Open source code editors and IDEs, built and launched
Code editors and IDEs you can run yourself. The list is ordered by whether each project came up when Argusic installed it fresh, with the recording of that attempt one click away.
Tested between and . Each row shows its own test date; a project can change after that day.
27 of 27 tested projects run. 34 more waiting for a test.
In short: 21 of the 27 tested projects started as-is on a fresh machine: helix, slate, micro, trix, edit, kakoune, Acode, and react-ace, and 13 more. 6 more started once a stand-in replaced a service they expect, such as a database: vim-anywhere, sidex, web-maker, AnExplorer, warewoolf, and goneovim.
Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence.
| # | project | verdict | Argusic Score | language | stars | tested on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | helix | Runs | 100 / 100 | Rust | 46,511 | |
A post-modern modal text editor. What the test found: Helix 25.07.1 builds from source and passes the full test suite (424 tests, 0 failures), the hx binary prints version and help correctly, and the health check runs for all configured languages. 7 minutes. | ||||||
| 2 | slate | Runs | 100 / 100 | TypeScript | 31,753 | |
A completely customizable framework for building rich text editors. (Currently in beta.) What the test found: All 5 Slate packages build with rollup, the Next.js documentation site builds and serves successfully on localhost:3000, and all 1519 tests (97 jest + 1422 mocha) pass with 0 failures. 4 minutes. | ||||||
| 3 | micro | Runs | 100 / 100 | Go | 29,678 | |
A modern and intuitive terminal-based text editor What the test found: micro v0.0.0-unknown builds and runs as a static binary on Ubuntu 24.04 amd64; 5 test packages pass with no failures and no formatting issues. 3 minutes. | ||||||
| 4 | trix | Runs | 100 / 100 | JavaScript | 20,013 | |
A rich text editor for everyday writing What the test found: Trix builds and all 539 tests pass (510 passed, 29 skipped) under Playwright Chromium; dev server serves dist/index.html with HTTP 200. 6 minutes. | ||||||
| 5 | edit | Runs | 100 / 100 | Rust | 14,683 | |
We all edit. What the test found: The Edit 2.0.0 terminal text editor builds from source, passes all 65 tests (requiring EDIT_CFG_ICUUC_SONAME=libicuuc.so.74, EDIT_CFG_ICUI18N_SONAME=libicui18n.so.74, and EDIT_CFG_ICU_RENAMING_VERSION=74 for ICU 74 on Ubuntu 24.04), and the release binary responds to --help and --version commands. 7 minutes. | ||||||
| 6 | kakoune | Runs | 100 / 100 | C++ | 11,091 | |
mawww's experiment for a better code editor What the test found: Kakoune builds from source with `make`, passes its full test suite (670 tests, 0 failures), and the binary launches and responds to JSON UI commands. 2 minutes. | ||||||
| 7 | Acode | Runs | 100 / 100 | JavaScript | 7,297 | |
Acode - powerful text/code editor for android What the test found: 87 vitest test files pass (723 tests), rspack build compiles to www/build/, dev HTTPS server starts on localhost. 14 minutes. | ||||||
| 8 | react-ace | Runs | 100 / 100 | TypeScript | 4,207 | |
React Ace Component What the test found: react-ace v11.0.0 installs and builds with Node 22, all 65 project tests pass, TypeScript type-checks pass, and the library loads correctly as a CJS module. 4 minutes. | ||||||
| 9 | CudaText | Runs | 100 / 100 | Python | 3,220 | |
Cross-platform text editor, written in Free Pascal What the test found: Prebuilt CudaText 1.237.0.2 binary runs on the Xvfb virtual display, answers version and help commands, and starts as a GTK3 GUI process. 9 minutes. | ||||||
| 10 | netbeans | Runs | 100 / 100 | Java | 3,139 | |
Apache NetBeans What the test found: Apache NetBeans builds from source, all 64 platform unit tests pass, and the IDE CLI starts and lists modules successfully using JDK 21 and Ant 1.10.18. 31 minutes. | ||||||
| 11 | remirror | Runs | 100 / 100 | TypeScript | 3,034 | |
ProseMirror toolkit for React 🎉 What the test found: remirror monorepo v3.0.3 builds (95/95 turbo tasks) and all 1710 tests pass after fixing two rollup config files for Node 18 import-attribute compatibility. 13 minutes. | ||||||
| 12 | substance | Runs | 100 / 100 | JavaScript | 2,734 | |
A JavaScript library for web-based content editing. What the test found: All 2074 tests in the Substance.js test suite pass with zero failures under Node.js v18.19.1. 4 minutes. | ||||||
| 13 | codejar | Runs | 100 / 100 | TypeScript | 1,986 | |
An embeddable code editor for the browser 🍯 What the test found: Build succeeds (tsc exits 0, produces dist/codejar.js + dist/cursor.js + .d.ts). The CodeJar editor works in a headless Chromium browser: initializes with contenteditable='plaintext-only', updateCode and toString function correctly, cursor module exports cursorPosition, selectedText, textAfterCursor, textBeforeCursor. 6 minutes. | ||||||
| 14 | gnvim | Runs | 100 / 100 | Rust | 1,960 | |
GUI for neovim, without any web bloat What the test found: gnvim 0.3.2-dev builds successfully, binary responds to --version/--help, and all 10 tests pass against a real headless nvim 0.10.0 instance. 20 minutes. | ||||||
| 15 | kibi | Runs | 100 / 100 | Rust | 1,955 | |
A text editor in ≤1024 lines of code, written in Rust What the test found: Kibi v0.3.3 builds and runs; cargo test passes all 98 tests; the binary prints version 0.3.3. 3 minutes. | ||||||
| 16 | durdraw | Runs | 100 / 100 | Python | 1,835 | |
Versatile ASCII and ANSI Art text editor for drawing in the Linux/Unix/macOS terminal, with animation, 256 and 16 colors, Unicode and CP437, and customizable... What the test found: Durdraw 0.30.1 is installed in a Python venv, all 9 unit tests pass, and the curses-based ANSI/ASCII art editor launches, plays .dur files, and exits cleanly under a PTY. 4 minutes. | ||||||
| 17 | Ferrite | Runs | 100 / 100 | Rust | 1,828 | |
A fast, lightweight text editor for Markdown, JSON, YAML, and TOML files. Built with Rust and egui for a native, responsive experience. What the test found: Ferrite builds from source with Rust 1.92.0, the test suite executes (1597 pass, 3 pre-existing failures, 2 ignored), and the binary responds to --help and --version. 49 minutes. | ||||||
| 18 | ImGuiColorTextEdit | Runs | 100 / 100 | C++ | 1,731 | |
Colorizing text editor for ImGui What the test found: TextEditor.cpp and TextEditor.h compile and link with Dear ImGui 1.90.1; a test program exercising set/get text, cursor, all 7 language definitions, 3 palettes, error markers, breakpoints, undo/redo, and coordinate operators passed all 19 assertions. 10 minutes. | ||||||
| 19 | Async | Runs | 100 / 100 | TypeScript | 474 | |
IDE, A native-feeling AI coding workspace that blends chat, planning, agent execution, and project navigation into a unified desktop experience. What the test found: npm install completes, full build (typecheck + esbuild + vite) succeeds, all 117 test files (709 tests) pass, and the Electron app starts with the dist bundle rendering the agent window via did-finish-load. 8 minutes. | ||||||
| 20 | terax-ai | Runs | 96 / 100 | TypeScript | 9,300 | |
Lightweight (7MB) Terminal-first AI-native dev workspace What the test found: Frontend builds and all 1208 JavaScript unit tests plus 18 Rust sub-crate unit tests pass; Tauri desktop build blocked by missing system libraries (glib-2.0-dev, libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev) that cannot be installed without root. 7 minutes. | ||||||
| 21 | lapce | Runs | 50 / 100 | Rust | 38,902 | |
Lightning-fast and Powerful Code Editor written in Rust What the test found: Lapce builds from source, passes all 13 unit tests with 0 failures, responds to --help and --version, and launches as a GUI window on the virtual display that stays running despite Vulkan/EGL warnings about missing GPU drivers. 21 minutes. | ||||||
| 22 | vim-anywhere | Runs with mocks | 92 / 100 | Shell | 3,768 | |
Use Vim everywhere you've always wanted to What the test found: All 18 BATS tests pass: 8 install tests (macOS mvim present/missing, Linux gvim/xclip missing, unsupported OS, requires git), 5 run tests (temp dir creation, .path/mvim failure, clipboard copy, custom vimrc), 5 uninstall tests (macOS path/workflow removal, missing path, Linux gsettings/gconftool). The project's... 34 minutes. | ||||||
| 23 | sidex | Runs with mocks | 92 / 100 | TypeScript | 3,063 | |
VS Code rebuilt on Tauri. Same architecture, 96% smaller. Early release. What the test found: SideX binary launches, stays alive for 10s with all WebKit subprocesses (NetworkProcess, WebProcess, injected bundle) loading successfully from /tmp/sysroot via LD_PRELOAD; frontend builds; npm install succeeds; cargo test reports 205 passed, 2 flaky BM25 failures. 34 minutes. | ||||||
| 24 | web-maker | Runs with mocks | 92 / 100 | JavaScript | 2,701 | |
A blazing fast & offline frontend code editor What the test found: Web Maker builds successfully, serves its built assets via HTTP, and all 19 Jest unit tests pass across 3 test suites (footer, fileUtils, layout-parameter). 20 minutes. | ||||||
| 25 | AnExplorer | Runs with mocks | 92 / 100 | Java | 2,038 | |
📁 Another Android Explorer ( File Manager ) is an All-in-One Open source file manager. AnExplorer File Manager (File Explorer) is designed for all android... What the test found: AnExplorer Android app compiles and produces a valid unsigned APK (4MB) for the otherProDebug variant; the static marketing website in web/public/ serves correctly; the built-in AndroidTest has a pre-existing compilation error. 7 minutes. | ||||||
| 26 | warewoolf | Runs with mocks | 92 / 100 | JavaScript | 348 | |
A minimalist novel-writing system/rich text editor designed to be usable without a mouse. For desktop and standalone word processors/digital... What the test found: npm install completes, esbuild bundles compile, 1318/1318 tests pass, and the Electron app window creates and stays alive on Xvfb display :99 until killed by timeout. 38 minutes. | ||||||
| 27 | goneovim | Runs with mocks | 46 / 100 | Go | 2,622 | |
A GUI frontend for neovim. What the test found: Go 1.22.2 installed at /home/runner/go; 45 Qt5 dev packages extracted at /home/runner/qt5; Go dependencies resolved; Qt5 pkg-config set up; editor tests compile/link but cannot execute without real Qt5 runtime. 71 minutes. | ||||||
| - | vue-quill | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 1,347 | - |
| - | RSyntaxTextArea | Not yet tested | - | Java | 1,255 | - |
| - | Markpad | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 1,192 | - |
| - | ide | Not yet tested | - | JavaScript | 1,124 | - |
| - | zed-globalization | Not yet tested | - | Python | 1,047 | - |
| - | mle | Not yet tested | - | C | 953 | - |
| - | pyTermTk | Not yet tested | - | Python | 918 | - |
| - | kiro-editor | Not yet tested | - | Rust | 764 | - |
| - | ad | Not yet tested | - | Rust | 743 | - |
| - | orbiton | Not yet tested | - | Go | 710 | - |
| - | mg | Not yet tested | - | C | 631 | - |
| - | typist | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 602 | - |
| - | react-textarea-code-editor | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 576 | - |
| - | Tangent | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 566 | - |
| - | CharDesk | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 548 | - |
| - | qmarkdowntextedit | Not yet tested | - | C++ | 497 | - |
| - | ttt | Not yet tested | - | Go | 397 | - |
| - | textbringer | Not yet tested | - | Ruby | 391 | - |
| - | ned | Not yet tested | - | C++ | 383 | - |
| - | Code-Sync | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 331 | - |
| - | dockside | Not yet tested | - | Python | 322 | - |
| - | react-editext | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 307 | - |
| - | bim | Not yet tested | - | C | 293 | - |
| - | PythonBuddy | Not yet tested | - | Python | 280 | - |
| - | biscuit | Not yet tested | - | Python | 266 | - |
| - | codemirror-editor-vue3 | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 249 | - |
| - | code-input | Not yet tested | - | JavaScript | 241 | - |
| - | cogent | Not yet tested | - | Go | 238 | - |
| - | ngx-wig | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 238 | - |
| - | red | Not yet tested | - | Rust | 229 | - |
| - | tiptap-ui-components | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 224 | - |
| - | Lexicon | Not yet tested | - | JavaScript | 217 | - |
| - | vue-codemirror6 | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 205 | - |
| - | notectl | Not yet tested | - | TypeScript | 203 | - |
runs installed and started with its real dependencies. runs with mocks started after stand-ins replaced external services such as a database or a third-party API. could not verify neither the standard agent nor the stronger one got it running within the time limit; the log shows where it stopped.
How we tested
On this list as of the latest test: 21 projects ran as-is, 6 with mocks, 0 could not be verified, 34 still waiting. Languages tested: C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, Rust, Shell, TypeScript. Every attempt used a clean single-use machine, the subject at a pinned version, and a 45-minute limit; the complete procedure is on the methodology page.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
How is this list ranked?
By measurement, not opinion: projects Argusic installed and launched on a fresh machine come first, then those that ran with mocks in place of external services, then those it could not verify. Ties go to the Argusic Score, then how popular it is on its own source.
Why are some projects unranked?
34 projects are still waiting for a test or for a finished attempt. They are listed without a rank until Argusic has measured them.
Where is the evidence?
Every row links to the project's Argusic page, where each run has a full log and a terminal recording stored with a sha256 fingerprint. The same pages exist for every one of the tested projects, on this list or not.
More lists in this category
- self-hosted AI apps (shares Lexicon with this list)
- open source coding agents (shares Async with this list)
- Open source office suites, installed and launched (shares warewoolf with this list)
- wikis (shares Tangent with this list)
- AI agent frameworks
- API clients
- API gateways
- CI/CD tools
- CMS platforms
- LLM gateways
- MCP servers
- VPN tools
- backup tools
- browser automation tools
- Open source databases, installed and queried
- developer CLI tools
- e-commerce platforms
- ebook readers
- game engines
- open source games
- home automation tools
- low-code platforms
- map tools
- message queues
- Open source music servers, installed and played
- observability tools
- self-hosted password managers
- project management tools
- screen recorders
- search engines
- self-hosted analytics
- speech tools
- static site generators
- uptime monitors
- vector databases
- open source video editors
- video players
- web scraping tools
- whiteboard tools
- workflow automation tools
- self-hosted Notion alternatives
- self-hosted dashboards
- self-hosted git servers