GNU Emacs vs Helix
GNU Emacs
gnu.orgHelix
helix-editor.comSide by side
| Figure | GNU Emacs | Helix |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Text Editors | 9.0 (#4) | 7.7 (#59) |
| Spec score · Go IDEs | 8.8 (#2) | 7.6 (#21) |
| Spec score · Code editors | 8.9 (#4) | 7.6 (#38) |
| Spec score · Editor Software | 8.7 (#4) | 7.4 (#29) |
| Extension support | Yes | No |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Macro recording | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-cursor editing | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Users can seek help through the help-gnu-emacs mailing list or gnu.emacs.help newsgroup, and report bugs with M-x report-emacs-bug. | The project directs users to discuss Helix on Matrix and contribute code on GitHub. |
| Supported platforms | GNU/Linux, BSDs, Haiku, Windows, macOS, and Android. | Linux,macOS,Windows |
Plans
In their own words
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.