gpty
Focus: pty, rust and godot. Shares terminal and open source with Helix. Rated 4.2 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.2Visit
Desktop App
Helix
A modal terminal code editor that works well straight out of the box.
Rating
4.6 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Advanced
Works on
macOS, Windows, Linux
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is Helix?
Helix is a free, open-source code editor that runs in the terminal, inspired by Vim and Kakoune. It ships with language support, multiple cursors, fuzzy file search and built-in hints for every key, so you get a fast, keyboard-driven editor without spending weeks on plugins and config.
Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.
Pros: what Helix does well
- Language features work with no setup
- Multiple cursors built in
- Free and open source
Cons: where it falls short
- Modal editing has a learning curve
- No plugin system yet
Who Helix is for
Developers who want a fast keyboard-driven editor without heavy setup.
Who can skip it
People who prefer a mouse-driven graphical editor.
Helix alternatives
Not sold on Helix? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
Atuin
Focus: shell history, command line and sync. Shares terminal and open source with Helix. Rated 4.7 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit
Starship
Focus: shell prompt and developer tool. Shares terminal and open source with Helix. Rated 4.7 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
zoxide
Focus: navigation, command line and shell. Shares terminal and open source with Helix. Rated 4.7 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.7Visit
Ghostty
Focus: emulator, gpu and zig. Shares terminal and open source with Helix. Rated 4.9 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.9Visit
fzf
Focus: fuzzy finder, command line and shell. Shares open source and github with Helix. Rated 4.8 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
Free alternatives to Helix
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
lazygit
Focus: git client, terminal ui and developer tool. Shares open source and github with Helix. Rated 4.8 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
navi
Focus: cli, cheatsheet and fuzzy finder. Shares terminal and open source with Helix. Rated 4.8 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
bat
Focus: file viewer, command line and developer tool. Shares open source and github with Helix. Rated 4.7 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit
scrcpy
Focus: android, screen mirroring and phone control. Shares open source and github with Helix. Adds Android. Rated 4.7 (Helix: 4.6).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit
Deskflow
Focus: keyboard and mouse sharing, software kvm and multi-computer. Shares open source and github with Helix. Same 4.6 rating.
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit
Kando
Focus: pie menu, launcher and shortcuts. Shares open source and github with Helix. Same 4.6 rating.
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit
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