This article provides basic feature comparison between some of the JavaScript-based source code editors available today.
Notepad is a source code editor that is free to use and is available in various languages. The source code editor is also written in C and is based on the Scintilla editing component. Notepad offers a wide range of features, such as autosaving, line bookmarking, simultaneous editing, tabbed document interface, and many more features. Free and open source, this powerful code editor is the main editor of Gnome desktop environment (Gnome is a desktop environment for Unix based operating system). Its ease of use with flexible powerful features will make your coding an exciting adventure. SeaMonkey isn't your typical code editor — but it's a collection of Internet applications like a browser, email, IRC chat, and HTML editor. It does support editing the source code of a web page and the ability to edit visually without needing to know HTML. You can explore more about it when you get it installed. How to install it?
Overview[edit]
| Editor | Site | Latest version | Style, clone of | Cost (US$) | Software license | Open source | Browser support | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ace | Home, demo | v1.4.12, 2020-7 | Sublime Text / Microsoft Visual Studio | Free | New BSD License | Yes | Firefox 3.5+, Safari 4+, Chrome, IE 8+, Opera 11.5+ | Yes |
| Atom | Home | v1.50.0-beta0, 2020-07-14 | Emacs, Vim and others | Free | Dual | Yes | Chrome | Yes |
| CodeMirror | Home, demo | 5.59.1, 2020-12-31 | plain textarea | Free | MIT-like | Yes | Firefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+[1] | Yes |
| CodeJar | Home, demo | 1.0.2, 2020-04-05 | plain textarea | Free | MIT | Yes | Firefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+ | Yes |
| Codeanywhere | Home | 6.0 | SublimeText | - | Public Cloud | No | Firefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+ | Yes |
| Codenvy Editor | Home | 2.10.17, 2014-01-17 | Eclipse | - | Public Cloud | Yes | Firefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+ | Yes |
| Orion | Home | 22.0, 2020-04-03. | Eclipse SWT StyledText, regular textarea | Free | dual-licensed: BSD 3-clause and EPL | Yes | Firefox 37+, Chrome 40+, Safari7+, Internet Explorer 11+[2] | Yes |
| Monaco Editor (Visual Studio Code) | Home, demo | 0.22.3, 2021-01-02 | Visual Studio Code | Free | MIT | Yes | IE8+, Firefox 4+, Chrome | Yes |
| Markitup | Home, demo | 1.1.14, 2013-02-04 | Markup editor, no syntax highlight | Free | MIT, GPL | Yes | IE 6 & 7, Firefox 2 & 3, Safari 3.1, Opera 9+[3] | Some |
| LDT | Home | 2012-02-19 | regular textarea | Free | MIT, GPL | Yes | Firefox 3.6+, IE8, Chromium 16, Midori 4.1, Opera 11, Epiphany | Some |
| Ymacs | Home, demo | 0.5, 2012-03-28 | Emacs | Free | BSD | Yes | Firefox, Chrome, Safari | Some |
| CodePress | Home | 0.9.6, 2007-09-26 | Microsoft Visual Studio | Free | LGPL | Yes | ? | No |
| CodeTextArea | Home, demo | 2009-06 | Microsoft Visual Studio | Free | BSD | Yes | Dojo widget | No |
| EditArea | Home, demo | 0.8.2, 2010-01-14 | Microsoft Visual Studio | Free | LGPL | Yes | IE 6+, Firefox 1.5+, Safari 3+, Opera 9+, Chrome[4] | No |
| Helene | Home, demo | 0.9, unknown release date | Microsoft Visual Studio | Free | GPL | Yes | No | |
| 9ne | Home | ? | Emacs | Free | GPL | Yes | No | |
| jsvi | Home | ? | vi | Free | GPL | Yes | No | |
| MDK-Editor | Home | 2.10, 2008 | Microsoft Visual Studio | Depends on use | Dual | Code is readable | tested to work on: IE 6, 7 - Firefox 2, 3 - Chrome | Yes |
| Micro | Home | 2013 | nano | Free | GPL | Yes | Some |
List of features[edit]
Feature testing was performed with Firefox 3.0.6 against the current demo version, and results may not match those in other browsers or downloadable versions.
| Feature | Ace | CodeMirror | CodeJar | Orion | CodePress | CodeTextArea | EditArea | Helene | markItUp! | MDK-Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implementation | nestable full parsers | pattern-based parser | pattern-based parser | parsers | ||||||
| Syntax highlight | Over 110 languages | 129 languages | Yes | mixed mode: HTML + JavaScript and CSS, PHP, EJS; single mode: JavaScript, Java, JSON, CSS, Python, Ruby, XML, YAML (pluggable) | limited mixed mode: HTML + JavaScript (no CSS), PHP + HTML (no JavaScript or CSS), Java, Perl, SQL | only keywords | only one language at a time: Perl, PHP, CSS, Javascript, Python, HTML, XML, VB, C, CPP, SQL, Pascal, Basic, Brainf*ck | PHP | No | mixed mode: PHP + HTML + JavaScript + CSS, single-mode: PHP, Javascript, CSS, XML; extensible |
| Syntax checking | HTML, CSS, JavaScript (using JSHint) | Some | No | JavaScript (using JSLint) | No | No | HTML, JavaScript (using JSLint) | |||
| Tab support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Some | Yes | Yes | |||
| Indent, new line keeps level | optional setting that is on by default | Yes | Yes | Yes | very limited | No | Yes | N/A (can't press Enter) | No | Yes |
| Indent, syntax | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||||
| Indent, selected block | yes, including Shift+Tab | either automatically, or block-level indent/unindent | Yes | yes, including Shift+Tab | No | yes, including Shift+Tab | yes, including Shift+Tab and using context menu | |||
| Bracket matching | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | an implementation exists with mouse-hover bracket matching[citation needed] | Ctrl+B; no angle bracket matching | No | matching bracket ([{<>}]) always highlighted | ||
| XML matching tag highlight | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ||||
| Code folding | Yes | Yes[5] | No | Some[6] | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Code snippets | Yes | through API/add-on | Some | type 'for' or 'if' then Tab | No | Yes | No | Yes | JavaScript | |
| Code suggestion | Yes | example | Yes through esprima content assist plugin | No | yes[citation needed] | No | CSS, HTML, JavaScript) | |||
| Toggle syntax highlight on/off | Yes | Yes | No | last example in demo | N/A | textmode | ||||
| Keyboard shortcuts | All Common Shortcuts & Custom Keybindings | fully configurable | Yes | some common used: Ctrl+f, Ctrl+g,Ctrl+z,Ctrl+y | Yes | All key combos (except F1 in IE7) can be bound to shortcuts | ||||
| Line numbers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | supports mouse selection |
| Search & replace | regex supported | via API | No | Yes | No | toolbar button | has API for the studio | |||
| Spell checking | addon for context menu | No | No | No | browser-based | none | browser-based | none | browser-based | No |
| Toolbar | But command line console | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| Visual styling | Fully theme-able | CSS-based themes | Yes | Yes | font-type and font-size | 5 styles to choose from, having 2 font-sizes | ||||
| Undo/Redo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Differential Undo | |||
| Multiple cursors / Block selection | Multiple cursors | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| IndentGuides | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Inline widgets | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Non US charset support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^CodeMirror supported browsers
- ^Orion supported browsers
- ^'markItUp! Universal Markup jQuery Editor'. Markitup.jaysalvat.com. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
- ^EditArea compatibility chart
- ^'Code Folding Demo'. CodeMirror. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
- ^'Orion 0.3 M2 – New and Noteworthy | Orion News'. Planetorion.org. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
Whether you're a tech-savvy web design genius or a beginner, you've probably realized the usefulness of having a basic familiarity with HTML. As one of the most fundamental languages for website creation, you can't go wrong with a little HTML knowledge in your back pocket.
No matter if you know a little or a lot, there's a tool out there that can help take your HTML skills to the next level … or at least make sure your code is correct.
That tool? An HTML editor.
Remember: With these HTML editors, you'll want to have more than a basic understanding of HTML. These tools can help you fix mistakes, but they can't write your code for you.
Ready? Let's take a look at five top-rated HTML editor tools from Capterra's software directories. What does 'top-rated' mean? Each of the five tools below (presented alphabetically) have an above-average overall user rating compared to other products in the same category. Read more about our methodology here.
Jump to:
CoffeeCup HTML Editor
Komodo Edits
NetBeans
Notepad++
Visual Studio Code
Top 5 free HTML editors
1. CoffeeCup HTML Editor
CoffeeCup offers a free HTML editor, but if you're looking for more of a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) setup, it offers a visual editor for an additional cost.
You can use CoffeeCup to create both HTML and CSS files, as well as to edit existing website files. CoffeeCup has an average overall rating of 4.5 stars from reviewers on Capterra.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| According to users, CoffeeCup's HTML Editor has better than average customer support and is easy to use. | If you're looking for bare-bones functionality, CoffeeCup offers just the basics. Reviewers say there are no bells and whistles for the free version of this HTML editor. |
Cost to upgrade: $29 will get you access to the whole suite of features offered by CoffeeCup. For an additional $15, you can get the entire program sent to you on a thumb drive.
Highly rated by: People who work in higher education report that this free HTML editor meets their needs better than the average HTML editing software solution.
CoffeeCup's HTML editing interface (Source)
2. Komodo Edit
Open source lovers rejoice! Komodo Edit is a free multilanguage HTML editor. ActiveState's Komodo IDE created this pared-down free version of its system, with paid licenses available for users who need advanced features.
This free HTML editor includes some robust features, such as auto-completion and debugging tools. It can also edit several other coding languages, including Python, Perl, and Node.js. Komodo has an average overall rating of 4.5 stars from reviewers on Capterra.
Source Code Editor
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Komodo Edit's users say it's very fast and easy to use. Reviewers also highlight the software's multi-platform setup, which allows Linux, Mac, or Windows. | Reviewers report that Komodo Edit's customer service is slightly less helpful than they'd expect and wish the product offered more features and functionality. |
Cost to upgrade: Starts at $7 monthly when billed annually and runs up to $499+ depending on the number of users and desired features.
Highly rated by: Users from both small and midsize businesses rate Komodo Edit highly, as do members of the IT, e-learning, and financial services industries.
Komodo IDE's HTML editing interface (Source)
3. Apache NetBeans
A free and open source integrated development environment (IDE), Apache's NetBeans can help you develop in HTML5, PHP, JavaScript, C++, and several other coding languages. It offers code templates and generators, as well as project management tools to help organize larger projects and teams.
NetBeans also has a large plugin marketplace, and developers are encouraged to write and share their own plugins. NetBeans was last updated in April of 2019. NetBeans has an average overall rating of 4.5 stars from reviewers on Capterra.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Reviewers love that NetBeans enables them to auto-complete some codes and that it's consistently reliable. | Users noted that NetBeans' customer service can take some time to respond when an issue is identified and that the interface appears a little dated. |
Cost to upgrade: Not publicly available.
Highly rated by: Reviewers in the computer and network security and human resources industries rate NetBeans higher than average.
NetBeans HTML editor interface (Source)
4. Notepad++
Available only for Windows users, Notepad ++ is a free source code editor written in C++. Its user interface (UI) is completely customizable, and users can decide how syntax is highlighted and folded.
Bonus: For those trying to go green, Notepad++ is dedicated to reducing carbon emissions by creating programs that run on less CPU power. The solution was last updated in June 2019. Notepad++ has an average overall rating of 4.5 stars from reviewers on Capterra.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Reviewers consistently cite a high level of functionality and report a higher-than-average ease-of-use rating. Particularly because this offering is open source, users also appreciate the consistency and timeliness of version updates. | Reviewers say that Notepad++ has slightly below average customer service, and some describe its interface as a little dated. |
Cost to upgrade: Not publicly available.
Highly rated by: Large business users review Notepad++ the best. Reviewers from the IT and services, computer software, and banking industries rate this solution higher than average.
Notepad++'s HTML editor interface (Source)
5. Visual Studio Code
If you're looking for a robust editor, Microsoft Visual Studio's free HTML editor edition of their IDE—which supports all the programming languages you'll ever need—is a great choice. While their paid versions offer more advanced features, this free version includes all the essential tools needed for an HTML editor.
Plus, they throw in some useful tools for mobile app development, such as code sharing between Android and iOS. Visual Studio Code has an average overall five-star rating from reviewers on Capterra.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Reviewers consistently rate Visual Studio Code highly across the bar. Users say this software has excellent customer service and offers a great range of functionality. | Some users say that it's a little more difficult to use because of the complicated commands for some configurations. |
Cost to upgrade: The professional plan for teams is $45 per month.
Highly rated by: Visual Studio Code is highly rated by users in the computer software and IT services industries.
Buy magic mouse online. Microsoft Visual Studio Code's HTML editing interface (Source)
Get coding!
If you're looking for an HTML editor, these five free options are a great place to start. The best part is that you can test drive them to see which one meets your needs at no cost.
Methodology
This article was updated on June 27, 2019. Products considered for this article had to:
- Offer a free, stand-alone version of the software (not a trial version of the software where you must purchase a product after a limited amount of time).
Source Code Editor Software
Software that met the market definition also needed a minimum of 10 user-submitted reviews published between May 31, 2018 – May 31, 2019, and have an above-average overall user rating compared to other products in the category.
- 'Top' free tools had a minimum overall rating of 4.5/5 stars from reviewers on Capterra at the time of publication.
Source Code Editor Visual Studio
The content in this piece that provides opinions and points of view expressed by users does not represent the views of Capterra.
The applications selected in this article are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations. They have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.
