Compare the Top Free Code Editors as of April 2025

What are Free Code Editors?

Code editors are software tools that allow developers to write, edit, and debug source code for programming and web development. These editors provide essential features like syntax highlighting, code completion, auto-indentation, and error detection to enhance productivity and reduce coding errors. Many code editors also offer integrations with version control systems (like Git), debuggers, and build tools, allowing developers to manage their code and workflows efficiently. While some code editors are lightweight and focused solely on text editing, others offer extensive features and customization options through plugins and extensions. By providing a streamlined environment for coding, code editors are essential for software development, web development, and scripting tasks. Compare and read user reviews of the best Free Code Editors currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.

  • 1
    Windsurf Editor
    The Windsurf Editor is a free AI-powered IDE and AI coding assistant that accelerates development by providing intelligent code generation and agents in over 70 programming languages and more than 40 IDEs, including VSCode, JetBrains, and Jupyter Notebooks. With Windsurf, developers can write code faster, eliminate repetitive tasks, and stay in the flow state—whether they're working with Python, JavaScript, C++, or any other language. Built on billions of lines of open-source code, Windsurf Editor understands and anticipates your coding needs, offering multiline suggestions, automated unit tests, and even natural language explanations for complex functions. It’s perfect for streamlining code writing, reducing boilerplate, and cutting down the time spent on documentation searches. Trusted by individual developers and Fortune 500 companies alike, Windsurf Editor is your go-to solution for boosting productivity and writing better code. Try Windsurf for free today!
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    Starting Price: Free
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  • 2
    IntelliJ IDEA

    IntelliJ IDEA

    JetBrains

    IntelliJ IDEA is a JetBrains IDE for professional development in Java and Kotlin. It unlocks productive development and helps you write high-quality code with ease. Built to get the job done, it provides all of the essential tools and cutting-edge technology support you need. With a smooth, comfortable workflow and a strong focus on privacy and security, it lets you code with confidence and pleasure.
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    Starting Price: $16.90 per user per month
  • 3
    Sublime Text

    Sublime Text

    Sublime HQ

    A sophisticated text editor for code, markup and prose. Use Goto Anything to open files with only a few keystrokes, and instantly jump to symbols, lines or words. Make ten changes at the same time, not one change ten times. Multiple selections allow you to interactively change many lines at once, rename variables with ease, and manipulate files faster than ever. The Command Palette holds infrequently used functionality, like sorting, changing the syntax and changing the indentation settings. With just a few keystrokes, you can search for what you want, without ever having to navigate through the menus or remember obscure key bindings. Sublime Text has a powerful, Python API that allows plugins to augment built-in functionality. Package Control can be installed via the command palette, providing simple access to thousands of packages built by the community.
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    Starting Price: $80 one-time fee
  • 4
    Notepad++

    Notepad++

    Notepad++

    Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GNU General Public License. Based on the powerful editing component Scintilla, Notepad++ is written in C++ and uses pure Win32 API and STL which ensures a higher execution speed and smaller program size. By optimizing as many routines as possible without losing user friendliness, Notepad++ is trying to reduce the world carbon dioxide emissions. When using less CPU power, the PC can throttle down and reduce power consumption, resulting in a greener environment.
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    Starting Price: Free
  • 5
    Apache NetBeans

    Apache NetBeans

    Apache Software Foundation

    Apache NetBeans is a versatile, open-source Integrated Development Environment (IDE) used for developing applications across a wide range of programming languages, including Java, JavaScript, PHP, HTML5, and C/C++. Known for its modular architecture, NetBeans provides robust tools and features that cater to the needs of developers working on desktop, mobile, and web applications. It includes intelligent code editing, debugging, and profiling capabilities, along with a built-in visual GUI builder for designing Java-based user interfaces. NetBeans also offers support for version control systems like Git, SVN, and Mercurial, facilitating seamless team collaboration. As an Apache Software Foundation project, NetBeans benefits from an active community that continuously improves and expands its functionality, making it a reliable and flexible choice for developers across various domains.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 6
    Atom

    Atom

    GitHub

    Atom is a hackable text editor for the 21st century, built on Electron, and based on everything we love about our favorite editors. We designed it to be deeply customizable, but still approachable using the default configuration. A text editor is at the core of a developer’s toolbox, but it doesn't usually work alone. Work with Git and GitHub directly from Atom with the GitHub package. Create new branches, stage and commit, push and pull, resolve merge conflicts, view pull requests and more—all from within your editor. The GitHub package is already bundled with Atom, so you're ready to go! Atom works across operating systems. Use it on OS X, Windows, or Linux. Search for and install new packages or create your own right from Atom. Atom helps you write code faster with a smart and flexible autocomplete. Easily browse and open a single file, a whole project, or multiple projects in one window.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 7
    NoteTab

    NoteTab

    Fookes Software

    For some NoteTab is simply the best Notepad replacement out there. For webmasters it’s the fastest HTML editor. For others it’s the most versatile text editor. For power users it’s a unique text-processing work horse. What will it be for you? In a moment, we’re going to reveal to you the 10 most significant features that have turned NoteTab into one of the most awarded text editors ever. But first an interesting fact in case you’ve never heard of NoteTab before. The tab bar. It’s a feature users have always loved about NoteTab. Open as many files as you like, each one with its own tab. Rearrange tabs any way you like in the convenient tab bar.
    Starting Price: $39.95 one-time payment
  • 8
    EmEditor

    EmEditor

    Emurasoft

    EmEditor is a fast, lightweight, yet extensible, easy-to-use text editor for Windows. Both native 64-bit and 32-bit builds are available, and moreover, the 64-bit includes separate builds for SSE2 (128-bit), AVX-2 (256-bit), and AVX-512 (512-bit) instruction sets.
    Starting Price: $39.99
  • 9
    Cursor

    Cursor

    Anysphere

    The AI-first Code Editor. Cursor is a next-generation AI-powered code editor designed to accelerate software development with powerful, real-time code assistance. The platform integrates seamlessly with your development workflow, offering advanced features such as natural language code editing, auto-completion, and context-aware suggestions. Cursor predicts your next move and adapts to your coding style, making it an indispensable tool for developers. It also supports a wide range of extensions and themes, ensuring familiarity while introducing cutting-edge AI capabilities. Designed to boost productivity, Cursor simplifies debugging and enhances coding efficiency, empowering developers to work smarter, not harder.
    Starting Price: $20 per month
  • 10
    Komodo IDE

    Komodo IDE

    ActiveState Software

    Code faster with the IDE for today’s web languages – Python, PHP, Perl, Golang, Ruby and more.
  • 11
    Dev-C++

    Dev-C++

    Embarcadero

    Embarcadero Dev-C++ is a new and improved fork (sponsored by Embarcadero) of Bloodshed Dev-C++ and Orwell Dev-C++. It is a full-featured Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and code editor for the C/C++ programming language. It uses Mingw port of GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) as its compiler. Embarcadero Dev-C++ can also be used in combination with Cygwin or any other GCC based compiler. Embarcadero Dev-C++ is built using the latest version of Embarcadero Delphi. Embarcadero Dev-C++ has a low memory footprint because it is a native Windows application and does not use Electron. Optimized for parallel compilation on modern multi-core machines.
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    SeaMonkey

    SeaMonkey

    SeaMonkey

    The SeaMonkey project is a community effort to develop the SeaMonkey Internet Application Suite (see below). Such a software suite was previously made popular by Netscape and Mozilla, and the SeaMonkey project continues to develop and deliver high-quality updates to this concept. Containing an Internet browser, email & newsgroup client with an included web feed reader, HTML editor, IRC chat and web development tools, SeaMonkey is sure to appeal to advanced users, web developers and corporate users. Under the hood, SeaMonkey uses much of the same Mozilla Firefox source code which powers such products as Thunderbird. Legal backing is provided by the SeaMonkey Association (SeaMonkey e.V.). The Internet browser at the core of the SeaMonkey Internet Application Suite uses the same rendering engine and application platform as Mozilla Firefox, with popular features like tabbed browsing, feed detection, popup blocking, smart location bar, find as you type and a lot of other functionality.
  • 13
    CodeLobster IDE

    CodeLobster IDE

    CodeLobster Software

    When you start developing with PHP, you face the problem of deciding which IDE to choose. Most companies sell their IDE's for high prices ($100-$500). We, on the other hand, offer a multifunctional portable IDE absolutely FREE with all these standard features: PHP/HTML/CSS/JavaScript highlighting; advanced PHP/HTML/CSS/JavaScript autocomplete; a powerful PHP debugger; context and dynamic Help; a code validator; a SQL manager and much more. CodeLobster IDE streamlines and simplifies the PHP development process. You don't need to keep in mind the names of functions, arguments, tags or their attributes we've implemented all these for you with autocomplete features for PHP, HTML, JavaScript and even CSS. And you can always get necessary help information by pressing F1 or using the special Help control. An internal free PHP Debugger allows you to validate your code locally.
  • 14
    BlueGriffon

    BlueGriffon

    Disruptive Innovations

    The next-gen Web and EPUB Editor based on the rendering engine of Firefox. BlueGriffon® has a long list of famous ancestors and proudly inherits from all of them: Netscape®, Mozilla® Composer and Nvu. It is powered by Gecko, the same rendering engine you can find at the heart of Firefox®, and is filled with tons of powerful features. BlueGriffon® is used by millions of users around the world, including Universities, Governments and even the European Parliament. It is officially recommended by the French Government as the Web Authoring Tool for the French Administration in its effort to rely on and promote Free Software. BlueGriffon® is used by millions of users around the world, including Universities, Governments and even the European Parliament. It is officially recommended by the French Government as the Web Authoring Tool for the French Administration in its effort to rely on and promote Free Software.
    Starting Price: $87.75 one-time payment
  • 15
    Zed

    Zed

    Zed Industries

    Zed is a next-generation code editor designed for high-performance collaboration with humans and AI. Written from scratch in Rust to efficiently leverage multiple CPU cores and your GPU. Integrate upcoming LLMs into your workflow to generate, transform, and analyze code. Chat with teammates, write notes together, and share your screen and project. Multibuffers compose excerpts from across the codebase in one editable surface. Evaluate code inline via Jupyter runtimes and collaboratively edit notebooks. Support for many languages via Tree-sitter, WebAssembly, and the Language Server Protocol. Fast native terminal tightly integrates with Zed's language-aware task runner and AI capabilities. First-class modal editing via Vim bindings, including features like text objects and marks. Zed is built by a global community of thousands of developers. Boost your Zed experience by choosing from hundreds of extensions that broaden language support, offer different themes, and more.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 16
    Lapce

    Lapce

    Lapdev

    Lapce is a cutting-edge, open-source code editor focused on delivering a fast and responsive experience, particularly for developers working with large projects or complex codebases. Written in Rust, Lapce leverages the performance advantages of native development to provide a smooth editing experience with minimal lag. It features a clean, modern interface and advanced functionality such as multi-caret editing, split views, and integrated terminal support. With built-in support for the Language Server Protocol (LSP), Lapce offers precise autocompletion, syntax highlighting, and code navigation across various programming languages, enhancing productivity. Its extensibility, support for plugins, and focus on performance make Lapce ideal for developers looking for a lightweight yet powerful editor that balances simplicity with capability, appealing to both beginners and seasoned professionals.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 17
    Predator CNC Editor

    Predator CNC Editor

    Predator Software

    The Predator CNC Editor is the most popular CNC code editor available on the market. It includes hundreds of features to improve the day to day productivity of CNC machine tools, operators and CNC programmers, yet it is extremely easy to use. The Predator CNC Editor is the ideal choice for the small job shop or the largest manufacturer.
    Starting Price: $250
  • 18
    CodeSandbox

    CodeSandbox

    CodeSandbox

    CodeSandbox is a cloud development platform that empowers development teams to code, collaborate, and ship projects of any size from any device in record time. Run your code in powerful microVMs and build anything without limits. We configure your environment for you and keep your code always ready, behind a URL. Boxy, the CodeSandbox AI coding assistant, is also now available to all Pro subscribers.
    Starting Price: $12 per month
  • 19
    StackBlitz

    StackBlitz

    StackBlitz

    Create, edit & deploy fullstack apps — in just one click. Create user interfaces that are out of this world thanks to our partnership with Progress KendoReact. Go to Definitions, and other Visual Studio Code features just work. Tweak your app in real time without page reloads while preserving your app state. Import any NPM package into your project quicker than on local. Thanks to our revolutionary in-browser dev server. Drag & Drop files and folders into the editor. No more copy + pasting, uploading, or git commands. Your app is being hosted for easy live sharing. Create new projects by simply POSTing the desired project data from a form— useful when you don't/can't use our Javascript SDK. With your desired StackBlitz project open, simply drag and drop any files and folder you want to import.
    Starting Price: $9 per month
  • 20
    Komodo Edit

    Komodo Edit

    ActiveState

    Komodo Edit is a great editor if you’re looking for something powerful, yet simple. Komodo IDE provides more robust functionality such as debugging, unit testing, code refactoring and code profiling. Software vendors are increasingly the front line of security for their customers since one compromised patch or upgrade can make hundreds or even thousands of your customers susceptible to cyberattacks. Don’t be the next SolarWinds. Rather than implementing multiple point solutions and custom code, the ActiveState Platform can provide you with an out-of-the-box solution that helps ensure the security and integrity of the open source components you import, work with and run.
    Starting Price: $84 per month
  • 21
    Sumocode

    Sumocode

    Sumo Apps

    Create apps and games with just a few lines of code. Learn how to code with gamified examples. Remix example of sample code or write something new from scratch. Inspired by examples, using JavaScript as a language you'll discover how easy it is to program and create games with few lines of code. Boost your creativity with Sumocode, and let your mind build new things! Update your skills and learn how to code like a pro! There's no holding back your imagination! Learn to apply engineering concepts to create digital solutions to problems at hand! It doesn't matter if you're 5, 55, or 105, you can learn to code! Sumocode is here to help you navigate the first steps on your journey to becoming a programmer. It is easier than you think. Learn to build apps and code snippets. It is surprisingly easy with our Sumo3D code library. You can use our examples as the base or create your own apps from scratch.
    Starting Price: $9 per month
  • 22
    Pulsar

    Pulsar

    Pulsar-Edit

    A community-led hyper-hackable text editor. Pulsar works across operating systems. Use it on OS X, Windows, or Linux. Search and install new packages or create your own right from Pulsar. Pulsar helps you write code faster with a smart and flexible autocomplete. Easily browse and open a single file, a whole project, or multiple projects in one window. Split your Pulsar interface into multiple panes to compare and edit code across files. Find, preview, and replace text as you type in a file or across all your projects.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 23
    rnbw

    rnbw

    rnbw

    HTML and CSS are what you see in your browser. they're not just code, they're design tools. when you design with them, you're not on a flat canvas, you're crafting within the web's natural structure. think of the web as boxes inside boxes. this lets you freely move and compose content. with rnbw, you're designing inside the web's framework. working within these limits, you're embracing the essence of web design. rnbw is simple enough for anyone, flexible enough for anything, and open enough to use anyhow. it differs from traditional software by focusing on atomic concepts. while features are great "one-size-fits-all" solutions, atomic concepts multiply their meaning when combined. by breaking down complex ideas into atomic concepts, rnbw allows users to build their solutions in the best way possible that works for them, not others. we believe this design principle is the key to more powerful software.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 24
    WebForge IDE

    WebForge IDE

    Parallax Dynamics

    A complete, powerful web development environment for iOS. WebForge includes everything you need to develop, run, and debug your web projects on your iPad or iPhone. No cloud needed. Includes: - Powerful code editor with syntax highlighting. - Inspect Browser built-in, providing extensive desktop-class browser dev tools. - Complete Git support - clone, branch, commit, pull, and push. - Run entire PHP projects on-device. Support for includes and a wide variety of extensions. Run on your device in the built-in browser. - Clone projects locally to your device or open code stored on iCloud. - Includes customizable and extensive code checking with in-editor notices to keep your code bug-free. - No cloud needed, everything runs on your device. Easily build fantastic web projects on your iPad and iPhone!
    Starting Price: Free
  • 25
    Slater

    Slater

    Slater

    The scripting layer for Webflow powered by AI. We made Slater, a code editor that harnesses the power of AI so you can take your projects to the next level. We are building Slater with feedback from the best Webflow devs in the world. Whether you're part of a team or an individual, Slater helps you supercharge your website seamlessly. Write a prompt, hit enter, and let AI do the heavy lifting. Having an AI tool built into Webflow allows you to quickly and easily generate the exact code you need for your project. Develop faster without being restricted. Work with multiple people on the same project at the same time. Write code for different pages in the same file. Copy the script from Slater, paste the script into your Webflow project, and save. You have now connected the most robust AI-powered modern coding environment you have ever used to your project. Code seamlessly without worry. Ask Slater to write code and continue to refine it with further prompts.
    Starting Price: $10 per month
  • 26
    Toddle

    Toddle

    Toddle

    You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Install native packages with rich functionality and zero need to manage dependencies, no more broken plugins. Install pre-built packages built by a world-class developer community and accelerate your time to market, with no coding required. Design cool components, actions, or formulas, package them, and use them everywhere, no need to mess around with complicated formulas. Toddle is a visual web app builder that rivals custom code but is accessible to your entire team. Professional no-code web app editor, built-in live collaboration, version control, and hosting. Toddle is a visual programming platform for building modern web applications without writing code. You may want to host your Toddle creations yourself instead of relying on Toddle's infrastructure. We offer code export via web components. Live updates when you edit your component in the editor.
    Starting Price: $29 per month
  • 27
    PearAI

    PearAI

    PearAI

    Ask questions or generate code with the context of your codebase for accurate results. This also works with choosing specific folders, online docs, terminal content, files, and more. PearAI can directly code in your files, and allow you to see diffs. Try CMD+I (CTRL+I on Windows). Here, we ask PearAI to help us add error handling and comments. Without writing a single line of code, we were able to make a new feature in an unfamiliar codebase: adding a documentation page to the PearAI landing page. Speed up your development process by seamlessly integrating AI into your workflow. PearAI's goal is to reduce the time it takes for an individual to go from idea to creation. Coding itself is a crucial tool in product development, and we believe that with the advancement of AI, it may drastically change over the coming years. We aim to build the environment that will encompass these changes, both in the short-term and long-term.
    Starting Price: $15 per month
  • 28
    Kakoune

    Kakoune

    Kakoune

    Kakoune is a highly efficient, modal text editor that focuses on real-time feedback and powerful, intuitive multi-selection capabilities. Inspired by Vim but offering its own distinct approach to modal editing, Kakoune prioritizes a selection-based workflow that makes text manipulation feel natural and fluid. Instead of commands operating on cursors, commands operate on selections, allowing users to edit and navigate with precision and speed. Kakoune features robust multi-caret editing, context-aware autocompletion, and extensive language support, with performance optimized for working with large files and complex codebases. Designed to be scriptable and extendable with shell commands, Kakoune integrates smoothly with UNIX tools, giving users flexibility in customization. Known for its responsiveness and adaptability, Kakoune is ideal for developers who prefer a keyboard-driven interface and appreciate real-time, immediate feedback in their editing workflow.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 29
    Code::Blocks

    Code::Blocks

    Code::Blocks

    Code::Blocks is a free, open-source, cross-platform Integrated Development Environment (IDE) primarily designed for C, C++, and Fortran development. Known for its lightweight design and modular structure, Code::Blocks offers a highly customizable interface with support for multiple compilers, including GCC, Clang, and Microsoft Visual C++. It features an intuitive, user-friendly interface with essential tools like syntax highlighting, code folding, auto-completion, and a robust debugging environment with breakpoints, variable inspection, and call stack tracing. Code::Blocks is highly extensible through plugins, enabling developers to add features like version control, scripting support, and custom build tools. Its lightweight nature, flexibility, and cross-platform compatibility make it a popular choice for students, educators, and developers working on small to medium-sized C/C++ projects.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 30
    Aptana

    Aptana

    Axway

    Aptana Studio 3: The world’s most powerful open-source web development IDE just got better. Rebuilt from the ground-up. It's now much faster, customizable and includes new features to help you be more productive. Build web applications quickly and easily using the industry’s leading web application IDE. Aptana Studio harnesses the flexibility of Eclipse and focuses it into a powerful web development engine. Aids in authoring of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Ruby. Supports the latest HTML5 specifications. Includes information about the level of support for each element in the major web browsers. Support for one-shot as well as keep-synchronized setups. Multiple protocols including FTP, SFTP, FTPS and Capistrano. Ability to automatically publish your Ruby & Rails applications to hosting services such as Heroku and Engine Yard. Set breakpoints, inspect variables, control execution. The integrated Ruby & Rails and JavaScript debuggers help you squash those bugs.
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