Graphical
Verdict. The default choice for most developers — free, huge ecosystem, good at everything.
What it is. Microsoft's free, open-source editor, built on Electron. The most widely used code editor, with a marketplace of tens of thousands of extensions.
Good.
- Largest extension ecosystem of any editor — languages, debuggers, themes, and AI assistants
- Built-in terminal, Git, debugging, and remote development (SSH, containers, WSL)
- Free and open source, cross-platform, and constantly updated
Bad.
- Electron-based, so it can feel slower and heavier than native editors, especially on large projects
- Out of the box it is fairly bare — you assemble your ideal setup from extensions
- AI features are built around GitHub Copilot, which is a separate paid plan for heavy use
Best for. Almost anyone — the safe first editor, and the one most tutorials and teams assume you use.
Price: Free / open source (MIT) · Official site · Docs · Download
Verdict. The leading AI-first editor — a VS Code fork where the agent, not the sidebar, is the point.
What it is. An AI-native code editor built on VS Code by Anysphere. Its agent mode can plan, edit many files, and run terminal commands, with tab autocomplete and chat built in.
Good.
- Agent mode handles multi-file features, refactors, and bug fixes in one pass
- Most VS Code extensions, themes, and keybindings carry over
- Access to many frontier models (Claude, GPT, and others) in one UI
Bad.
- Heavy agent use burns through the included usage pool fast — the lower tiers often are not enough for daily agent work
- Closed source and tied to a subscription for its best features
- Lags behind VS Code on some upstream updates
Best for. Developers who want an AI agent as their main way of coding, especially across large or unfamiliar codebases.
Price: Free tier (limited agent use); Plus $8/mo, Premium $30/mo, Super $100/mo, Ultra $200/mo (unified X subscription, Oct 2026) · Official site · Pricing · Docs
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) Official site →
Verdict. A strong AI agent editor — now rebranded as Devin Desktop after Cognition acquired it.
What it is. An AI-powered editor (a VS Code fork) built around Devin Local, the local agent that plans and executes multi-file changes. Acquired by Cognition in 2025 and rebranded Devin Desktop in June 2026 (Cascade, the original agent, was retired July 2026); windsurf.com now redirects to devin.ai/desktop.
Good.
- Devin Local agent handles multi-file edits with whole-codebase awareness
- Feels familiar on day one — a VS Code fork, so extensions and keybindings transfer
- Free tier includes agent access with unlimited tab autocomplete
Bad.
- Rebrand and ownership change (2026) make its long-term roadmap less certain than Cursor's
- Pro rose from $15 to $20/mo in March 2026, now the same price as Cursor
- Usage is metered by daily/weekly quotas rather than a simple monthly allowance
Best for. Developers who want an agentic editor with a good free tier, especially those interested in handing tasks to cloud agents.
Price: Free tier; Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo, Teams $40/user/mo · Official site · Pricing
Verdict. The fastest graphical editor — native Rust speed with real-time collaboration built in.
What it is. A free, open-source code editor written in Rust with GPU-accelerated rendering, built by the team behind Atom. Includes an AI agent panel, edit predictions, and built-in multiplayer editing.
Good.
- Noticeably faster startup and scrolling than Electron editors
- Real-time collaboration with shared cursors built in — no extension needed
- Editor is free and open source; you can bring your own API key or use local models
Bad.
- Extension ecosystem is far smaller than VS Code's and it cannot run VS Code extensions
- Fewer language-specific tools out of the box — you assemble more yourself
- Younger project, so fewer tutorials and less community troubleshooting material
Best for. Developers who find VS Code sluggish and want a fast native editor with AI, especially those happy to bring their own model key.
Price: Free / open source (GPL); Pro $10/mo for unlimited edit predictions + hosted AI credit, Business $30/seat/mo · Official site · Docs · Pricing
Verdict. The speed purist's editor — instant, light, and distraction-free, with a one-time licence.
What it is. A fast, proprietary text editor with multi-cursor editing, Goto Anything navigation, and a large package ecosystem. Evaluation is free with no time limit; a licence removes purchase reminders.
Good.
- Extremely fast startup and low memory use, even on huge files
- One-time licence, not a subscription, with 3 years of updates included
- Goto Anything and multi-cursor editing remain best-in-class for pure text work
Bad.
- No built-in Git, terminal, or debugger — you assemble those via packages
- Smaller, slower-moving ecosystem than VS Code; AI support comes from third-party packages
- Licence is $99, which is hard to justify when VS Code is free
Best for. Developers who want the fastest possible editor for quick edits, huge files, and low-spec machines.
Price: $99 one-time personal licence (3 years of updates); business from $65/seat/yr; unlimited free evaluation · Official site · Download · Docs
Verdict. The most capable language-specific IDEs — deep understanding of your code, at a subscription price.
What it is. A family of full-featured IDEs from JetBrains: IntelliJ IDEA (Java/Kotlin), PyCharm (Python), WebStorm (JavaScript/TypeScript), plus PhpStorm, GoLand, CLion, Rider, and more. Each is tuned to one language ecosystem.
Good.
- Deepest language intelligence: refactoring, inspections, and debugging tuned per language
- Everything is built in — no assembling extensions for core workflows
- Perpetual fallback licence: stop paying and you keep the version you had
Bad.
- Subscription pricing per IDE; costs add up if you use several
- Heavier on RAM and slower to start than lightweight editors
- AI Assistant is a separate subscription on top of the IDE licence
Best for. Professional developers who live in one language all day and want the smartest possible tooling for it.
Price: Paid subscriptions, roughly $8–$20/mo per IDE for individuals (All Products Pack ~$25/mo); free Community editions and free licences for students and open-source projects · Official site · IntelliJ IDEA · PyCharm
Verdict. A beautiful Mac-native editor for web developers who want one polished app, not fifty extensions.
What it is. A macOS-only code editor from Panic (successor to Coda), built fully native — no Electron. Includes a terminal, Git client, publishing tools, and language-server support.
Good.
- Fully native Mac app — fast, polished, and feels like part of macOS
- Terminal, Git, and FTP/SFTP publishing built in, designed to work together
- One-time purchase model — you keep the version you bought
Bad.
- macOS only — no Windows or Linux version
- Extension library is a fraction of VS Code's
- No free tier beyond the 30-day trial; $99 is the priciest commitment here
Best for. Mac-based web developers who value a native, all-in-one app over a huge extension ecosystem.
Price: $99 (includes 1 year of updates); optional $49/yr renewal; 30-day free trial · Official site · Help & docs
Terminal
Verdict. The modern terminal editor — Vim's soul with Lua config, built-in LSP, and a huge plugin scene.
What it is. A free, open-source fork of Vim, rebuilt for extensibility: Lua-based configuration, a built-in language-server client, and a first-class plugin ecosystem. Runs in the terminal or as a GUI via frontends.
Good.
- Blazing fast and keyboard-driven — edit at the speed of thought once the keys are muscle memory
- Built-in LSP, Treesitter, and a huge Lua plugin ecosystem (telescope, lazy.nvim, and more)
- Runs anywhere, including over SSH on remote servers
Bad.
- Steep learning curve — you build your own IDE from plugins and config
- Configuration can become a hobby in itself; updates occasionally break plugins
- No graphical conveniences by default — mouse and menus are afterthoughts
Best for. Terminal-first developers who want a fully custom, keyboard-driven setup they control completely.
Price: Free / open source · Official site · Docs · GitHub
Verdict. The original modal editor — everywhere, rock-solid, and the keybindings every other editor imitates.
What it is. The classic modal text editor, installed by default on most Unix systems since the 1990s. Vim's keybindings are so influential that nearly every editor offers a Vim mode.
Good.
- Available on virtually every Unix machine — often already installed
- Modal editing makes complex edits fast once learned
- Extremely stable, light, and scriptable with Vimscript
Bad.
- Dated defaults and a hard learning curve for beginners
- Modern features (LSP, async plugins) are bolted on rather than built in
- Most new users are better served by Neovim, its actively developed fork
Best for. Anyone who needs to edit files on remote servers, or who wants to learn the keybindings that power Neovim and every Vim mode.
Price: Free / open source (charityware) · Official site · Docs · Download
Verdict. An editor that is also a Lisp machine — infinitely extensible, and a lifestyle choice.
What it is. GNU Emacs is a free, extensible text editor built around Emacs Lisp: it can be a code editor, mail client, calendar, and much more. Org mode alone keeps many users loyal for decades.
Good.
- Infinitely extensible in Emacs Lisp — if you can imagine it, someone has built it
- Org mode is unmatched for notes, planning, and literate programming
- Keyboard-centric workflow with decades of accumulated packages
Bad.
- Steepest learning curve of any editor here, with its own keybinding dialect
- Defaults feel dated; a good setup takes serious configuration
- Can feel slow and heavy compared to Vim-family editors
Best for. Tinkerers and long-term users who want one tool for editing, notes, and everything else — and enjoy configuring it in Lisp.
Price: Free / open source (GPL) · Official site · Manual
Verdict. A modern modal editor that works great out of the box — no plugins, no config rabbit hole.
What it is. A free, open-source terminal editor written in Rust, inspired by Vim and Kakoune. It ships with built-in language-server support, Treesitter syntax, and multiple selections — no plugin system at all.
Good.
- Excellent out of the box — LSP and Treesitter built in, no plugins to install
- Multiple selections and Kakoune-style editing make refactoring fast
- Fast, light, and written in Rust
Bad.
- No plugin system — if a feature isn't built in, you can't add it
- Smaller community and fewer learning resources than Vim or Neovim
- Modal editing still has a learning curve if you're new to it
Best for. Developers who want Vim-style modal editing with modern features working immediately, without building a config.
Price: Free / open source (MPL-2.0) · Official site · Docs · GitHub