13 Best Free Code Editor & Coding Software for Windows & Mac

By : Matthew Martin Matthew Martin
Hours Updated

Every year, many new Code Editors are launched, and the developer finds it challenging to choose one. Following is a curated list of the top source code and text editor software for Windows and Mac platforms. All the editors in the list are Free to use. The code editor could be standalone or integrated into an IDE.

Best Code Editor & Coding Software for Windows PC & Mac

Name Platform Price Link
Dreamweaver Windows, Android and iOS 7 Days Free Trial Learn More
Notepad++ Windows Free Learn More
Visual Studio Code Windows, Mac & Linux Free Learn More
Webuilder Windows Paid Learn More
NetBeans Windows, Mac & Linux Free Learn More

#1) Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver is a popular Code Editor & Coding Software. This tool helps you to create, publish, and manage websites. A website created with DreamWeaver can be uploaded to any web server.

#1 Top Pick
Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver
5.0

Supported programming languages: Java, Kotlin, Scala, and Groovy

Drag-and-drop interface: Yes

Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS

Free Trial: 7 Days Free Trial

Visit Dreamweaver

Features:

  • Dynamic websites can be quickly developed using Dreamweaver.
  • You can create a website that fits any screen size.
  • This tool helps you to customize workspace the way you like.
  • It has an inbuilt HTML validator to validate your code.
  • Provides Real-time collaboration, Live Preview, Drag-and-drop Editor, Multilingual, Syntax Highlighting, and Dual View
  • Supports compliance standard such as GDPR
  • Provides numerous plugins like Code View
  • Seamlessly integrates with Fireworks and Flash
  • Offers ready-made templates for blogs, ecommerce, newsletters and portfolios
  • Provides programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
  • Offers flexible coding, Seamless Live View editing, Multi-monitor, and Redesigned
  • It provides customer support via Phone and Chat
  • Price: Plans start at $20.99 a month.
  • Free Trial: 7 Days Free Trial
  • Supported Platforms: Windows, Android and iOS

Visit Dreamweaver >>

7 Days Free Trial

#2) Notepad++

Notepad++ is a popular free to use code editor written in C++. It uses pure win32 API which offers greater execution speed and small program size. It is one of the best code editor that runs only in the window’s environment, and it uses GPL License.

Notepad++

Platform: Windows

Price: Free

Features:

  • This free text editor supports syntax highlighting for languages like PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS
  • Auto-completion: Word completion, Function completion
  • This free code editor provides macro recording and playback
  • User-defined Syntax highlighting and folding
  • Entirely customizable GUI
  • Multi-view and Multi-Language support

Download link: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

#3) Visual Studio Code [VS Code]

Visual Studio Code is an open source code editor software developed by Microsoft. This free text editor offers built-in support for TypeScript, JavaScript, and Node.js. It’s autocompleted with IntelliSense features provides smart completions based on variable types, essential modules, and function definitions.

VisualStudioCode

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

Price: Free

Features:

  • Easy working with Git and other SCM (Software Configuration management) providers
  • Code refactoring & debugging
  • This code editor for Mac is easily extensible and customizable

Download link: https://code.visualstudio.com/

#4) Webuilder

Webuilder is a powerful, fast, and intelligent code editor for web developers. It helps you to create and manages HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, Python, ASP, SSI and Perl code. You can integrate tools and let you validate, format, reuse, and deploy your code quickly and efficiently.

Webuilder

Platform: Windows

Price: Paid

Features:

  • Webuiler Offers highly advanced and up to date coding features
  • You can edit directly on your web server or publish local development copy updates.
  • It’s PHP editor comes with auto complete, syntax check, debugger, beautifier and more.
  • Provides code snippet library and code templates with assignable shortcuts
  • It offers a code snippet library and code templates with assignable shortcuts.

Visit Webuilder >>

#5) NetBeans

NetBeans is an open-source code editor tool for developing with Java, PHP, C++, and other programming languages. With this editor, code analyzers, and converters. It is one of the best code editor for Windows that allows you to upgrade your applications to use new Java 8 language constructs.

NetBeans

Platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux

Price: Free

Features:

  • Easy & Efficient Project Management
  • This free text editor offers fast & Smart Code Editing
  • Rapid User Interface Development
  • Helps you to write bug-free code

Download link: https://netbeans.apache.org/

#6) Bluefish

Bluefish a is a cross-platform editor is a speedy tool which can handle dozens of files simultaneously. It is one of the best coding apps for PC which allows developers to conduct remote editing. This code editor tool offers many options to programmers and web developers, to write websites, scripts, and programming code.

Bluefish

Price: Free

Platforms: Mac Windows Linux

Features:

  • It is one of the best IDE for Mac that loads hundreds of files within seconds
  • Auto-recovery of changes in modified documents after a crash, kill or shutdown.
  • Project support feature helps you to work efficiently on multiple projects.
  • Unlimited undo/redo functionality.

Download link: http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/index.html

#7) VIM

Vim is an advanced text editor open source tool which is also considered to be an IDE in its way. This tool allows managing your text editing activities with vim editors and UNIX System which can be used on-premise or online.

VIM

Price: Free

Platform: Linux

Features:

  • Extensive plugin support
  • Powerful search and replace
  • This programming editor integrates with many tools
  • Macro recording and playback
  • Support for hundreds of programming languages and file formats

Download link: https://www.vim.org/

#8) Geany

Geany is a text editor which uses GTK+ toolkit. It also has certain basic features of an integrated development environment. The tool supports many filetypes and has some nice features.

Geany

Price: Free

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

Features:

  • Allows you to add a note for applying the indent settings in the project preferences
  • Navigating through the source code
  • This source code editor allows popup menu on message window notebooks and sidebar
  • Show status message on attempt to execute empty context action

Download link: https://www.geany.org

#9) Komodo Edit

Komodo edit is an easy to use and powerful code editing tool. It is one of the best free text editor which allows you to do debugging, unit testing, code refactoring. It also provides code profile, plus integrations with other technologies like Grunt, PhoneGap, Docker, Vagrant and many more.

Komodo Edit

Price: Free Trial

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

Features:

  • Multi-Language Editor
  • A lot of contemporary color schemes
  • Native Unicode support and Unicode compatibility checking
  • Easily integrates into the desktop environment.

Download link: https://www.activestate.com/products/komodo-edit/

#10) Emacs

Emacs is a Unix based text editor tool which is used by programmers, engineers, students, and system administrators. It allows you to add, modify, delete, insert, words, letters, lines, and other units of text.

Emacs

Price: Free

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

Features:

  • Complete built-in documentation
  • Full Unicode support for many human scripts
  • This lightweight code editor is highly customizable, using Emacs Lisp code.
  • A packaging system for installing and downloading extensions

Download link: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

#12) TextMate

TextMate is a versatile plain text editor for mac with unique and innovative features. The tool offers support for many programming languages, writing prose in structured formats such as blogging, running SQL queries, writing screenplays, etc.

TextMate

Price: Free

Platform: MAC

Features:

  • Auto-Indent for Common Actions
  • CSS-like Selectors to find the Scope of Actions and Settings
  • Dynamic Outline for Working With Multiple Files
  • Function Pop-up for Quick Overview and Navigation
  • Run Shell Commands from Within a Document
  • Visual Bookmarks to Jump Between Places in a File

Download link: http://macromates.com/

#13) gedit

Gedit tool is designed as a general-purpose text editor. It offers simple and eases to use GUI. It includes features for editing source code and structured text like markup languages.

gedit

Price: Free

Platforms: Mac & Windows

Features:

  • Support for syntax highlighting for languages like C, C++, Java, HTML, XML, Python, etc.
  • Editing files from remote locations
  • Support for text wrapping and auto indentation
  • Search and replace with the support of regular expressions
  • A flexible plugin system which allows you to add new features

Download link: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Gedit

#14) Light Table

Light Table is an IDE and text editor tool for coding software. It is one of the best free code editor tool that offers fast feedback and allowing instant execution, debugging and access to documentation.

Light Table

Price: Free

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

Features:

  • Inline Evaluation
  • Light Table is a lightweight, clean, and sleek interface.
  • Powerful editing and plugin manager
  • The feature of println to keep track of critical values in your code

Download link: http://lighttable.com/

#15) Blue Griffon

BlueGriffon is an open source HTML editor powered by Gecko, which is Firefox’s rendering engine. This programming editor has a simple interface and most usual features needed to create web pages that are compliant with W3C web standards.

Blue Griffon

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

Features:

  • Easy to change the color of font or to adjust the border style
  • Opens Tabs from Last Session
  • Shortcuts for CSS Editing
  • Multiple Themes for Source View

Download link: http://bluegriffon.org

FAQs:

A Code Editor is a special text editor program designed to write and edit source code and computer programs. It helps programmers easily write and edit source code and programs by differentiating elements and in-built routines.

Following are some of the best Coding software for Windows and Mac:

Below are the factors you should consider while choosing the right Code Editor for your needs:

  • Multiple Language Support
  • Syntax Highlighting
  • Autocomplete
  • In-built compiler
  • Built-in Debugging
  • Drag and Drop GUI features
  • Multiple OS support
  • Extra Features offered
  • Ease of using

Best Code Editor & Coding Software for Windows PC & Mac

Name Platform Price Link
Dreamweaver Windows, Android and iOS 7 Days Free Trial Learn More
Notepad++ Windows Free Learn More
Visual Studio Code Windows, Mac & Linux Free Learn More
Webuilder Windows Paid Learn More
NetBeans Windows, Mac & Linux Free Learn More
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