17 Best Free HTML Editors in 2023

Creating, managing, and editing web pages have never been so easy and hassle-free. We’ve picked up the best HTML editors for you to help you achieve a sensational website.
Gone are the days when you needed to type all the code yourself by hand. Though there are many webmasters who still love to do that. But for those who don’t want that, here at TemplateToaster HTML website builder, I have list of best HTML editor to help you reduce your load.
In this post, I will discuss the best HTML editors to support you write most efficient code for your website.
Code editors or HTML editors are the most important part of website development. Any web developer or wannabe web professional should have this list of best HTML editors handy in order to keep up the efficiency and productivity.
What is HTML Editor?
HTML editor is a tool that helps you to edit and create HTML(Hypertext Markup Language) code. It is a text-based tool which lets you edit your source code directly.
HTML editor is the essential part of the web development!
It is a best practice to take help of HTML editors as they give you a clear understanding of the code. Most of the professional web developers depend on the HTML editors to maintain and create their websites.
Benefits of Using HTML Editors
When you own a website and you want to share your valuable content with your users then the first thought that happens to comes to the mind must be about how your website should look like. Right?
Creating a website can be really exhausting if you don’t have the access to various helpful tools for web designing. However, HTML editor comes under the category of the finest tools available in the market and online too, to give you an amicable designing experience.
Helping tools like HTML editors are intelligently made to assist you to write better code and resolve all your issues and make sure that you won’t have to experience any complications while designing a website. They make sure that your desired website should both looks and works fine.
HTML editors or online HTML editors are made to identify the errors in your code, you don’t have to scroll the hundreds of lines of your code to find the error manually. You can also read about best HTML validators
What a relief!
2 Types of HTML Editors
1.The Textual HTML Editor
2.WYSIWYG HTML Editor.
Textual HTML Editor
This is a perfect fit for the experienced web developers because it shows you the code in the same manner you have written it. Beware! Before stepping into the textual HTML editor make sure you are a hardcore coder otherwise, you might land up in a dilemma.
WYSIWYG Editor
What You See Is What You Get editor as the name implies itself that it is an editor that gives you the result exactly the same what you see. Which means while designing website you know how exactly it will look like after completion.
You will get easy to use drag and drop facility with most of the WYSIWYG editors for easy handling.
Here at Templatetoaster offline website builder, I have curated a list of HTML editors according to the platforms they are used on.
List of Best Free Html Editors
- Notepad ++
- Adobe Dreamweaver CC
- CoffeeCup
- Aptana Studio 3
- NetBeans
- Bluefish
- Sublime Text
- Phase 5 HTML editor
- Kompozer
- NoteTab
- Atom
- BareBonesEdit
- CotEditor
- Brackets
- Komodo Edit
- TextMate
- UltraEdit
Best Html Editors for Windows, Linux, MacOS Platforms (2023)
1. Notepad++ (Free)
- Notepad ++ is a freely available code editor.
- Notepad ++ is available explicitly for Windows users. It is an advanced version of previous release Notepad.
- It has all the features and capabilities which the previous version “Notepad” was unable to provide.
- One of Notepad ++ prominent features is that it highlights the syntax and auto-completes the function.
- Also, you got the chance to edit multiple documents in multiple tabs. Notepad ++ is a perfect choice for ace web developers.
- Multi-document and multi-tab options.
2. Adobe Dreamweaver CC
The Grandeur of the software can be seen from its UI itself. Adobe Dreamweaver is especially made for graphic designers, front-end developers and web designers. Developed by the tech giant Adobe Inc., Dreamweaver is a part of Adobe Creative Cloud suite. The tool can be used by integrating it with any other software in Adobe CC suite. Dreamweaver comes with Fluid Grid Layouts and Visual Media Queries elements which help in creating responsive or mobile friendly designs.
Key Features
- Dedicated support through forums, feedback support, and social media availability to solve user problems.
- Bootstrap integration to create responsive designs.
- Developers and designers can edit different types of documents such as HTML, Javascript, PHP, XML, SQL, SVG, JSON templates, etc to create designs of their dreams.
- Create dynamic websites with the smart coding engine, i.e. provides coding hints to speed up site development.
- This editors modern UI helps to edit the design and code seamlessly.
- Multi-monitor support to expand your workspace.
- Collaboration with Git support to manage the source code in the development process.
- Dreamweaver is a multilingual software, supports more than 20 languages.
Pros
- Available for Windows and Mac OS.
- Prior versions can be used once the latest version is installed.
- Robust design surface and also supports WYSIWYG editor modes.
- Visual aids available to reduce errors and preview designs.
Cons
- 7-day trial available to only users having Creative Cloud(CC) membership.
- Pricing is high.
3. CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor (Free & Paid)
- CoffeeCup comes in two versions first one the free version with limited features and the second version having full features is a paid.
- The free version is a text editor whereas the paid version is WYSIWYG editor.
- WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) version provides you the live preview of your site.
- CoffeeCup is fully compatible with both Windows and macOS platforms.
- Paid version of CoffeeCup HTML editor include Tag Library, HTML & CSS Validation, Suggestive Code Completion etc.
- Auto-completion of tags as soon as you type them.
- Built-in Validation tool which allows you to check code for all pages.
- Split screen view for the live preview of your site.
4. Aptana Studio 3 (Free)
- Aptana Studio 3 is an open source web application IDE (Integrated Development Environment).
- Aptana Studio 3 is available for cross platforms like Linux, Windows, and macOS. It is free.
- Besides HTML5 code, Aptana Studio 3 lets you edit, build and preview your CSS, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, PHP, and Python code as well.
- Aptana permits you to put your design under Git source control.
- The biggest advantage of using this html editor is its customizability.
- Multiple protocols such as FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and Capistrano.
5. NetBeans (Free)
- NetBeans is a free and open source HTML editor.
- NetBeans is an impressive Java IDE which enables you to build the powerful web applications.
- It is super helpful in developing web applications, desktop applications, and mobile applications as well.
- You can freely develop your code in HTML5, C++, PHP, JavaScript and many other programming languages.
- NetBeans IDE can be installed on multiple operating systems like Linux, Windows, macOS.
6. Bluefish (Free)
- Bluefish is one more powerful HTML editor build especially for pro developers and programmers. It is a free HTML editor.
- Bluefish runs on many platforms like Solaris, Windows, Linux, OpenBSD, MacOS.
- The noteworthy features of Bluefish are auto-completion, auto tag closing for many programming languages, even for nested languages.
- Autosave, multi-project support, and spell check.
- Lightweight neat and clean GUI (Graphical User Interface) editor.
- Strong search and replace.
- Snippet sidebars.
- Auto recovery option for sudden data loss like the crash, kill or shut down.
7. Sublime Text HTML Editor (Free & Paid)
- Sublime Text is one of the sophisticated text html editors that let you select multiple lines at a time and can makes changes in them at the same time without any hassle.
- Sublime Text has the syntax highlight feature for many languages like HTML, C, C++, C#, CSS, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, and many more.
- Multiple color scheme.
- Sublime Text is accessible to cross platforms like macOS, Linux, and Windows.
- Autosave so that you never lose your precious data.
- Autocomplete option.
- Options for Macros and Snippets.
- You can download Sublime Text for free and test it. Whereas, if you want to access the main features of it, then you will have to buy the license key for that.
- Bookmarks; put your mind at rest and let bookmarks do the work.
8. Phase 5 HTML Editor (Free & Paid)
- Phase 5 is an impressive German HTML editor.
- It is a freeware but only for Schools and Home users. If you run a big organization or a Company then you are required to buy the license key to run the program.
- Phase 5 is compatible with Windows only.
- Phase 5 HTML editor support different languages suchlike HTML, PHP, Java, JavaScript, Pearl, and VBScript.
- It has a crisp and clear Menu arrangement.
- Integrated file management makes the switching between different documents easy.
- Phase 5 has a tidy interface to work with.
9. Kompozer Web Editor (Free)
- Kompozer is a free and open source HTML editor with easy to use WYSIWYG editor.
- Kompozer is a great option for beginners to create a professional looking website.
- You can easily edit your web pages with the WYSIWYG editor.
- Easy switching between WYSIWYG mode and HTML mode.
- You are free to customize your toolbar.
- An integrated in-line spell checker.
- Kompozer offers you cross-platform compatibility. thus, can run easily run on Linux, Windows, and macOs.
- Integrated file management via FTP.
10. NoteTab (Free & Paid)
- NoteTab is a free text editor for Windows and Linux. This html editor full feature version is paid.
- It is really fast and reliable.
- Syntax highlighting feature to give you the clear idea.
- Clipbook feature of NoteTab has a huge collection of pastable text snippets all associated with header tags.
- Insert code snippets.
- Out of the list of the documents, simple drag and drop the code snippets.
- Easy to insert tags and other HTML code form the toolbar.
- Easy multiple page handling.
- Autocomplete feature to insert tags.
11. Atom – best html editor
- Atom is another superlative HTML editor. It is a great open source text editor by GitHub.
- It is one of the leading WYSIWYG editor available.
- Provides you the cross-platform option. It supports macOS X, Windows, and Linux.
- Smart auto completion option to give you faster results.
- Easy find and replace option. It is a free HTML editor.
- Easy to navigate interface.
- Multiple panes option for easy comparison across files.
- Simple file browsing system to provide you quick output.
Tired of coding? Let’s take a break and dive into the no coding zone with TemplateToaster!
Well, if at any point of time you feel tired of this coding stuff and HTML editors and looking for some easy way out there to build your desired website, then don’t feel distressed at all.
Your very own TemplateToaster is there to save you. In this best HTML editor search hunt, you might forget that an outstanding website design software is just a click away from you. Yes, we are talking about web design software that creates a complete website for you without any technical skills.
TemplateToaster is a terrific website design software!
TemplateToaster lets you to design a website without indulging in this code battle. You just sit back and relax!
Programming or coding can be really exhausting for a beginner even for a professional at times. So, why not choose a simple way and do the smart work. It saves you time and efforts.
Download and check this smartest website builder once. It’s absolutely free for evaluation. If it satisfies all your needs, then ask for the license key and own it for the lifetime.
Back to Our HTML Editors list
There still exist some people who love to code and make their website all by themselves. We appreciate that, and for such people, we will continue with our topic best HTML editors.
12. BareBonesEdit (Free & Paid)
- Bare bones Edit is another very popular HTML editor for mac.
- High-quality features for search, edit, and manipulation of the text.
- User-friendly interface for quick find and change option across multiple files.
- Syntax coloring, code folding, FTP and SFTP easy open and save.
- Auto code completion.
- Only macOS users can use Bare Bones Edit. It has paid and free version.
- Integrated spell check.
- Auto text completion.
13. CotEditor -Free HTML Editor
- CotEditor is designed for mac users only.
- CotEditor is an open and free to use editor.
- Syntax highlighting feature for major languages like HTML, PHP, Ruby, Python.
- CotEditor renders the split window into multiple panes to have a different view of the document.
- CotEditor has powerful search and replace feature.
- It enables you to create macros for various languages i.e. PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, JavaScript.
- CotEditor automatically backs up your data while you are editing.
14. Brackets – Free Text Editor
- Brackets is a top-notch Text editor for mac.
- Open source and free to download a text editor.
- Brackets support multiple platforms like macOS, Windows, Linux.
- The major feature which makes Brackets different from the rest of the HTML editors is the “Extract” feature.
- Extract feature lets you extract information straight from PSD(s) like fonts, colors, and measurements with a clear CSS without contextual code references.
- Simple to implement JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
- Easy to customize. It is a free HTML Editor.
15. Komodo Edit (Free)
- Komodo Edit is free and fast HTML editor for numerous platforms such as macOS X, Windows, and Linux.
- It supports multiple languages such as HTML5, PHP, Perl, Ruby on Rails, Python, CSS3, JavaScript.
- Komodo offers syntax highlight and code coloring options.
- Auto-completion
- Auto indentation (very useful)
- Macros and extension support.
16. TextMate (Free & Paid)
- TextMate is a great HTML editor specially designed for mac. It has both version free and paid.
- It has auto-indent feature for common actions.
- TextMate lets you search and replace the text in a project.
- You can get clipboard history.
- TextMate is obtainable for macOS X only.
- Foldable code blocks.
- Support to run Shell commands from within a document.
- TextMate supports more than 50 languages.
- Themeable Syntax highlighting.
- TextMate supports auto pairing of function pop up for quick navigation and overview.
- TextMate support macros.
- Auto pairing of brackets.
- Column selection and column type.
17. UltraEdit (Free &Paid)
- UltraEdit is one of the powerful HTML editors and has free as well as paid version .
- It is compatible with various platforms such as mac, Windows, and Linux.
- It is an ideal choice to edit a large number of files.
- UltraEdit offer you syntax highlighting for all major languages like Perl, PHP, Ruby, JavaScript, CSS and more.
- UltraEdit supports FTP, SFTP, and FTPS.
- Easy inspect and replace in files.
- Integrated scripting and macros.
- it has the code folding and hierarchical function listing feature.
- It automatically closes the HTML/XML tags.
- UltraEdit offers you split window editing feature.
Well, these were quite a few options to consider. Pick any of your choice and test drive for as long as you want. You can skip the downloading and coding part. Instead, try TemplateToaster best web design software and create your own website or template with an ease that too without writing even a single line of code and get free html templates.
Using any other HTML Editor?
If you think or know any HTML editor that we might have missed to include in our list and you think deserves a mention, then go ahead and share that with us in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you on the same.
Build a Stunning Website in Minutes with TemplateToaster Website Builder
Create Your Own Website Now
How about Visual Studio Code?
how about OnceBuilder?
I like ShiftEdit because it’s simple, free and online so you so you can edit from various devices and never worry about having multiple local copies getting out of sync.
For people who want to work on an online editor try: CodVerter web editor.
Write HTML, CSS and JavaScript code while viewing web page results in a split screen mode. Web Page view updates automatically while typing, intellisense, syntax checking and more.
work can be saved local or to the cloud for further editing through the advanced repositories manager in the user account.
great for scraps, drafts and quick starts.
I’m in misery. My security suddenly decides KompoZer is not safe and deletes everything
nice work thank you for sharing information on Rich Text Editor. your site will be very helpful.
Thanks for sharing
KompoZer link is dead. Any suggestions?
did you know OpenElement? free, standard aware and totally wysiwyg
Hey there,
Thanks for sharing this list!
I think Atom is the best , It saves the data and the code as it is if you quit the editor anytime.
I also use Atom and it is the best editor available, It is free and saves the code automatically
Yass Joshua, Atom is the best. Since it is an open source project, it is free as well as very easy to use.
Thanks for the post TemplateToaster blog.
Thanks for your review ! Was looking for such kind of editor
nice
The security of these softwares matters the most since they are free. Sometimes these type of editors can crash and your all data could get lost. So every time you download the editor check its reviews and customer rating.
I believe Notepad++ and Atom are the best.
You are very right Skylor, security is the main concern when you developing something serious. The reliability of the software matters the most.
Notepad ++ is a leading software and also fast and handy.
True Skylor, Atom is the best, it works fine for almost every major programming languages.
Has anybody ever used Aptana Studio ?
I want to know your experience with that.
Does it work offline ?
Notepad++ is the best but i want when i write open tags of HTML then it automatically prints closed tags. Does anybody knows which software should i use ?
Hey Charlotte, you can either use Atom or Sublime text HTML editor. Both have various functions and also syntax highlight feature for various programming languages.
You should use Sublime text or Atom. Will work best for you.
I have used BlueFish in the past. Pretty great experience with that.
It is the most Lightweight editor.
True Jamie, Bluefish is the most light-weight editor ever. I use it for my HTML projects. Works very good.
Me too, I have used Bluefish for HTML coding, works good for me.
I have a MAC and now confused between CotEditor and Brackets. Which is more preferred according to you?
Hello Dave, I have pretty great experience with both CotEditor and Brackets.
CotEditor supports more languages plus it automatically backs up your data while making an edit.
I recommend you use CotEditor.
CotEditor works best for a MAC.
I was looking for alternative to TextMate for MAC and here i get. Thanks for sharing.
I think CotEditor and Brackets are pretty nice.
Yes Brackets is a good editor for MAC
NoteTab is the most easiest HTML editor after Notepad++
Most reliable editor.
Hey there! I think Sublime text is the bestt-
-> Most sophisticated editor
-> Syntax highlight feature of almost all languages
-> Auto save data and code
-> Cross-platform accessible
Great comparison Nick, Thank You!
Thanks for the insights, Nick. Sublime text has very good rating overall.
Which is the best, according to you, editor for MAC?
I think Brackets is the best editor for MAC.
Great post.
No doubt, Sublime text is the best Html editor as well as Java editor. Even it can be used for many programming languages.
Yass, Sublime Text is my favorite HTML editor so far
I am working with Bare Bones edit for my website. Pretty great editor.
Bare Bones is a good editor, has so many options
Great post.
Just for editing HTML code i think Atom or Notepad ++ is enough.
Thanks for mentioning. I have just started learning html and working on my new project.
The best is the Sublime text editor, useful for every kind of project.
Yaa, Sublime text editor is good one. Works almost with all major programming language.
Very Impressive post! Netbeans works best for HTML and also for Java programming languages.
I was looking for a Linux supported Html Editor, please suggest any
you can use Notepad for html coding
How about PSPad editor?
No doubt Atom is the best html editor.
Is Dreamweaver completely compatible with HTML and CSS completely?
Bluefish and Atom are recommendable HTML Editors.
Textual HTML Editor is reliable to use and has less errors.