Software Alternatives & Startups

Vim VS Summernote

Compare Vim VS Summernote and see what are their differences

Vim

Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Summernote

Summernote is a JavaScript library that helps users create WYSIWYG editors online.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Vim should be more popular than Summernote. It has been mentioned 10 times since March 2021.

social mentions
10 vs 5
Text Editors popularity
91% vs 9%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 68

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Vim
Summernote
Website vim.org summernote.org
Pricing
Open source
Open source
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Vim 6 features
Summernote 6 features
  • Efficiency
    Once learned, Vim can significantly speed up text editing with its modal editing, keyboard shortcuts, and commands that allow for quick navigation and manipulation of text.
  • Lightweight
    Vim is a very lightweight editor, consuming minimal system resources, making it highly performant even on systems with lower specifications.
  • Customizability
    Vim is highly configurable and extensible through plugins and user-defined settings, allowing users to tailor the editor to their specific needs.
  • Ubiquity
    Vim is available on almost every Unix-like system and even on Windows, making it a ubiquitous tool that you can rely on being available in most environments.
  • Support for Multiple Programming Languages
    Vim supports a wide range of programming languages out of the box and offers syntax highlighting, which can be enhanced through plugins.
  • Powerful Search and Replace
    Vim offers robust searching and replacing functionalities, including support for regular expressions, which can be a powerful tool for developers.

Possible disadvantages

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Vim's modal editing and extensive set of commands can be daunting for new users, requiring significant time and effort to master.
  • Minimal Default Config
    The default configuration of Vim is quite minimalistic, which may necessitate additional setup and customization to meet modern development needs.
  • Limited GUI
    Vim primarily operates in a terminal, and while there are graphical variants like GVim, they are not as feature-rich or user-friendly as modern GUI editors.
  • Plugin Management
    While Vim is highly extensible, managing and configuring plugins can be cumbersome compared to more modern editors that offer integrated plugin management.
  • Inconsistent Behavior Across Platforms
    There may be inconsistencies in behavior or available features of Vim across different operating systems, which can complicate its use in certain environments.
  • Lack of Integrated Modern Features
    Vim lacks some modern IDE features like integrated debugging, advanced code introspection, and refined autocompletion, which often require third-party plugins to achieve.
  • User-friendly Interface
    Summernote has a simple and intuitive user interface that makes it easy for users to start creating rich text content without a steep learning curve.
  • Extensible with Plugins
    Summernote supports a variety of plugins which expand its functionality, allowing customization to meet specific needs.
  • Bootstrap Integration
    Out of the box, Summernote is designed to work seamlessly with Bootstrap, making it a good choice for developers already using this front-end framework.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, Summernote is free to use, and developers can contribute to its improvement and adapt it to their specific needs.
  • Lightweight
    Summernote is a lightweight editor, meaning it has a small file size which can result in faster loading times for web pages.
  • Image Upload and Drag & Drop
    Summernote supports easy and intuitive image uploads and drag & drop functionality, enhancing the user experience.

Possible disadvantages

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to more comprehensive editors like CKEditor or TinyMCE, Summernote may lack some advanced features that power users might need.
  • Dependency on jQuery
    Summernote depends on jQuery, which could be a drawback for projects that aim to minimize dependencies or use a different framework.
  • Browser Compatibility Issues
    Some users have reported occasional issues with browser compatibility, which might affect the consistency of user experience across different environments.
  • Performance with Large Documents
    Summernote can experience performance issues when handling large documents or complex content, which can be a limitation for more extensive use cases.
  • Limited Support
    Being an open-source project, professional support options are limited compared to commercial editors which offer formal customer support.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Vim
Summernote

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Vim is a good text editor, especially for users who invest the time to learn its powerful commands and features. Its steep learning curve may be challenging initially, but once mastered, it significantly enhances productivity.

Why this product is good

  • Vim is considered a powerful text editor because of its efficiency and versatility. It offers extensive features, such as syntax highlighting, a robust plugin system, and support for numerous programming languages. Vim is highly configurable, enabling users to customize its environment to fit their needs. It is particularly appreciated for its speed and the ability to perform complex text manipulations using simple commands.

Recommended for

    Vim is recommended for programmers, developers, and system administrators who require a highly efficient and customizable text editing experience. It is especially useful for those who work extensively in terminal environments or need a quick, resource-light text editor for remote systems.

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Summernote is considered a good and reliable option for implementing WYSIWYG text editing. It is user-friendly, easily customizable, and supported by a strong community of developers.

Why this product is good

  • Summernote is a popular WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor that is highly regarded for its simplicity, ease of integration, and flexibility. It is open-source and offers features like drag-and-drop image uploads, keyboard shortcuts, and support for various formats. Its lightweight nature and compatibility with major frameworks such as Bootstrap make it a versatile choice for developers looking to implement rich text editing capabilities into their web applications.

Recommended for

    Summernote is recommended for developers and teams building web applications that need an intuitive and reliable rich text editor. It's particularly suitable for projects where ease of use, rapid integration, and support for responsive design are key considerations, such as blogging platforms, content management systems, and any web application that requires user-generated content input.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Vim 3 videos + Add
Summernote 2 videos + Add

What Vim Is and Why You Should Learn It

More videos

  • - JAC Vapour VIM Review - JAC does a side by side mod...
  • - Jac Vapour VIM - Quick Look

Demo Summernote WYSIWYG CodeIgniter

More videos

  • - สอน Laravel Framework - Summernote WYSIWYG editor

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Vim
Summernote
91% 91%
9% 9%
100% 100%
IDE
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%

User comments

Share your experience with using Vim and Summernote. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Vim no reviews yet
Summernote no reviews yet
  • Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
    convesio.com · Nov 2023

    Vim offers a variety of features like split windows, macros, and extensive customization options. It has a steep learning curve, but once you master it, you’ll be amazed at the speed and productivity it brings to your...

  • 13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
    kinsta.com · Sep 2023

    It’s tough to say which developers would enjoy Vim as a text editor. It’s an old system with an outdated interface. Yet, it still has the charm and powerful feature-set that the average developer needs. I would...

  • 12 Best LaTeX Editors You Should Use
    beebom.com · Dec 2021

    The entire installation process is perfectly documented on their Sourceforge page, which you must definitely pay a visit. There is another standalone Vim software, known as the gVim that brings a GUI-based interface...

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Vim 10 mentions
Summernote 5 mentions
  • regular Vim has lua?!
    Lua is quite small, encouraging distros to include it. The ubuntu gvim has, and the gvim AppImage linked from vim.org does. The default Makefile from github is set up to not include it, but you can uncomment one line there to get it. Source: over 3 years ago
  • is there a way to make highlighted text persistent after quit when using something like [match Search /\%'.line('.').'l/] ?
    I've not used vimwiki locally (tho I'm old enough to remember the Vim wiki on vim.org :), but I think what you are wanting to do is extend vimwiki's syntax file. I presume it installs one at $VIMRUNTIM/syntax or or ~/.vim/syntax. If... Source: almost 4 years ago
  • vim.org - Is there a reason for this 1800s-esque design?
    Vim.org has 242k total visitors, tailwindcss.com has 4.4m, planetscale.com has 412k, jpl.nasa.gov has 2.6m, all built with Tailwind, all several years younger than Vim's website. Unnecessary comparison, unnecessary defence. It's a... Source: about 4 years ago

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  • Ask HN: What is your favorite FOSS WYSIWYG editor?
    Installing Summernote (https://summernote.org) was easy. ProseMirror and Lexical seem much more complicated. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • WYSIWYG Editor Recommendation for Commercial/Enterprise Website Frontends?
    We use Summernote which is fine, there can be bugs with our integration but that is more down to our hacking around with it than the actual software. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Thoughts on Action Text
    These past days I tried Action Text for the first time and got a bit disappointed with it, in the end I ended up using Summernote (https://summernote.org/) instead, here are my thoughts on what could be improved:. Source: almost 5 years ago

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Alternatives to Vim and Summernote

When comparing Vim and Summernote, you can also consider the following products.