What are the best code editors for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android?

Code editors are spe­cial­ised text pro­cessing programs designed to fa­cil­it­ate writing, editing, and managing source code. They offer features such as syntax high­light­ing, auto-com­ple­tion, and error detection to make the work of de­velopers more efficient and organised.

Overview table of the featured code editors

What char­ac­ter­ist­ics define a good web code editor?

Classic coding programs function as a middle-ground option between simple text editors and fully featured IDEs (In­teg­rated De­vel­op­ment En­vir­on­ments). They go beyond basic editors by providing a broader set of tools and cap­ab­il­it­ies. IDEs, on the other hand, bundle numerous in­ter­con­nec­ted features for com­pre­hens­ive software de­vel­op­ment. A code editor is typically included within these extensive de­vel­op­ment en­vir­on­ments—but it rep­res­ents only one component among many.

Even among code editors them­selves, there are con­sid­er­able dif­fer­ences—primarily due to the wide range of markup and pro­gram­ming languages they support. Some editors are par­tic­u­larly well-suited for writing code in C++, Java, or Python, while others are spe­cific­ally built for modern web de­vel­op­ment and design workflows. At a minimum, editors in this category should enable—or ideally simplify—the creation and editing of essential source code such as HTML, CSS, and JavaS­cript. A defining feature of many web-focused editors is the inclusion of a WYSIWYG mode (What You See Is What You Get), which provides a live preview of how the code will ul­ti­mately appear in the browser.

Other features of good code editors for Mac and more include:

• Ability to save projects in any character encoding
• Syntax high­light­ing for various languages (ideally con­fig­ur­able)
• Flexible Find and Replace function that can also process regular ex­pres­sions
• Collapse and expand function for logically related code sections (code folding)
• Auto-com­ple­tion of code (words, functions, para­met­ers)
• Macro editor
• Easy man­age­ment of complete code snippets

An overview of the best code editors for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android

Code editors are very simple programs that require little memory and system per­form­ance. On which device or operating system the programs are used generally depends on the user’s pref­er­ences. However, not every code editor runs on all operating systems, which limits the selection if you’re ex­clus­ively looking for a Linux code editor, for example. As with other software, you can dis­tin­guish between pro­pri­et­ary software, open-source solutions, and freeware, so the decision for or against an online code editor often also considers costs.

To simplify your search for the right code editor for your web project, we introduce the most important options for each operating system and some cross-platform solutions in the following sections.

The best cross-platform web code editors

There are a number of coding programs that can be used across different platforms. In this case, de­velopers offer various in­stall­a­tion files for each system, so you just need to select the ap­pro­pri­ate file to install the program on Windows, macOS, or Linux. However, it’s possible that editions may differ from system to system, so certain features may only be available for Linux users, for example.

GNU Emacs (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android)

In 1984, Richard Stallman developed a revised, open-source version of the editor Emacs, released eight years earlier, under the name GNU Emacs. The now GNU-GPL licensed code editor thus became the first program of the then-emerging GNU Project, which had a major impact on the de­vel­op­ment of the open-source scene and the Linux operating system. Today, the software is available not only for GNU/Linux but also for macOS, Windows, and even Android. Through the C-written pro­gram­ming interface, which includes a built-in in­ter­pret­er for the Lisp pro­gram­ming language, the software can be extended with functions and language supports at will. For down­load­ing and in­stalling these ex­ten­sions, referred to as ‘modes’ in GNU Emacs, this free code program includes its own package manager.

GNU Emacs, due to its strong ex­tens­ib­il­ity, offers access not only to the standard tools of a code editor like auto-com­ple­tion and syntax high­light­ing but also, if desired, to features that go far beyond writing and editing text and code. For example, you can add an audio player, a project planner, and even a web server to the program. A unique feature of this veteran editor is its operation via keyboard shortcuts, which can be learned quickly. Ad­di­tion­ally, Emacs largely allows for mouse control as well.

Phoenix Code Editor (Windows, Linux, macOS, Browser)

The Phoenix Code Editor is the official successor of the dis­con­tin­ued Adobe project Brackets and is being further developed by former members of the Brackets team as an open-source project. Released under the AGPL-3.0 license, the editor is cross-platform, available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and as a browser-based web app. Like its pre­de­cessor, Phoenix is entirely based on HTML, CSS, and JavaS­cript, making it es­pe­cially appealing to web de­velopers who want to work in a modern, light­weight en­vir­on­ment.

Phoenix offers all the essential features of a web code editor, such as syntax high­light­ing, auto-com­ple­tion, and automatic bracket closing. A special feature is the in­teg­rated live preview, which allows you to view changes to HTML and CSS files in real-time in the browser. You can add numerous ex­ten­sions to the editor through the in­teg­rated extension manager, many of which remain com­pat­ible with older Brackets ex­ten­sions. Thanks to its open ar­chi­tec­ture and active community, Phoenix regularly receives new features and im­prove­ments.

Visual Studio Code (Windows, Linux, macOS)

With Visual Studio Code, or VS Code for short, Microsoft released a cross-platform, open-source code editor in 2015, which has since become one of the most popular developer tools worldwide. The editor, available under the MIT license, is based on the Electron framework and is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. VS Code supports a wide variety of pro­gram­ming languages and frame­works and can be expanded almost un­lim­itedly via the in­teg­rated mar­ket­place, also allowing for the addition of various pro­gram­ming languages thanks to its mod­u­lar­ity.

Even in its basic version, Visual Studio Code offers all the core features of a modern editor: syntax high­light­ing, in­tel­li­gent code com­ple­tion (In­tel­li­S­ense), code folding, in­teg­rated Git support, and a built-in terminal console. Through ex­ten­sions from the mar­ket­place, de­velopers can tailor the code program exactly to their needs, making it ideal for web de­vel­op­ment as well. For example, ex­ten­sions for live preview are available. The clear user interface and regular updates make VS Code a flexible and future-proof solution for nearly any de­vel­op­ment en­vir­on­ment.

The best code editors for Windows

The topic of web de­vel­op­ment has always been closely linked with UNIX or Linux. Essential web tools and software like the Apache web server are standard in almost all dis­tri­bu­tions of this operating system family – ad­di­tion­ally, the ad­min­is­trat­ive freedoms offer many users a sig­ni­fic­ant advantage over Windows. Nev­er­the­less, Microsoft systems also enjoy a sub­stan­tial user base when it comes to pro­gram­ming and managing a new website. This is evident in the fact that there are coding programs that are developed ex­clus­ively for Windows.

Notepad++ (Windows)

In 2003, software developer Don Ho pro­grammed Microsoft’s code editor Notepad++, which over the following years became one of the key tools for web de­vel­op­ment on Windows machines. The double plus in the name of the free code editor for Windows refers to the fact that it is written in the C++ language. (Ad­di­tion­ally, Notepad++ uses the text editor component of the Scintilla library.)

Even in its default settings, Notepad++ offers the essential features of a good HTML code editor: The syntax of various languages can be colour-high­lighted, and you can also define your own high­light­ing char­ac­ter­ist­ics op­tion­ally—the same applies to grouping related code sections. Ad­di­tion­ally, Notepad++ provides a ‘Find and Replace’ function, as well as a feature for recording and playing back macros and an auto-com­ple­tion feature (words, functions, para­met­ers). If the cor­res­pond­ing browsers are installed, HTML documents created in Notepad++ can be previewed at any time in Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Internet Explorer.

RJ TextEd (Windows)

The Windows-exclusive code editor RJ TextEd was developed by Rickard Johansson and is available as a free freeware ap­plic­a­tion. The focus of the code program is on editing source and text files (Unicode-capable), making it par­tic­u­larly strong in web de­vel­op­ment with languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaS­cript, or PHP.

RJ TextEd supports a wide range of features: Unicode support including file and path names, tabs for multiple documents, auto-com­ple­tion, code folding, language selection, file explorer with dual-pane view, (S)FTP client for file uploads, theme and layout cus­tom­isa­tion, and extensive search/replace functions across multiple files.

In addition to the version for current Windows operating systems, RJ TextEd offers a separate version spe­cific­ally for older Windows systems like Windows XP and Vista. This variant is designed to ensure that the core func­tion­al­it­ies of the editor run smoothly and ef­fi­ciently on older operating systems. This allows users of outdated PCs to continue enjoying the full range of RJ TextEd’s features without relying on current Windows features.

The best code editors for Mac computers

macOS, the operating system of Apple devices like the iMac or MacBook, is popular among many app and web de­velopers. This is primarily because the system, as a des­cend­ant of BSD (Berkeley Software Dis­tri­bu­tion), natively supports various UNIX de­vel­op­ment tools. The im­press­ive per­form­ance of Apple devices is also a reason why web ap­plic­a­tions are developed on a Mac. Ad­di­tion­ally, iOS apps can only be pro­grammed from a macOS device.

CotEditor (macOS)

The free, open-source CotEditor is a text and code editor spe­cific­ally developed for macOS, known for its deep in­teg­ra­tion into the Apple operating system and its clear user interface. Since its initial release in 2014, CotEditor has been main­tained by a dedicated community and con­tinu­ously adapted to new macOS versions.

The software is fully pro­grammed in Swift and utilises the native frame­works of macOS, allowing it to integrate seam­lessly into the operating system, including dark mode, iCloud support, and the use of built-in spelling and text re­cog­ni­tion features. CotEditor is par­tic­u­larly appealing to de­velopers looking for a light­weight yet powerful editor that is perfectly tailored to the macOS en­vir­on­ment.

Despite its min­im­al­ist design, CotEditor offers all the essential tools for efficient source code work: Syntax high­light­ing for over 60 pro­gram­ming languages, automatic in­dent­a­tion, and code folding help maintain clarity. The multi-tab view allows for sim­ul­tan­eous editing of multiple documents, while the search-and-replace function also supports regular ex­pres­sions. Pro­gram­mers will find the line and character counter, Unicode in­spec­tion function, and the ability to create or customise their own syntax defin­i­tions and themes par­tic­u­larly useful.

BBEdit (macOS)

Among the code editors for Mac, BBEdit is certainly a veteran. The pro­pri­et­ary editor solution from the American company Bare Bones Software was first in­tro­duced in 1992 as a program for the OS X pre­de­cessor, Macintosh System Software 6. Since then, the software has been con­tinu­ously developed, which is why it remains one of the most popular code editors for Mac users even after more than two decades. In addition to the paid licensed edition, Bare Bones Software offers an un­li­censed demo version with limited func­tion­al­ity, which you can use for free and upgrade at any time.

The program delivers a well-rounded com­bin­a­tion of essential code editor functions and advanced features that no­tice­ably stream­line the workflow for web de­velopers. It provides syntax high­light­ing for multiple languages, auto-com­ple­tion, powerful search-and-replace across documents, and code folding. Ad­di­tion­ally, it supports file access via (S)FTP, in­teg­rates with Git and Sub­ver­sion, and offers a wide range of HTML and CSS markup tools (including full HTML5 support). For real-time previews, de­velopers can rely on the built-in WebKit Inspector. BBEdit is also strong in error detection: macOS’s native spell-checker high­lights spelling mistakes directly within the editor, while the HTML Syntax Checker helps identify and correct issues in the markup of your HTML pages.

Acode – the Code Editor for Android

With Acode, Android users have access to a modern, feature-rich code editor and web IDE, which has become one of the most popular solutions for mobile pro­gram­ming in recent years. The app was developed by Foxdebug and is available in both a free and an ad-free premium version. Acode supports you in writing HTML, CSS, JavaS­cript, PHP, Python, C++, Java, and JSON code, offering ex­cep­tion­ally broad language support for a mobile tool. With features like syntax high­light­ing, auto-in­dent­a­tion, code folding, and a live preview, Acode is ideal for writing, testing, and managing web projects directly on a smart­phone or tablet.

Acode delivers a sur­pris­ingly wide range of features usually reserved for desktop editors. Its built-in file manager lets you handle both local projects and remote con­nec­tions via FTP, SFTP, or WebDAV. The editor also comes with GitHub in­teg­ra­tion, support for ex­ten­sions (plugins), and the ability to run code directly inside the app. Tabs, project-saving functions, and a cus­tom­is­able interface make it suitable even for larger projects. Web de­velopers in par­tic­u­lar benefit from the built-in preview feature, which allows HTML files to be rendered im­me­di­ately in the app’s own browser window.