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Notepad Next vs Kate: catalog facts
Notepad Next	Kate
Free Free and open source under the GPL-3.0 licence.	Free Free and open source, part of the KDE project.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, Linux
Familiar Notepad++ style editing on more platforms Open source with an active community	Syntax highlighting for over 400 languages with bracket hierarchy navigation Embedded terminal plugin runs commands without leaving the editor
Developer warns against using it for critically important work Some features are buggy or only partly implemented	Pulls in KDE Frameworks, which is a large dependency outside a KDE desktop On Windows it is distributed through the Microsoft Store rather than a plain installer
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-3.0	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

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