

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