5 alternatives to Notepad++ on Mac

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Key findings

  • Brackets, CodeRunner 4 and Nova 3 are top alternatives to Notepad++ on Mac and offer unique features for web design and development.
  • Each alternative has its own set of tools and extensions, from live previews to code completion, to meet different programming needs.
  • Visual Studio Code and Sublime Text are also popular Notepad++ alternatives on Mac and offer customizable and efficient text editing functionality.



Thanks to its remarkable execution speed, syntax highlighting, multi-view, macro reading, and customization options, Notepad++ is undoubtedly one of the best text and source code editors on the market. However, it is only available on the Windows platform. Fortunately, for macOS users, there is no shortage of Notepad++ alternatives. You can choose one based on your preferences, budget, and the features it offers. Read on to learn about the best Notepad++ equivalents for Mac.

6 Brackets

Brackets on the Mac

Source: Brackets

Brackets is maintained by Adobe and is aimed at web designers and front-end developers. It is free, open source and one of the best alternatives to Notepad++ on Mac. Developers use it primarily for web design and development and the software is written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.


One of the really useful features of Brackets is the Live Preview. As the name suggests, you will see the changes live on your browser tab as you tweak CSS and HTML. Just use the Command + Option + P Buttons to enable live preview. Besides live preview, it supports inline editors, preprocessor support, color, gradient and image preview.

You can also go to the Extension Manager in Brackets and download some of the popular add-ons like Auto Close Tag, Color Highlighter, Autoprefixer, Beautify, Emmet and more (be sure to check extension compatibility with your Brackets version).

Brackets text editor

5 CodeRunner4

CodeRunner on the Mac

Source: CodeRunner


CodeRunner 4 is a solid, lightweight IDE (integrated development environment) programming editor for the Mac. The latest CodeRunner 4 offers native support for Apple Silicon and comes with a number of useful features to help you complete your project like a pro. It supports 25 languages, including AppleScript, C, C++, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, Node.js, and more. However, code completion and debugger support vary from language to language. Be sure to check out the company's language overview page before you click the buy button.

Other features include a code tokenizer for Swift, a search option in the sidebar, printing improvements, macOS compatibility, debugging, and more. It also supports dark mode. CodeRunner 4 costs $20 and is available from the Mac App Store.

Coderunner

4 Nova3


Nova 3 is another feature-rich native Notepad++ alternative for Mac. The built-in text editor is the heart and soul of Nova 3. It is a flexible text editor with useful features like auto-completion, tag pairs, brackets, a minimap, and more.

Nova also offers built-in debugging support for popular programming languages ​​such as PHP, Python, Node.js, Deno, and Chrome, saving developers a ton of time. You can also leverage Nova's extension library to add support for more languages, or build your own using the company's extension API.

Some of the most popular extensions are Beautify, Ashokai, Rust, Python, TypeScript, Deno, Copilot for Nova, and more. The built-in tools like a local file browser, text clips, Git, task reports, file tracking, and publishing improve your workflow and increase your productivity. You can also split the sidebar to check multiple tools at once. Nova costs $99 as a one-time purchase.


nova

3 BBEdit

BBEdit text editor

Source: BBEdit

BBEdit is another robust text editor with a long list of text editing features. It offers a clean and efficient interface, powerful search and replace features, built-in syntax highlighting, code folding for numerous programming languages, and all the necessary development tools like HTML and CSS markup tools, live preview, and built-in validation.

While it was already a capable Notepad++ alternative for Mac, the company has taken it to the next level with BBEdit version 15. It finally introduces a number of long-awaited features, such as a minimap that lets you take a look at your active text document, an expandable cheat sheet, AI chat worksheets, improvements to the project workspace, and other UI updates.


BBEdit 15 costs $40 as a one-time purchase. Existing BBEdit 14 users can purchase it for $30.

bbedit-2021-07-23

2 Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code on Mac

Source: Visual Studio Code

When we talk about the best Novapad++ alternatives for Mac, how can we leave out Microsoft Visual Studio Code from the list? Thanks to its long list of features and extensibility, Visual Studio Code is very popular among developers.

Its IntelliSense is a useful add-on that suggests smart completions based on variable types and function definitions. Like other tools, Visual Studio Code has a robust extension gallery that lets you streamline your workflow in a snap. Some of the most popular titles include GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Tabnine, Bookmarks, CodeSnap, GitHistory, and more.


VS Code is also quite customizable. You can experiment with different themes, keyboard shortcuts, and other settings. It supports debugging for Node.js, JavaScript, and Typescript out of the box. Visual Studio Code is free to download and use. The software is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Microsoft Visual Studio

1 Sublime text

Sublime Text for Mac

Source: Sublime Text

Sublime Text is a powerful text editor for programming on Mac. Many developers prefer Sublime Text because of its minimalistic interface, useful features, and solid performance. The company has also redesigned the interface with support for dark themes.


The “Go to All” feature can save developers a lot of time. They can simply Command + P Keys and jump to symbols, lines or words in seconds. You can also select and change multiple lines at once. Other features include plugin support, quick project switching, split editing, auto-completion and more.

Sublime Text is a cross-platform solution with native apps for Windows, Linux, and Mac. It's free to download and use, but you'll often get pop-ups asking you to purchase the software for $99.

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Continue your projects on Mac

The unavailability of Notepad++ on Mac shouldn't stop you from exploring Apple's desktop operating system. Thanks to some robust text editors on Mac, we're sure you won't miss having Notepad++ on your Mac. If you're new to macOS, check out the first things you should do on your Mac. You can also take a look at our separate post to find the best Mac apps.

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