Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Neovim VS Sublime Text

Compare Neovim VS Sublime Text and see what are their differences

Neovim logo Neovim

Vim's rebirth for the 21st century

Sublime Text logo 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.
  • Neovim Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-23
  • Sublime Text Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-17

Neovim features and specs

  • Extensibility
    Neovim is designed to be highly extensible with a robust API that allows for the development of custom plugins, making it easy to tailor the editor to individual workflows.
  • Asynchronous Plugins
    Support for asynchronous plugins enables smoother and faster performance by allowing tasks like linting and autocomplete to run in the background without freezing the editor.
  • Modern Codebase
    The refactored codebase improves maintainability and introduces new features more efficiently compared to the original Vim.
  • Compatibility
    Neovim maintains compatibility with existing Vim plugins and configuration, making it easier for users to transition from Vim.
  • Improved User Interface
    Neovim provides better support for modern terminal features, GUI interfaces, and offers features like an embedded terminal emulator.

Possible disadvantages of Neovim

  • Lack of Official GUI
    Neovim does not come with an official graphical user interface (GUI), which means users who prefer a graphical experience may need to rely on third-party options.
  • Smaller Community
    Although growing, Neovimโ€™s community is smaller compared to Vim, which means fewer community-created resources and plugins.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might find Neovimโ€™s highly customizable nature and reliance on configuration files challenging, especially if they are not familiar with Vim-type editors.
  • Potential Instability
    Frequent updates and changes can sometimes introduce bugs or instability, which may affect users who rely on a stable environment for their work.
  • Plugin Compatibility
    While most Vim plugins work, some could have compatibility issues or require modification to work with Neovim, necessitating additional effort from the user.

Sublime Text features and specs

  • Speed
    Sublime Text is known for its fast performance, even with very large files and heavy duty workloads, providing a smooth coding experience.
  • Customizability
    It offers extensive customization options via JSON settings files, allowing users to tailor the editor to their specific needs and preferences.
  • Package Control
    The Package Control feature allows for easy installation, management, and discovery of plugins and themes, greatly enhancing functionality.
  • Multi-Platform Support
    Available on Windows, macOS, and Linux, it enables a consistent working environment across different operating systems.
  • Multiple Selections
    Allows for simultaneous editing by making multiple text selections, which is a powerful feature for rapidly making large-scale changes.
  • Distraction-Free Mode
    Offers a distraction-free mode that lets you focus on code by providing a full-screen, minimal interface.
  • Command Palette
    Provides a command palette that gives quick access to various functionalities, making performing complex actions easier.

Possible disadvantages of Sublime Text

  • Cost
    While a free evaluation version is available, continued use requires purchasing a license, which may be a barrier for hobbyists or cash-strapped developers.
  • Limited IDE Features
    It lacks some of the advanced features found in full-fledged Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), such as robust debugging tools and integrated version control.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The high degree of customizability can be overwhelming for beginners, requiring a significant time investment to master.
  • Plugin Dependencies
    While the extensive plugin ecosystem is an advantage, it can also lead to dependencies on third-party plugins which may not always be reliable or maintained.
  • No Real-Time Collaboration
    Unlike some modern editors, Sublime Text lacks built-in support for real-time collaboration between multiple users.
  • Occasional Plugin Conflicts
    Plugins can occasionally conflict with each other, causing unexpected behavior or performance issues.
  • Less Active Community
    Compared to some other popular editors like VSCode, the Sublime Text community is relatively smaller and less active.

Analysis of Neovim

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Neovim is considered good by many developers, especially those who appreciate Vim's modal editing capabilities but seek a more modern and extensible platform.

Why this product is good

  • Neovim is a highly configurable text editor built to be an improved version of Vim. It offers enhanced performance, extensibility through plugins, and better integration with modern development tools. Its user-friendly Lua configuration system makes customization easier.

Recommended for

  • Developers who like Vim but want more features and flexibility
  • Programmers seeking a lightweight and fast code editor
  • Individuals interested in customizing their development environment through plugins
  • Users who prefer using the command line
  • People looking for an editor with a strong and active community support

Neovim videos

What is Neovim, and why should you care?

More videos:

Sublime Text videos

SUBLIME TEXT REVIEW | CODE EDITOR TOOL

More videos:

  • Review - Visual Studio Code vs Sublime Text - Laravel Dev POV

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Neovim and Sublime Text)
Text Editors
20 20%
80% 80
IDE
20 20%
80% 80
Software Development
19 19%
81% 81
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Neovim and Sublime Text

Neovim Reviews

We have no reviews of Neovim yet.
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Sublime Text Reviews

Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
Sublime Text is widely regarded as one of the best text editors for coding. Its speed, flexibility, and ease of use make it a favorite among developers. With a simple and intuitive user interface, Sublime Text allows you to focus on your code without distractions. It supports a wide range of programming languages and offers features like split editing, multiple selections,...
Source: convesio.com
13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
As for the features, Sublime Text has an advantage in that itโ€™s extremely lightweight (low resource usage), but still keeps around some of the more advanced features you would expect out of a top text editor. The primary benefit is that Sublime Text offers shortcuts and search tools for immediately finding certain functions and making changes to multiple lines at once....
Source: kinsta.com
Top 10 Free CSV Readers in 2023!
Sublime Text: A text editor that supports multiple file formats including CSV and has powerful features for viewing and editing large CSV files.
Source: www.retable.io
Top 10 Notepad++ Alternatives for Mac in 2022
Another Notepad++ Mac alternative, Sublime Text is a good choice if youโ€™re going for code sophistication. The tool supports a lot o programming languages and mark-ups. In addition, you can even add in plugins in order to incorporate new functions. Sublime Text can actually be downloaded for free by Mac users. A purchased version is next up after you have finished the license.
Source: www.imymac.com
What's The Best C++ IDE? Our Top C++ IDEs & Editors In 2024
Sublime Text also offers a clean and uncluttered interface, which is great for focusing on your code without unnecessary distractions. This minimalist approach is combined with powerful editing features like syntax highlighting, customizable key bindings, code folding, and an advanced search functionality.
Source: hackr.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Neovim seems to be a lot more popular than Sublime Text. While we know about 112 links to Neovim, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Sublime Text. 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.

Neovim mentions (112)

  • Microsoft: An Open-Source Comedy
    Microsoft vscode's Marketplace is where you can find extensions, themes, etc. And basically it's what turns vscode from a simple text editor to a powerful IDE. A few weeks ago I noticed that marketplace has stopped working on vscodium, and as a result I can't install new extensions or update the ones I had already installed. I did some research, and I realised it's not a bug, it's a new evil move from Microsoft.... - Source: dev.to / 14 days ago
  • How to connect Shopify to Notion
    Now you can use your favorite editor to edit your Gadget app's code. Changes sync back to Gadget in real-time. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Every Developer Should Try Vim
    Vim is a highly efficient, keyboard-driven text editor that prioritizes speed, precision, and control. Itโ€™s been around for decades, but itโ€™s far from outdated. In recent years, Vim has seen a resurgence, thanks largely to Neovim, a modern refactor of Vim that brings a faster core, better plugin support, and a vibrant, forward-looking community. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • 6 Reasons CLI Coding Agents Are the Future of Software Development
    A text-based shell interface is extremely lightweight compared to modern IDEs. Because it runs in the terminal, even a feature-rich agent has very low overhead. According to Forgecode โ€œLow Resource Usage: minimal impact on system performanceโ€. In contrast, a full IDE can consume hundreds of megabytes of RAM or more, even when idle. In one user benchmark, Neovim (a terminal editor) used only about 10 MB of RAM,... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • My Tech Stack in 2025
    PDE (Personalized Development Environment): Neovim. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
View more

Sublime Text mentions (3)

  • Want better keybinding parity between micro and Sublime Text?
    I went through the key-bindings in Micro (which use different modifier keys) and added them to Sublime Text:. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Trying pop os episode 1
    Oh, and sublimetext.com too if you prefer something "cleaner". It is multi-platform too, like VSCodium. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Sublime Text 3 Setup
    Sublime Text Terminal Shortcuts and menu entries for opening a terminal at the current file, or the current root project folder in Sublime Text. - Source: dev.to / over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Neovim and Sublime Text, you can also consider the following products

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

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

GNU Emacs - GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editorโ€”and more.

Notepad++ - A free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the MS Windows environment.

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

VSCodium - Binary releases of Visual Sudio Code without Microsoft branding, telemetry and licensing