Comparison of JavaScript-based source code editors

This article provides basic feature comparison between some of the JavaScript-based source code editors available today. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date.

Overview

List of source code editors
Editor	Site	Latest version	Style, clone of	Cost (US$)	Software license	Open source	Browser support
Ace (editor)	Home, demo	1.0, 2012-09-19	Sublime Text / Microsoft Visual Studio	Free	New BSD License	Yes	Firefox 3.5+, Safari 4+, Chrome, IE 8+, Opera 11.5+
CodeMirror	Home, demo	3.11, 2013-03-20	plain textarea	Free	MIT-like	Yes	Firefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+^[1]
CodePress	Home	0.9.6, 2007-09-26	Microsoft Visual Studio	Free	LGPL	Yes	?
CodeTextArea	Home, demo	2009-06	Microsoft Visual Studio	Free	BSD	Yes	Dojo widget
EditArea	Home, demo	0.8.2, 2010-01-14	Microsoft Visual Studio	Free	LGPL	Yes	IE 6+, Firefox 1.5+, Safari 3+, Opera 9+, Chrome^[2]
Helene	Home, demo	0.9, unknown release date	Microsoft Visual Studio	Free	GPL	Yes
Monaco Editor	example	2013	Microsoft Visual Studio	used only by Microsoft	-	No	ie8+ Firefox 4+ Chrome
Markitup	Home, demo	1.1.14, 2013-02-04	Markup editor, no syntax highlight	Free	MIT, GPL	Yes	IE 6 & 7, Firefox 2 & 3, Safari 3.1, Opera 9+^[3]
Orion	Home	0.5, 2012-06-22	Eclipse SWT StyledText, regular textarea	Free	dual-licensed: BSD 3-clause and EPL	Yes	Firefox 5+, Chrome 12+, Safari5+, Internet Explorer 9+ ^[4]
9ne	Home	?	Emacs	Free	GPL	Yes
jsvi	Home	?	vi	Free	GPL	Yes
Ymacs	Home, demo	0.5, 2012-03-28	Emacs	Free	BSD	Yes	Firefox, Chrome, Safari
MDK-Editor	Home	2.10, 2008	Microsoft Visual Studio	Depends on use	Dual	Code is readable	tested to work on: IE 6, 7 - Firefox 2, 3 - Chrome
LDT	Home	2012-02-19	regular textarea	Free	MIT, GPL	Yes	Firefox 3.6+, IE8, Chromium 16, Midori 4.1, Opera 11, Epiphany

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List of features

Feature testing was performed with Firefox 3.0.6 against the current demo version, and results may not match those in other browsers or downloadable versions.

List of source code editor features
Feature	Ace (editor)	CodeMirror	CodePress	CodeTextArea	EditArea	Helene	markItUp!	MDK-Editor	Orion
Implementation		nestable full parsers	pattern-based parser					parsers	pattern-based parser
Syntax highlight	Yes	JS, CSS, XML, mixed mode, PHP, SPARQL; community-extended with new parsers: Python, Lua, Ruby	limited mixed mode: HTML + JavaScript (no CSS), PHP + HTML (no JavaScript or CSS), Java, Perl, SQL	only keywords	only one language at a time: Perl, PHP, CSS, Javascript, Python, HTML, XML, VB, C, CPP, SQL, Pascal, Basic, Brainf*ck	PHP	No	mixed mode: PHP + HTML + JavaScript + CSS, single-mode: PHP, Javascript, CSS, XML; extensible	HTML, JavaScript, CSS (pluggable)
Syntax checking	HTML, CSS, JavaScript (using JSHint)	Some	No			No		HTML, JavaScript (using JSLint)	JavaScript (using JSLint)
Tab support	Yes	Yes	Some		Yes			Yes	Yes
Indent, new line keeps level	optional setting that is off by default	Yes	very limited	No	Yes	N/A (can't press Enter)	No	Yes	Yes
Indent, syntax	Yes	Yes			No			No	Yes
Indent, selected block	yes, including Shift+Tab and using context menu	either automatically, or block-level indent/unindent	No		yes, including Shift+Tab			yes, including Shift+Tab and using context menu	yes, including Shift+Tab
Bracket matching	Yes	Yes	an implementation exists with mouse-hover bracket matching^{[citation needed]}	Ctrl+B; no angle bracket matching			No	matching bracket ([{<>}]) always highlighted	Yes
XML matching tag highlight	No	through API/add-on	No					Yes	No
Code folding	Yes	Yes^[5]	No	No	No	No	No	No	Some^[6]
Code snippets	No	through API/add-on	type 'for' or 'if' then Tab	No	Yes	No	Yes	JavaScript	No
Code suggestion	No	example	No		yes^{[citation needed]}		No	CSS, HTML, JavaScript)	Yes through esprima content assist plugin
Toggle syntax highlight on/off	Yes	Yes			last example in demo		N/A	textmode	No
Keyboard shortcuts	All Common Shortcuts & Custom Keybindings	fully configurable			some common used: Ctrl+f, Ctrl+g,Ctrl+z,Ctrl+y		Yes	All key combos (except F1 in IE7) can be bound to shortcuts	Yes
Line numbers	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	supports mouse selection	Yes
Search & replace	regex supported	via API		No	toolbar button			has API for the studio	Yes
Spell checking	No	No	browser-based	none	browser-based	none	browser-based	No	No
Toolbar	But command line console	No		No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Visual styling	Fully theme-able	CSS-based themes		font-type and font-size				5 styles to choose from, having 2 font-sizes
Undo/Redo	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes			Differential Undo	Yes
Multiple cursors / Block selection	Multiple cursors	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
IndentGuides	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

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Offspring projects

Below is a list of projects based on each engine.

Ace powered

CodeAvengers - fun and effective interactive web development courses
GoInCloud - an powerful online IDE for developing PHP projects with online php debugger.
Play My Code - browser-based game development site and portal, which includes hosting and embedding games
Cloud9 IDE - an open-source full browser-based IDE with team collaboration and online project hosting
Sky Edit - a project to integrate Ace as a proper editor within the browser using Mozilla Jetpack
R Studio - an online editor for the R programming language
Qooxdoo Playground - in real-time GUI creator and editor using JavaScript
Radiant CMS - Ace extension for viewing files using the Ace editor
Add-on Builder - site that makes it easier to build FireFox extensions
Developer Companion - service providing the whole stack for programming development, uses Ace editor
Dirigible - a cloud-based programmable spreadsheet service
ShiftEdit - Service allowing you to edit and publish projects.
Akshell - Online application building service within the browser
AppFurnace - Smartphone app development tool aimed at designers and web developers.
FeedHenry - Develop Mobile Applications
ShareLaTeX - Real time collaborative LaTeX editor
CloudCoder - Exercise system for introductory programming courses

CodeMirror powered

NoTex.ch - A browser based text editor with support for reStructuredText, Markdown and LaTex
Brackets - open-source code editor built with the web for the web
ICEcoder - open-source code editor, runs in the browser online or offline
RubyMonk - Learn programming Ruby in your browser
ScraperWiki - Write data scripts and run them in the cloud
ShiftEdit - Service allowing you to edit and publish projects.
Blue Griffon - a WYSIWYG web page editor
Kodingen - A Cloud Development Environment
Google's API playground
Fiddle Salad - WYSIWYG editor for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other languages
Cloud Code Chrome App (non-free) / (free demo version)
r3, a template management engine developed by Yahoo!
FireRainbow - JavaScript syntax highlighting for Firebug
Google Earth KML sampler
Eloquent JavaScript's console
A cool tutorial about the <canvas> element
An online IDE for the Orc programming language
Handcraft - Web-based prototyping software
MyWebSql - Web-based mysql administration
Wiode - Web-based IDE
PythonFiddle - Python Cloud IDE
FeedHenry - (CodeMirror used as fallback for browsers that don't support Ace) Develop Mobile Applications
LiveWeave - An online HTML5, CSS3 & JavaScript editor with real-time view.
WebGL Playground - An online WebGL / GLSL editor with a real-time view.