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Brackets VS Notepad++

Compare Brackets VS Notepad++ and see what are their differences

Brackets logo Brackets

A modern, open source text editor that understands web design

Notepad++ logo Notepad++

A free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the MS Windows environment.
  • Brackets Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-14
  • Notepad++ Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-07

Brackets features and specs

  • Open Source
    Brackets is an open-source text editor, which means it is free to use and has a community of developers contributing to its improvement and feature updates.
  • Live Preview
    Brackets offers a Live Preview feature that allows developers to see updates to their code in real-time, directly in the browser, enhancing the development workflow.
  • Preprocessor Support
    Brackets has built-in support for CSS preprocessors such as LESS and SASS, making it easier for developers working with these technologies.
  • Inline Editors
    The Inline Editors feature in Brackets enables developers to open a window into the code they care about, without losing context of their current position in the file.
  • Extensibility
    Brackets supports a wide range of extensions and themes, allowing users to customize the editor to suit their personal workflow and preferences.

Possible disadvantages of Brackets

  • Performance Issues
    Some users have reported that Brackets can be slow and unresponsive, especially when working with large projects or files.
  • Limited Language Support
    While Brackets excels in front-end web development, its support for non-web development languages and back-end development is less robust compared to other editors.
  • Slow Adoption of New Features
    As an open-source project, Brackets may not always adopt new features and technologies as quickly as some proprietary tools that have more resources behind them.
  • Community-Based Support
    Support for Brackets largely comes from the community, which can be less reliable and slower compared to professional, dedicated support teams available for some other tools.
  • Resource Intensity
    Brackets can be resource-intensive, consuming more memory and CPU compared to other lightweight code editors.

Notepad++ features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    Notepad++ is completely free to download and use, and its source code is open for anyone to review, modify, and contribute to.
  • Lightweight and Fast
    Notepad++ is lightweight, meaning it uses fewer system resources compared to more complex IDEs, allowing for quick loading times and responsiveness.
  • Syntax Highlighting
    Supports syntax highlighting for over 80 programming languages, making it easier to read and write code.
  • Plugin Support
    Offers a wide range of plugins to extend its functionality, including customization options, code analyzers, and more.
  • Tabbed Interface
    Allows multiple documents to be opened in the same window through a tabbed interface, which greatly improves productivity.
  • Regular Updates
    Frequently receives updates and patches, improving its features and fixing bugs.

Possible disadvantages of Notepad++

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Lacks some of the advanced features and integrations of full-fledged IDEs, which might be necessary for professional software development.
  • Windows Only
    Natively available only on Windows, although it can be run on other systems using compatibility layers like Wine, which might affect performance.
  • Manual Plugin Management
    Managing plugins can be cumbersome, as users often need to download and install them manually.
  • Occasional Stability Issues
    Although generally stable, users sometimes encounter crashes or bugs, particularly when using many plugins.

Analysis of Notepad++

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Notepad++ is considered a good editor for both programmers and general users who need a reliable and feature-rich text editing tool.

Why this product is good

  • Notepad++ is a popular text and code editor due to its lightweight design, wide array of features, and support for numerous programming languages. It offers syntax highlighting, macro recording, customizable interfaces, and plugin support, making it highly versatile for various coding and text editing tasks. Its open-source nature allows for community-driven improvements, and it runs efficiently on Windows systems without consuming significant resources.

Recommended for

    Notepad++ is recommended for programmers, developers, and writers who need a robust text editor with advanced features. It's ideal for anyone using Windows who wants a free, efficient, and customizable editing solution capable of handling a wide range of file types and coding languages.

Brackets videos

My Favorite Text Editor - Brackets

More videos:

  • Review - Brackets Extensions - A modern, open source text editor
  • Review - Brackets Review

Notepad++ videos

Notepad++ Review

More videos:

  • Review - Notepad++ Review
  • Review - Notepad++ Text Editor: Intro for Beginners

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Brackets and Notepad++)
Text Editors
37 37%
63% 63
IDE
40 40%
60% 60
Software Development
26 26%
74% 74
IDEs And Text Editors
55 55%
45% 45

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Brackets and Notepad++

Brackets Reviews

Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
Brackets offers features like inline editing, live preview, and preprocessor support, making it easier to design and code responsive websites. With Brackets, you can unleash your creativity and build stunning web experiences.
Source: convesio.com
13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
The Brackets text editor comes from the folks at Adobe, in an attempt to offer a more modern, open source solution for developers creating websites. This is a free text editor, with some appealing visual tools for previewing your work and allowing for frontend developers to examine the changes. Writing code is the main focus in Brackets, and it’s done with the help of inline...
Source: kinsta.com
Top 10 Notepad++ Alternatives for Mac in 2022
This is another Notepad++ Mac alternative. This is very lightweight and open-source. Brackets is actually a modern program developed by that of the Adobe community. It is supported by a passionate community. It has a cool feature called Live Preview. This enables web developers to connect (in real-time) to their browsers. The said features mean it is necessary to change HTML...
Source: www.imymac.com
The Top 7 Notepad++ Alternatives for You
Don’t think that this uncluttered interface means that Brackets doesn’t have a lot of features because it does. This powerful text editor hides away the many features from view to make things uncluttered for you. Brackets will highlight syntax which helps with your coding efforts. There’s also a split-screen function for easy comparison.
10 Best Notepad++ Alternatives in 2020
Brackets is a lightweight tool developed by Adobe. It is an open source text editor which is free to download. It allows you to a toggle between your source code and the browser view.
Source: www.guru99.com

Notepad++ Reviews

  1. Simple and Fast

    Fast, lightweight, and incredibly useful. A great free editor that gets the job done without unnecessary complexity.

  2. the best assistant at work

    I've been using it for a long time, I can say that it has become my main tool in my work. First, you need to get used to using it and look at all the functionality. Overall, it's useful for me!


Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
Notepad++ provides a tabbed interface, allowing you to work on multiple files simultaneously. Its intuitive user interface makes it easy to navigate and edit your code efficiently. With features like syntax highlighting, code folding, and auto-completion, Notepad++ helps you write clean and error-free code.
Source: convesio.com
13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
If you’re a beginner who needs a text editor, Notepad++ is far easier to understand than some of the other options on this list. Not only that, but you’ll enjoy the ability to locate words and replace them all, while also revealing certain bits of code with highlighting. As for advanced users, Notepad++ also does the trick, with its syntax highlighting for HTML, PHP, and...
Source: kinsta.com
Top 10 Free CSV Readers in 2023!
Notepad++: A popular text editor for Windows that has a CSV plugin for viewing and editing CSV files.
Source: www.retable.io
Top 10 Notepad++ Alternatives for Mac in 2022
First, you can get a better version of Notepad++ Mac. For instance, Setapp caters to your own Notepad++ Mac. You can also Notepad++ Mac using an emulator. Typically, the emulator is a form of creating a layer of compatibility where you can run the Notepad++ Mac on your operating system. Another thing you can do t enjoy Notepad++ Mac is by using Wine. This can help you have e...
Source: www.imymac.com
The Top 7 Notepad++ Alternatives for You
I have provided you with mainly free Notepad++ alternatives here. This is not that surprising because Notepad++ is free also. When choosing a Notepad++ alternative you need to consider what you are going to use it for and your level of programming experience.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Notepad++ should be more popular than Brackets. It has been mentiond 176 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Brackets mentions (48)

  • Create Your First VR Scene Using A-Frame
    Brackets This is a simple and clean text editor which provides features that we are going to use in this. This has a feature of a live preview of the website which is going to be very useful while setting the environment. It has an inbuilt server so no need of external database program. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • A list of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS offerings that have free tiers of interest to devops and infradev
    Brackets - Brackets is an open-source text editor specifically designed for web development. It is lightweight, easy to use, and highly customizable. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • What do you use to create your site?
    I recommend using a separate code editor and not the neocities one. Brackets and VSCodium (VSCode but separated from Microsoft) are pretty good ones https://brackets.io/ https://vscodium.com/. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Brackets 1.14.2 on Mac OS 10.6.8
    Please download the latest version from https://brackets.io/. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Top 5 Free HTML Editors for Beginner Web Developers
    Brackets Brackets, an open-source HTML editor by Adobe, is specifically designed for web designers and developers. Its inline editor allows you to make quick edits to your HTML code, providing instant feedback. Brackets also offers a live preview feature that updates in real-time as you edit your HTML files, making it easy to see the changes as you go. Additionally, with its extensive extension library, Brackets... - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
View more

Notepad++ mentions (176)

  • Microsoft dumps AI into Notepad as 'Copilot all the things' mania takes hold
    I would like to recommend notepad++. It does the job and I especially like it for multi-document and the other feautures like regex replace and plugins, etc... https://notepad-plus-plus.org. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • How to Run Windows Applications on Linux Using Bottles: A Step-by-Step Guide
    Are you transitioning from Windows to Linux but struggling to replace tools like Notepad++ or WinMerge? Thanks to Wine and Bottles, you can now run Windows-only applications natively on Linux. This guide will show you how to install Windows apps on Linux effortlessly, perfect for .NET developers or anyone needing Windows tools in a Linux environment. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Currency converter in Rust + WebAssembly
    Then we need to modify Cargo.toml file located in your folder that you created with the above command, right click and edit I use notepad++ (to download notepad++ use this link (https://notepad-plus-plus.org/) so you will get the option to edit file directly. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • What I learned from my NodeJS course (part 1)
    Always working in the js-fundamentals.js file Open the file with any text editor. For now, use Notepad++. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • 6 free Markdown (.md) WYSIWYG desktop Editors – Part3
    Where to get it: Https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ Plugin: inside Plugin Admin. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Brackets and Notepad++, you can also consider the following products

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

Vim - Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing

GNOME - An easy and elegant way to use your computer, GNOME is designed to put you in control and get things done.

Microsoft Visual Studio - Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft.

Android Studio - Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA