Best Kakoune Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 platforms from text editors ranked against Kakoune on the same published basis.
- 1Kakoune vs Neovim
- 2Kakoune vs Visual Studio Code
- 3Kakoune vs Notepad++
- 4Kakoune vs Kate
- 5Kakoune vs Zed
- 6Kakoune vs EmEditor
- 7Kakoune vs BBEdit
- 8Kakoune vs Geany
- 9Kakoune vs Bluefish
- 10Kakoune vs Lapce
- 11Kakoune vs Sublime Text
- 12Kakoune vs UltraEdit
- 13Kakoune vs Helix
- 14Kakoune vs TeXworks
- 15Kakoune vs Vim
- 16Kakoune vs Micro
- 17Kakoune vs jEdit
- 18Kakoune vs Microsoft Editor
- 19Kakoune vs EditiX
- 20Kakoune vs Fresh
Kakoune alternatives compared
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neovim | 8.9 | Free plan | Free | Android, API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 2 | Visual Studio Code | 7.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 3 | Notepad++ | 7.4 | Free plan | Free | Windows |
| 4 | Kate | 7.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 5 | Zed | 7.4 | Free plan | $10/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | EmEditor | 7.4 | No | $0.42/mo | Windows |
| 7 | BBEdit | 7.3 | Free plan | $59.99/mo | Mac |
| 8 | Geany | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 9 | Bluefish | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 10 | Lapce | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 11 | Sublime Text | 6.8 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 12 | UltraEdit | 6.8 | No | $7.91/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 13 | Helix | 6.8 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 14 | TeXworks | 6.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 15 | Vim | 6.7 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 16 | Micro | 6.7 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 17 | jEdit | 6.6 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 18 | Microsoft Editor | 6.6 | No | — | — |
| 19 | EditiX | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 20 | Fresh | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
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Questions about Kakoune alternatives
What is the best alternative to Kakoune?
Neovim, number 1 in text editors with a score of 8.9 out of 10. The others here: Visual Studio Code, Notepad++, Kate and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Kakoune?
Neovim is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 13 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it.