Zed alternatives

12 Windows apps in the same category as Zed, ranked by what they have in common and by popularity.

• 
  Notepad++

  Notepad++ is a free source code editor that supports several languages.

  Open source 8.9.8.1 22M ↓ ★ 29.6K editor, text-editor, development
• 
  Atom

  A hackable text editor for the 21st Century, free and open source.

  Open source 1.60.0 1.3M ↓ ★ 60.7K editor, text-editor, development
• 
  Neovim

  Vim-fork focused on extensibility and usability

  Open source 0.12.6 744.4K ↓ ★ 103.1K editor, text-editor, development
• 
  Geany

  A powerful, stable and lightweight programmer's text editor that provides tons of useful features without bogging down your workflow.

  Open source 2.1.0 36.4K ↓ ★ 3.7K editor, text-editor, development
• 
  FontForge

  FontForge is a free and open source font editor brought to you by a community of fellow type lovers.

  Open source 20251009 19.3K ↓ ★ 8K editor
• 
  WordPress.com

  A control panel for all your WordPress sites.

  Open source 8.2.4 11.2K ↓ ★ 12.6K editor
• 
  Brackets

  With focused visual tools and preprocessor support, Brackets is a modern text editor that makes it easy to design in the browser. It's crafted from the ground up for web designers and front-end developers.

  Open source 1.14.17770 180.6K ↓ ★ 33K editor
• 
  Avidemux

  Avidemux is a simple platform video editor for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.

  Open source 2.8.1 78.3K ↓ ★ 984 editor
• 
  GNU Emacs

  An extensible, customizable, free/libre text editor - and more.

  Open source 31.1 135.1K ↓ editor, text-editor, development
• 
  Helix

  Helix Editor

  Open source 25.07.1 20.6K ↓ ★ 46.7K editor, text-editor, utility
• 
  Markdown Monster

  The Markdown Editor for Windows

  Proprietary 4.6.0.0 204.6K ↓ ★ 1.7K editor, text-editor
• 
  MarkText

  A simple and elegant Markdown editor focused on speed and usability.

  Open source 0.23.0 28.2K ↓ ★ 63K editor, utility

Comparison

App	Licence	Version	Updated	GitHub stars	Chocolatey downloads
Zed	Open source	1.26.2	October 28, 2026	92K	—
Notepad++	Open source	8.9.8.1	September 24, 2026	29.6K	22M
Atom	Open source	1.60.0	March 8, 2022	60.7K	1.3M
Neovim	Open source	0.12.6	October 9, 2026	103.1K	744.4K
Geany	Open source	2.1.0	July 6, 2025	3.7K	36.4K
FontForge	Open source	20251009	October 18, 2025	8K	19.3K
WordPress.com	Open source	8.2.4	September 29, 2026	12.6K	11.2K
Brackets	Open source	1.14.17770	June 8, 2021	33K	180.6K
Avidemux	Open source	2.8.1	February 14, 2025	984	78.3K
GNU Emacs	Open source	31.1	August 31, 2026	—	135.1K
Helix	Open source	25.07.1	July 18, 2025	46.7K	20.6K
Markdown Monster	Proprietary	4.6.0.0	October 27, 2026	1.7K	204.6K
MarkText	Open source	0.23.0	October 21, 2026	63K	28.2K