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Textadept vs Howl: catalog facts
Textadept	Howl
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source under the MIT license.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Linux
Portable executables with no installation Graphical and terminal interfaces	Extensible with Lua or Moonscript Keyboard-driven interface
Extending it well means learning its Lua API Smaller extension ecosystem than mainstream editors	The last official release was in 2019 Developed for Linux, with FreeBSD and OpenBSD builds also expected
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
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 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 8, 2026

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