If you’re looking for a great online code editor, you’ve found one. Codesandbox is a free online code editor that will help you create the website of your dreams.
While there are a plethora of free resources to use, they can be a bit limited on features and not as user-friendly as a paid alternative. So when it comes to choosing an online text editor for web development, look no further than this tool.
What is an Online code editor?
An online code editor is a tool that resides on a remote server and is accessible via browsers. Some online code editors have basic features more similar to text editors while others are like complete IDEs. In this article, we will review both types.
Some online code editors focus on one language or even a framework. For example, there are products that call themselves – JavaScript online code editors or react online editors.
As a developer, your main tool is obviously the one that allows you to turn your ideas into code: A text editor. As time goes by, more online text editors are created that can help you code from any computer with Internet access. In this article, let’s take a look at 10+ useful online code editors.
Following are the major advantages of using online code editors
- Zero setups. You won’t have to download, install and configure an IDE;
- Sharing and Collaboration. Start coding and then forward the URL to your colleague to continue your work or help you debug it;
- Zero or little cost. The vast majority of online code editors have free versions that will be enough for you for most of the daily tasks;
- Subscription-based pricing. It might be very useful to pay monthly for online editors instead of yearly licenses.
Flazio: Provides a variety of website templates
Flazio is a website creation and editing tool both for beginners and expert web designers. The software comes with pre-built website templates and an HTML code editor you can use to build a website.
The software offers a built-in desktop and mobile web editor to customize and optimize your website across devices. Flazio also provides an analytics dashboard that tracks website traffic and user behavior. It also keeps track of your most visited pages based on SERP evaluation.
You can also take care of bookings and reservations with the help of a reservation tool that you can add to your website. Your customers can schedule sessions, and you can send daily reminders to them through the software.
Flazio offers email, phone, and chat support. The tool is web-based and also has an app for both iOS and Android devices.Flazio4.6 (64)Read reviewsVIEW PROFILE
Key Features:
- Data import
- Drag and drop editor
- Landing pages
- Online booking tools
- SEO management
- Survey builder
Trial/Free Version: Free TrialFree VersionDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Website analytics dashboard in Flazio4
GoDaddy Website Builder: Offers an easy-to-use built-in editor
GoDaddy Website Builder is an online publishing and editing tool that helps you create websites regardless of your technical skills. The software has a built-in web editor you can use to create web pages and add images.
GoDaddy also helps you build an online store with a complete catalog of the products you offer. You can create landing and category pages and a payments page that can integrate with third-party payment processing software.
The software also features an in-built content creation dashboard you can use to create social media posts. With social media integrations, you can share these on various social media platforms directly from the dashboard.
GoDaddy Website Builder offers email and phone support. The tool is web-based and also features a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.GoDaddy Website Builder4.1 (869)Read reviews view
Key Features:
- Customizable templates
- Activity dashboard
- Form builder
- Google Analytics integration
- Mobile commerce
- Order management
Trial/Free Version:Free TrialFree VersionDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Website dashboard in GoDaddy Website Builder
Sublime Text
The Sublime Text editor is definitely one of our favorites! It offers a free version for testing, but all continual users are required to pay $99 to keep it active. While $99 might sound steep for a text editor, it’s important to note that the licenses are per-user, rather than per-machine, so you can enjoy Sublime Text on as many computers and operating systems as you wish with your license.
As for the features, Sublime Text has an advantage in that it’s extremely lightweight (low resource usage), but still keeps around some of the more advanced features you would expect out of a top text editor. The primary benefit is that Sublime Text offers shortcuts and search tools for immediately finding certain functions and making changes to multiple lines at once. Jumping to specific symbols or words takes only a few seconds.
In addition, Sublime Text automatically creates an index of all functions and methods so that you can work with the shortcuts and customize it for locating bits of code while working.
Sublime Text editor
Going along with the trend of shortcuts in Sublime Text, the text editor lets you type in a few keystrokes to move directly to menu items. So, if you wanted to sort something in your document, you wouldn’t be required to sift through the entire menu to find that functionality.
Sublime Text has a Python API, meaning that a wide variety of plugins can be integrated with the text editing solution. This includes the thousands of plugins that are consistently created by the Sublime Text community.
Which Features Make This One of the Best Text Editor Tools?
- Sublime Text lets you test out the text editor before committing to the investment. Although it’s a bummer you have to pay for this text editor, you at least get to try it out–and the pricing isn’t that expensive.
- The text editor runs on multiple platforms such as Mac, Windows, and Linux. It’s also cross-platform, so one license will work on all of your devices–no need to purchase more.
- Sublime Text provides split editing for managing and editing files next to each other. You can also open multiple windows and place them on different monitors.
- The Python API opens up opportunities to upgrade Sublime Text with plugins you, or other people, create.
- Sublime Text has extremely user-friendly and powerful shortcuts. From finding and modifying multiple lines to locating certain functions in the menu, Sublime Text should make shortcut lovers happy.
- You can also customize just about anything in Sublime Text. This is especially true when talking about shortcuts and menus. We recommend tweaking the settings to open files in the same window (new tab).
- Has some great community themes available. Check out the Dracula Sublime theme.
Sublime Text makes the most sense for heavy coders. These developers will enjoy the shortcut functionality and the high level of customization. The cross-platform abilities are also nice for launching the same text editor on all machines.
Atom
With Atom, you gain access to an open-source text editor with developers in mind. In fact, the creators of Atom state that they made it just for developers. Also, there’s a community of developers who contribute themes and plugins, much like WordPress or some other open-source tools. An experienced developer should have no problem working with Atom since it offers clean collaboration tools, a sleek editor, and some great organizational tools for keeping your projects in check.
All of your projects can be shared and edited in real-time, helping out teams that are far away from each other or simply those teams that want a more dedicated workspace. Furthermore, Atom has a GitHub package already included with the text editor. This way, your team can create everything from branches to stages in one interface.
Atom text editor
Another great thing about Atom is that it’s a cross-platform system, working on operating systems like Linux, OS X, and Windows. The smart autocompletion is one of my favorite features, and the multiple panes should make you feel right at home with several panes open to editing code between files. Much like an iPhone (or WordPress,), Atom has extras that you can install called packages. These are offered to expand the functionality of the basic text editor. You can also install themes to make your editor look prettier and easier on the eyes.
Which Features Make This One of the Best Text Editor Tools?
- Atom is an opensource text editor with a large community of developers. This means you get consistent updates and new themes and packages. Check out the Dracula theme for Atom.
- It’s a cross-platform solution that works on the major operating systems.
- The editor is useful for coding alone, but its true strengths come into play when you need to collaborate with other people. All of the editing and creation can be done in real-time.
- Atom provides a GitHub package for integrating and doing things like pull requests and resolving merge conflicts.
- You can search for new packages and themes right from the text editor.
- It’s fairly easy to edit your code with smart autocompletion, a file system browser, and a find and replace feature.
- Atom offers multiple panes for comparing and editing code side by side.
I would recommend Atom for those developers who want a collaboration tool in addition to the text editor. You can manage projects with other developers and see changes right in front of your eyes. Atom is also nice since it’s opensource–meaning you get it for free, the community is solid, and you can choose from packages and themes. In short, if you like working with WordPress, Atom seems to present itself in a similar fashion.
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3. Notepad++
Debatably the most popular advanced text editor on the market, Notepad++ comes in a compact package with no fees and powerful editing components. It is given away for free on a General Public License, meaning that all developers and content creators are able to take advantage of the text editor right after a quick download. Notepad++ runs on Microsoft Windows, and it strives to use less computing power than the average text editor.
One of the things that makes Notepad++ stand out is the fact that it’s already been translated into over 80 languages, allowing access to people all over the world. Furthermore, you’re able to translate Notepad++ into your native language if you don’t find your language on the list of translations.
Notepad++ text editor
Writing code and manipulating text in Notepad++ comes easy, as it utilizes syntax highlighting and folding. There’s also a wonderful search and replace tool, along with an entirely customizable user interface. For instance, you might want a vertical tab or a document list–all are possible with the Notepad++ text editor.
Which Features Make This One of the Best Text Editor Tools?
- Notepad++ is completely free for everyone to use.
- The text editor is already translated into dozens of languages, and it provides the documentation needed to translate into more languages.
- You receive a multi-view editor with syntax highlighting and folding.
- The customization tools are easy to understand and powerful enough for the most advanced developer.
- The auto-completion settings ensure that you can finish functions, parameters, and words without having to type them in over and over.
- It offers a multi-document interface for switching between tabs and managing multiple projects at once.
- Notepad++ provides a list of plugins to improve the functionality of the text editor or integrate with other programs.
- You can open a function list, which reveals an outline of all functions found in the current file. This also includes a search engine for quickly locating functions in large documents.
If you’re a beginner who needs a text editor, Notepad++ is far easier to understand than some of the other options on this list. Not only that, but you’ll enjoy the ability to locate words and replace them all, while also revealing certain bits of code with highlighting. As for advanced users, Notepad++ also does the trick, with its syntax highlighting for HTML, PHP, and JavaScript. The plugins also help out when trying to connect via FTP or integrate with other text editors.
4. CoffeeCup – The HTML Editor
CoffeeCup’s HTML Editor provides extremely advanced text editing for coding and overall web design management. The editor has a free trial, but in order to continue, you must pay the $49 one-time fee. There’s also a fully free version, but the features are pretty watered down.
We like CoffeeCup for creating HTML documents, but you might consider avoiding it for many other code languages. However, it makes sense to take advantage of CoffeeCup if you’re simply learning a programming language like HTML or PHP.
CofeeCup The HTML Editor
As mentioned, creating and editing HTML is fairly simple with CoffeeCup. This takes your web design to the next level, especially with the tools for tag references and code completion. There are plenty of components to take advantage of that instantly update various elements across your entire website.
What’s more is that the CoffeeCup text editor comes with several responsive website themes. You may want to start from scratch if you’re trying to learn more about coding, but the themes expedite the process for when you need to generate client websites by a deadline.
Which Features Make This One of the Best Text Editor Tools?
- CoffeeCup has a free version and free trial. Also, the premium version is affordable.
- This is one of the best text editor options with themes. These aren’t completed websites, but it gets you close to some designs that might look appealing for some of your clients. Why reinvent the wheel when you can start further into the process?
- The FTP connection allows you to go live with your website with the click of a button. Publish your website anywhere you want by selecting a server or web host.
- CoffeeCup is one of the more visual text editors, with a standard split-screen view, but also a live preview to see what your code creates on the frontend.
CoffeeCup is a great choice for those interested in learning HTML, CSS, and PHP. The components library, combined with the theme selection, delivers a good starting point for those who are on a time crunch or don’t feel like beginning from scratch.
5
IM Creator: Best in terms of functionality
IM Creator is a white-label website builder that helps you build different websites for eCommerce, blogs, and portfolios. You can use a built-in drag-and-drop design tool to add animations and reactive visuals, and create a responsive website for all kinds of devices such as desktops, mobiles, and smartwatches.
IM Creator offers pre-built website blocks that you can combine to create a multi-section website. For experienced users, the tool provides an HTML editor to create web pages from scratch.
The software features an SEO feature that you can use to optimize your search ranking and increase your website’s engagement, traffic, and conversions.
IM Creator offers email and chat support and is web-based. The tool also has a mobile app for Android devices.BEST FUNCTIONALITYIM Creator4.8 (41)Read reviewsVIEW PROFILE
Key Features:
- Data import/export
- Drag and drop editor
- Landing pages/forms
- Online store builder
- Pre-built templates
- Real-time editing
Trial/Free Version: Free TrialFree VersionDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Choosing a website template in IM Creator6
Olitt: Offers multiple integrations with third-party apps
Olitt is a site builder tool that offers pre-built websites you can customize according to your business needs. With this tool, you can create landing pages, one-page websites, and online stores.
The tool also helps you collect payments through your website as you can integrate it with third-party payment processing applications. Additionally, you can track and monitor website traffic by integrating third-party analytics tools into your website.
Another useful feature if you are an advanced user is the custom code editor that you can use to create specific sections of your website.
Olitt offers email, phone, and chat support. The tool is web-based.MOST AFFORDABLEOlitt4.2
Key Features:
- Auto website update
- Data import/export
- Drag and drop editor
- Landing pages
- Online store builder
- Pre-built templates
Trial/Free Version: Free TrialFree VersionDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Choosing a website template in Olitt7
Webflow: Features a visual dashboard to create web pages
Webflow is a website designing platform that lets you create websites from scratch with the help of a visual dashboard. The tool also helps you manage website content and market it on various platforms.
With Webflow, you can create multiple web pages on a visual canvas and convert the design into multiple languages, such as HTML5, CSS, or JavaScript, and hand it off to your developer team.
The tool also features a live editor that you can use to edit and update existing web pages. Additionally, Webflow has an SEO panel that helps optimize your website and boost ranking on search engines.
Webflow offers email, chat, and phone support. The tool is web-based
Key Features:
- Collaboration tools
- Customizable templates
- Document classification
- Drag and drop editor
- Full text search
- SEO management
Trial/Free Version: Free TrialFree VersionDevice Compatibility:
Screenshot:
Product catalog creation in Webflow
Conclusion
Others can tweak a website’s design and write about the latest in coding trends, but web designers also need to make sure their online tools are up-to-date. Here are a few options when it comes to the best online text editor for web development.
This is of course not a complete list, as there are many other online code editors available on the internet that you can use. We have collected these online editor tools by their popularity.
Tell us which one is you are currently using and which we can add to the list in the comment section below. Also, do not forget to bookmark and share this collection.