Best Neovim Alternatives 2026

Neovim offers a highly configurable and extensible text editor with a focus on usability and performance enhancements.

This editor features modern plugin architecture, built-in terminal emulator, and support for asynchronous jobs. Its configuration through Lua scripting offers extensive customization, making it a favorite among power users.

7
Top Alternatives
10
User Reviews
4.6
Avg. Rating

Recent Reviews

AJ
Alice Johnson
Software Engineer

"Neovim has completely revolutionized my coding workflow. The speed and customizability are unparalleled. I especially ap..."

BW
Bob Williams
System Administrator

"As a sysadmin, I use Neovim primarily for editing configuration files and scripts. It's lightweight and works perfectly..."

CD
Carol Davis
Web Developer

"Neovim is the perfect editor for web development. The LSP support is fantastic, providing excellent autocompletion and e..."

Neovim

neovim.io

A hyper-extensible text editor based on Vim. It seeks to improve usability and extensibility with a modernized architecture.

Platform Highlights

  • Highly extensible
  • Modern plugin architecture
  • Asynchronous job support
  • Steep learning curve
  • Requires significant configuration
Global Rank
#9000
Monthly Users
150k+
Founded
2014
Model
Free
Revenue Share
N/A
Content Policy
N/A
Creator Satisfaction 88%

Based on 4,000+ creator reviews

Neovim Alternatives

Compare top code editors & ides platforms with detailed reviews and ratings

Filter by:
2

Vim

Free

Vim is a highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing. It is an improved version of the vi editor distributed with most UNIX systems.

Linux, macOS, Windows
Free Option
vim.org
4.6 (10 reviews)
85% recommend
AJ
Alice Johnson
Software Engineer

"Vim is simply unparalleled when it comes to text editing speed and efficiency. The modal editing concept took some getti..."

Match Score
56%
6

GNU Emacs

Free

Emacs is an extensible, customizable, free/libre text editor. It features content-aware editing modes, built-in documentation, Unicode support, and customization using Emacs Lisp code.

Linux, macOS, Windows
Free Option
gnu.org
4.3 (10 reviews)
80% recommend
EV
Eleanor Vance
Software Engineer

"Emacs is an incredibly powerful and extensible text editor. The sheer level of customization available can be overwhelmi..."

Match Score
54%
1

Visual Studio Code

Recommended Free

A lightweight but powerful source code editor with built-in support for many languages and a large extension ecosystem.

Windows, macOS, Linux, Web
Free Option
code.visualstudio.com
4.7 (10 reviews)
90% recommend
AJ
Alice Johnson
Software Engineer

"Visual Studio Code is my go-to IDE. The extensions ecosystem is incredibly rich, allowing me to customize my development..."

Match Score
49%
3

JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA

Freemium

A powerful IDE for JVM languages, known for its smart code completion and extensive plugin ecosystem. Ideal for enterprise development.

Windows, macOS, Linux
Freemium Option
jetbrains.com
4.5 (10 reviews)
85% recommend
AJ
Alice Johnson
Software Engineer

"IntelliJ IDEA is a powerhouse IDE. Its code completion and refactoring tools are unparalleled. Worth every penny."

Match Score
47%
5

Sublime Text

Freemium

A sophisticated text editor for code, markup, and prose. Known for its speed, ease of use and powerful features.

Windows, macOS, Linux
Freemium Option
sublimetext.com
4.3 (10 reviews)
80% recommend
AJ
Alice Johnson
Web Developer

"Sublime Text is my go-to text editor for all my web development projects. Its speed and responsiveness are unmatched, ev..."

Match Score
47%
7

Notepad++

Free

A free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Lightweight and efficient for quick edits.

Windows
Free Option
notepad-plus-plus.org
4.2 (10 reviews)
78% recommend
AB
Alice Brown
Software Engineer

"Notepad++ is an absolute essential for any developer. Its syntax highlighting for a vast array of languages is incredibl..."

Match Score
42%
4

BBEdit

Professional

BBEdit is a professional HTML and text editor for Macintosh. It is crafted to serve the needs of Web and software developers. Great for coding!

macOS
Paid Option
barebones.com
4.4 (10 reviews)
82% recommend
AJ
Alice Johnson
Web Developer

"BBEdit has been my go-to text editor for over a decade. Its powerful search and replace capabilities, coupled with its s..."

Match Score
32%
User Reviews

What users say about Neovim

Real experiences from our community of users who have tried Neovim and its alternatives.

4.6
Average Rating
10
Total Reviews
88%
Would Recommend
AJ
Alice Johnson
Software Engineer • 1 month ago
Verified User

Neovim has completely revolutionized my coding workflow. The speed and customizability are unparalleled. I especially appreciate the active community and the wealth of plugins available. Configuring it to my exact needs took some time, but the end result is a powerful and efficient editor that significantly boosts my productivity. I would recommend it to any developer serious about their craft.

Verified Purchase
BW
Bob Williams
System Administrator • 1 month ago
User

As a sysadmin, I use Neovim primarily for editing configuration files and scripts. It's lightweight and works perfectly over SSH. The syntax highlighting is excellent, and the search functionality is incredibly useful. The learning curve was a bit steep initially coming from more GUI-based editors, but the benefits of speed and customizability are well worth the effort. Definitely a powerful tool for any command-line user.

CD
Carol Davis
Web Developer • 1 month ago
Verified User

Neovim is the perfect editor for web development. The LSP support is fantastic, providing excellent autocompletion and error checking. I've integrated it with several other tools, and it all works seamlessly. The ability to customize the editor with Lua is a game-changer. It allows me to create a personalized development environment tailored to my specific needs, resulting in a significant increase in coding speed and accuracy.

Verified Purchase
DM
David Miller
Data Scientist • 1 month ago
User

Neovim is a powerful editor, but it took me a while to get used to it. The initial configuration can be daunting, and the lack of a GUI might be off-putting to some. However, once you get past the learning curve, it becomes a very efficient tool for coding and scripting. I appreciate the speed and the ability to customize it to my specific needs for data analysis and visualization. Worth the effort for experienced users.

EW
Eve Wilson
Freelancer • 1 month ago
Verified User

Neovim has become an indispensable part of my freelancing toolkit. Its lightweight nature allows me to work seamlessly on various projects with minimal resource consumption. The plugin ecosystem is vast, enabling me to tailor the editor to specific project requirements. The constant updates and active community ensure that it remains a cutting-edge tool. I highly recommend Neovim for any freelancer seeking a versatile and powerful code editor.

Verified Purchase
FG
Frank Garcia
Student • 1 month ago
User

As a student learning to code, Neovim has been a great learning tool. It forces me to understand the underlying concepts rather than relying on automatic features of more beginner-friendly IDEs. The initial setup was challenging, but the online resources and community support were invaluable. I'm now much more comfortable working in a terminal environment and have a deeper understanding of coding principles. A solid choice for dedicated learners.

GR
Grace Rodriguez
DevOps Engineer • 1 month ago
Verified User

Neovim is essential for my DevOps work. Its speed and efficiency are unmatched, especially when working with large configuration files and scripts. The Lua configuration allows me to automate many tasks and integrate it with my existing workflows seamlessly. The remote editing capabilities over SSH are also a major advantage. Neovim has significantly improved my productivity and code quality as a DevOps engineer.

Verified Purchase