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Notepad++AkelPad
Free

Free as in speech and free as in beer, in the author’s own words, under the GNU General…

 Free

Free and open source under a BSD licence.

Windows Windows
  • Opens instantly and uses little memory, thanks to pure Win32 and the Scintilla component
  • Syntax highlighting for many programming and natural languages, with tabs and split view
  • Small and fast to start
  • Familiar Notepad-like interface
  • Windows only; there is no official macOS or Linux build
  • The plugin ecosystem is older and less active than that of modern editors
  • Windows only
  • Less suited to large projects than a full code editor
Downloadable app Downloadable app
Open source Open source
License: GPL-3.0 License: BSD-2-Clause
No account needed No account needed
Works offline Works offline

Checked September 20, 2026

Checked October 2, 2026

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