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SPECIFICTION
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BBEdit vs EmEditor

BBEdit

barebones.com

EmEditor

emeditor.com

Side by side

FigureBBEditEmEditor
Price from$59.99/mo$5/mo
Free planYesYes
Free trialYesYes
Open source——
Windows—Yes
macOSYes—
Plans published56
Spec score · Text Editors8.6 (#11)9.0 (#5)
Spec score · Code editors8.4 (#13)8.8 (#6)
Column editingYesYes
Extension supportYesYes
Founded19932000
Free planYesYes
HeadquartersNorth Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USARedmond, Washington, United States
Large-file handlingYesYes
Supported platformsmacOSWindows 10,Windows 11,Windows Server 2019 or later; legacy support includes Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2

Plans

BBEdit

  • Free ModeFree
  • BBEdit license$59.99 a month
  • Mac App Store subscriptionPrice not published
  • BBEdit Free ModeFree
  • BBEdit 16 Individual$59.99, paid once

BBEdit pricing →

EmEditor

  • Professional Monthly Subscription$6 a month
  • Professional Annual Subscription$60 a year
  • Annual Subscription$5 a month
  • Monthly Subscription$6 a month
  • EmEditor FreeFree
  • Professional TrialFree

EmEditor pricing →

In their own words

BBEdit

BBEdit is a text and HTML editor for writers, web authors, and software developers using macOS. Its tools include grep pattern matching, multi-file search and replace, syntax coloring, function navigation, code folding, and text completion. For web authoring, it provides HTML markup tools, standards-based syntax checking, and live previews of HTML and Markdown documents. A license adds Git and Subversion support, and licensed users can create in-app worksheets to converse with ChatGPT, Claude, and Ollama. Workflow options include AppleScript, macOS Unix scripting, Automator, Xcode as an external editor, and the Language Server Protocol. BBEdit can open and save text files on FTP and SFTP servers. Free Mode continues after the 30-day evaluation period, though some advanced features require a paid license. The listed BBEdit 16 Individual plan costs $59.99 as a one-time purchase. BBEdit 16 requires macOS 14.0 or later and supports Intel and Apple silicon Macs; Bare Bones says there are no Windows or Linux versions.

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EmEditor

EmEditor is a Windows text editor for text and code, including files up to 16 TB or 1,099 billion lines. It supports multi-cursor and column editing, macro recording, Unicode and UTF-8, plus plug-ins and connections to external tools such as compilers, browsers, and HTMLTidy. CSV features include sorting, pivot tables, joins, and frozen headers. A free edition is available, and the 7-day Professional trial becomes Free automatically without charging automatically. The listed Professional subscriptions cost $6 a month or $5 a month billed annually, with the annual plan billed at 60 USD first year. Professional purchases include a 90-day full refund guarantee. Current supported platforms listed are Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2019 or later; legacy support includes Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. Home or school personal users may install it on up to five computers, while organizations need a license for each computer where it is installed or accessible.

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