Geany vs Helix
Geany
geany.org
Helix
helix-editor.comSide by side
| Figure | Geany | Helix |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Text Editors | 8.7 (#9) | 7.7 (#59) |
| Spec score · Editor Software | 8.6 (#5) | 7.4 (#29) |
| Spec score · Code editors | 8.6 (#8) | 7.6 (#38) |
| Extension support | Yes | No |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Macro recording | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-cursor editing | No | Yes |
| Product | Geany describes itself as a small and lightweight integrated development environment. | Helix describes itself as a post-modern text editor built for the terminal. |
| Support | The project directs users with build errors to its mailing list or one of the authors. | The project directs users to discuss Helix on Matrix and contribute code on GitHub. |
| Supported platforms | Windows,macOS,Linux | Linux,macOS,Windows |
Plans
In their own words
Geany
Geany is a free, lightweight integrated development environment for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It provides syntax highlighting, code completion, call tips, and code folding for languages and file types including C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, Perl, and Pascal. An embedded terminal emulator is included, and plugins can extend the editor. Geany supports macro recording and column editing, but not multi-cursor editing. The project distributes it under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later. Linux, BSD, and similar systems are directed toward distribution packages, including packages named for Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu. Prebuilt Windows and macOS binaries are available from geany.org, along with links to additional third-party packages and a portable Windows version. Building from source requires GTK3 libraries and headers, dependency libraries, and C and C++ compilers. Geany has no free trial because the listed plan is free.
Helix
Helix is a free, terminal-based text editor for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its editing model centers on multiple selections, so commands can act on several selections at once; it also supports multi-cursor editing and macro recording. Tree-sitter integration provides syntax highlighting, indentation calculation, and code navigation. Built-in language server support offers completion, go to definition, documentation, and diagnostics, though users need to install language servers for their chosen programming languages. Helix can select and navigate functions, classes, comments, and syntax tree nodes. Other included tools are a fuzzy finder for files and symbols, project-wide search, themes, automatic bracket pairing, and surround integration. Written in Rust, it can run in a terminal, over SSH, or in tmux. Configuration can be global or project-specific, including themes, keybindings, and language-specific settings; language servers and formatters can be configured through languages.toml files. Helix has no plugin system currently, although one is intended for the future. A graphical frontend is described as a future possibility.