BBEdit vs Sublime Text
BBEdit
barebones.comSublime Text
sublimetext.comSide by side
| Figure | BBEdit | Sublime Text |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $59.99/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 7 |
| Spec score · Text Editors | 8.6 (#11) | 8.8 (#7) |
| Spec score · Code editors | 8.4 (#13) | 8.6 (#7) |
| Column editing | Yes | Yes |
| Extension support | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Headquarters | North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA | Woollahra, Sydney, Australia |
| Large-file handling | Yes | Yes |
| Product | BBEdit is a professional HTML and text editor for macOS aimed at writers, web authors, and software developers. | Sublime Text is a text editor for code, markup and prose. |
| Support | Technical support is available by email or contact form; the company says it does not offer telephone or on-site support. | Technical support is directed to the Sublime Text forum, while sales questions can be sent to [email protected]. |
| Supported platforms | macOS | Windows,macOS,Linux |
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
Sublime Text
- PersonalPrice not published
- Business: seats 1-10Price not published
- Business: seats 11-25Price not published
- Business: seats 26-50Price not published
- Business: seats 51+Price not published
- Business license$65 a year
- Personal license$99, paid once
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.
Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a text editor for code, markup, and prose on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Editing includes multi-cursor and column work, macro recording, large-file handling, tab multi-select, split views, Goto Anything, Goto Definition, and context-aware auto-completion. GPU rendering is supported on all three platforms, including resolutions up to 8K. The maker lists native Apple Silicon support and Linux ARM64 builds. Extensions can add plugins, syntax definitions, menus, and snippets, and a documented Python API supports plugin development such as LSP. The download page identifies Sublime Text 4, Build 4215, as the current release. The software can be downloaded and evaluated without an enforced time limit, but continued use requires a license. A Personal license costs $99 as a one-time purchase and includes three years of updates. Business licensing costs $65 per seat per year for the first 10 seats, with lower rates for larger tiers. The maker is based in Woollahra, Sydney, Australia.