Notepad++ is one of the most popular and useful utilities among web developers, coders, and programmers. Its streamlined interface and basic features like syntax folding, support for multiple programming languages like SQL, Pascal, PHP, C, C++, and more make it one of the best text editors on Windows. Unfortunately, there is no dedicated version of Notepad++ available for Mac users. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of these amazing features with high execution speeds. Want to know how? Well, we are talking about the best Notepad++ alternative for Mac in this article!
Collection of Best Text Editors for Mac: Best Notepad++ Alternatives
What are the best text editors for Mac? The market is flooded with tons of text and code editors for Mac operating systems that are comparable to or even better than Notepad++. So, without further ado, let’s take a look!
BBEdit
Mac Text Editor Download: BBEdit is a feature-rich text editor designed for Mac users with easy features for searching, editing, and manipulating text data and source code. Notepad++ alternatives are mostly used by software developers and web designers to use multiple programming languages in one place.
merit
- Elegant interface.
- Powerful HTML markup tools.
- Multiple programming languages are supported.
- Useful features like syntax coloring, code folding, etc.
shortcoming
- Irregular updates.
Price: Free trial (30 days)| $49.99
Brackets
Brackets is a lightweight yet powerful text editor application like Notepad++ for users to work with CSS, HTML, Python, Perl, Ruby, JavaScript, and more. It comes with a useful real-time preview feature that allows users to instantly see changes made to CSS and HTML files in the browser of your choice.
merit
- Useful real-time preview feature.
- Open-source Notepad++ alternative.
- Lightweight apps can run on older Macs.
- All the tools a web developer needs are provided.
shortcoming
- It takes a lot of time to start.
Price: Free
Atom
Next on our list of the best Notepad++ alternatives is Atom for Mac users. It is a simple and straightforward text editor and source code editor, making it one of the favorite text editors for professionals. The tool comes with an appealing grammarly theme and customizes the overall look as per your convenience.
merit
- HiDPI is supported with little to no scaling issues.
- Receive regular updates.
- Contains a large list of packages for the package manager.
- Lets you make core modifications through hacking.
shortcoming
- High memory consumption.
Price: Free Notepad++ Alternative
Sublime Text
Designed and developed by Microsoft, Sublime Text is an effective Notepad++ alternative for Mac users. It comes with a lot of documentation and a wide range of extensions to upgrade. You can use the software to debug code directly in the editor using the interactive console. Sublime Text helps you sync your code between the editor and the server without having to install any additional utilities.
merit
- Better file organization.
- Highly responsive and works with all popular operating systems.
- Lightweight but supports many IDE features.
- Fastest startup and coding.
shortcoming
- Toolbars are missing and need to be easily accessible.
Price: Free | $80
jEdit
Collection of Best Text Editors for Mac: jEdit is an advanced text editor and source code editor for Mac. The app is completely free and has pre-mapped shortcuts for easy coding. It even has a marking feature to quickly return to the marked location. Also, you can copy multiple lines of code because it has an incredible clipboard.
merit
- Broad support for numerous extensions.
- Learn a lot about programming while using jEdit.
- Syntax highlighting supports more than 150 language patterns.
- A height-adjustable Notepad++ alternative according to the user’s needs.
shortcoming
- Depends on Java.
Price: A free alternative to Notepad++
Komodo Edit
What are the best text editors for Mac? Next on our list of the best Notepad++ alternatives for Mac users is Komodo Edit. The code editor comes with a beautiful dashboard to help you organize your projects easily. It also allows users to develop code in multiple programming languages. It even includes a large number of documents to improve the overall workflow.
merit
- Use custom commands to run the file.
- Advanced editor for tracking changes.
- Supports programming languages such as Python and Ruby.
- Grammar checking.
shortcoming
- Irregular updates.
Price: Free Notepad++ text editor alternative
Coda 2
Mac Text Editor Download: Our list of Top 2 Notepad++ Alternatives wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Coda 10. It is a handy open-source text editor with automation features to get tasks done as quickly as possible. It even offers visual tabs and syntax coloring options for easy coding. With Coda 2, you get multiple extensions packaged with the tool to boost overall productivity.
merit
- Effective real-time side-by-side previews.
- A convenient mobile preview is also available.
- Supports a large number of plugin options.
- The table and writing surface are all in one place.
shortcoming
- Very little technical expertise is required.
Price: Free | $99
SlickEdit
SlickEdit is an award-winning alternative to Notepad++ designed by developers for developers using Macs. The app comes with advanced code editing features and plenty of graphical project tools. In addition, it includes a dedicated command panel and the ability to manage multiple items, symbols, classes, as well as a large number of files.
merit
- Highly compatible with most programming languages.
- Debug and compile files with ease.
- Click the “Error” button to detect the exact error location.
- Nine different platforms are supported.
shortcoming
- Lag when working on large projects.
Price: Free | $299
MacVim
Mac Text Editor Download: MacVim is one of the most configurable text editors for Mac users, available for free and available on different platforms. Unlike most Notepad++ alternatives, MacVim supports multiple windows with tabbed editing. In addition, it has a full-screen mode, an ODB editor, and multi-byte editing capabilities.
merit
- Bind to a standard OS X keyboard shortcut.
- Provide a transparent background.
- Drag-and-drop operation is supported.
- Highlighting syntax is supported.
shortcoming
- Not intended to be a WYSIWYG processor.
Price: A free Notepad++ alternative for Mac
Nova 3
Collection of Best Text Editors for Mac: Last but not least, Nova 3 is a dedicated app that helps create text-based documents and structures. Notepad++ alternatives offer a wide range of search and replace capabilities as well as syntax coloring tools and support for FTP/SFTP. All features are packaged in a minimalist interface, making it a suitable choice for both novice and advanced users.
merit
- Simple and straightforward dashboard.
- Extensive text manipulation capabilities.
- Easily apply syntax shading patterns.
- Set up complex find and replace rules.
shortcoming
- Large files are slow.
Price: Free | $99
Which is the best Notepad++ alternative tool to use on Mac?
What are the best text editors for Mac? This sums up the list of the top 10 alternatives to Notepad++ for MacBook users. As we always say, there will never be just one software that best suits your needs. That’s why we recommend trying several text editors from this list and choosing the one that works best for you. Most of them have a free trial period, so you can easily use them and make a final decision.
If you don’t want to spend too much time looking for the best options for text editing and manipulation, we recommend using BBEdit & Brackets!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q1. Does Notepad++ work on Mac?
Unfortunately, Mac users can’t use the dedicated version of Notepad++. But you can try the above text editors and code manipulation software to get the job done.
Q2. What can I use instead of Notepad++?
Atom, Sublime Text, Coda 2, and Komodo Edit are some good alternatives to Notepad++.
Q3. Which text editor should I use for Python on Mac?
Sublime Text and MacVim are the ultimate options for Python on Mac.
