TL;DR
TextMate vs Sublime Text: For most Mac users in 2026, Sublime Text is the better choice for code editors because it ranks higher in Homebrew install popularity (#34). Both install with a single Homebrew command, so the switching cost is low. Choose TextMate instead if you are moving off Sublime Text.
Which is better: TextMate or Sublime Text?
Sublime Text is the top pick for most Mac users looking at code editors. It has a free tier and installs in one Homebrew command. TextMate is the stronger choice if you are moving off Sublime Text. As of September 2026, both install with brew install --cask textmate and brew install --cask sublime-text.
TextMate vs Sublime Text
Which is the better code editors for Mac in 2026?
We compared TextMate and Sublime Text across 6 key factors including price, open-source status, and community adoption. Read our full breakdown below.
TextMate
General-purpose text editor
Sublime Text
Fast, lightweight code editor with powerful shortcuts
Our Verdict
For most Mac users in 2026, Sublime Text is the better choice for code editors because it ranks higher in Homebrew install popularity (#34). Both install with a single Homebrew command, so the switching cost is low. Choose TextMate instead if you are moving off Sublime Text.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | TextMate | Sublime Text |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Replaces | Sublime Text ($99) | Nova ($99) |
| Best for | text editor, code editor, macos | code-editor, text-editor, lightweight |
| Install | brew install --cask textmate | brew install --cask sublime-text |
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
Quick Install
brew install --cask textmatebrew install --cask sublime-textLearn More
In-Depth Overview
What is TextMate?
TextMate is a classic macOS text editor created by Allan Odgaard and historically famous for scoped language grammars, snippet-driven bundles, recordable macros, and the mate command-line helper that made it a Ruby and web-developer favorite in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Today TextMate 2.x is free and open source (github.com/textmate/textmate) with downloads still offered from macromates.com requiring macOS 10.12 or later. As of August 2026 it is best understood as a living legacy project: still installable, still useful for many Mac-only editing tasks, still extensible via bundles, but no longer the default recommendation for greenfield professional environments dominated by VS Code, Zed, Neovim, JetBrains, or Sublime. There are no paid tiers, no seat subscriptions, and no feature paywalls. Support is community-driven through GitHub and mailing lists rather than a commercial SLA. If your workflow is already encoded in TextMate scopes and shell-backed commands, it remains delightful. If you are choosing cold in 2026, you should compare it honestly against actively paced alternatives.
What is Sublime Text?
Sublime Text 4 is Sublime HQ's cross-platform native editor built for speed. On Mac it ships Universal binaries with native Apple silicon support and a UI that stays out of the way while Goto Anything (Cmd+P), the command palette, multiple selections, and project indexing do the heavy lifting. In August 2026 the public stable Mac build remains 4200 (released 21 May 2025), documented on sublimetext.com/download. Dev builds for licensed users reached 4205 on 23 April 2026 with plugin Python host work toward 3.14, git status performance improvements, and quality-of-life commands. Licensing is commercial but simple: evaluate free without an enforced time limit; personal license $99 USD with three years of updates; business annual seats start at $65/seat/year with volume breaks. Optional Sublime Merge bundles exist for teams that want the matching Git client. Package Control remains the extension spine. Sublime will not out-AI VS Code's agent ecosystem, and the stable train is leisurely, but for people who live in a text editor all day, raw latency and multi-cursor fluency still matter, and Sublime still delivers them.
Detailed Feature Comparison
Performance & Large Files
CriticalTextMate is a native Mac app and feels snappy on moderate files and projects. It is not primarily marketed as a multi-megabyte log/data editor, and very large buffers or huge project trees can expose the age of its architecture compared with Sublime's indexing and selection engine. For everyday source files it remains pleasant.
Sublime's defining trait is still low-latency editing. Multi-selection edits, large files, and rapid project navigation remain hard to beat among mainstream GUI editors. Build 4200 specifically called out performance improvements when editing with many selections and improved git status performance, reinforcing the speed brand into 2025-2026.
Verdict: Sublime still owns raw editing speed and large-file comfort.
Extensibility & Ecosystem
HighBundles are TextMate's soul: language grammars, snippets, commands, and macros wired through scope selectors. The model is elegant and still capable for people who maintain their own bundle sets. The public ecosystem, however, is quieter than Package Control or VS Code's marketplace; discovering modern maintained packages is harder in 2026.
Package Control plus a long tail of community packages covers languages, themes, linters, and workflow glue. The plugin host modernization path in 4200/4205 (Python 3.8 default options and work toward newer plugin Python) shows Sublime investing in extension longevity even if the marketplace is smaller than VS Code's.
Verdict: Package Control's breadth beats today's quieter TextMate bundle commons.
Editing Power (Multi-cursor, Navigation, Palette)
HighTextMate popularized multiple carets on Mac and still offers strong snippet triggers, macros, Open Quickly style navigation, and shell command integration. Power users can accomplish a lot, especially with carefully scoped keybindings. The out-of-box multi-cursor choreography and project palette workflows are less dominant than Sublime's defaults.
Goto Anything, multiple cursors, skip-select expanding, the command palette, and project switching form a cohesive high-speed grammar. Once internalized, many developers find GUI editors without this vocabulary feel sluggish even when raw FPS is fine.
Verdict: Sublime's editing vocabulary remains the more complete daily driver.
Platform Support
HighTextMate is macOS-only. That is perfect for Apple-only freelancers and painful for anyone pairing a MacBook with a Linux workstation or Windows gaming PC. There is no official TextMate for other desktops.
One personal license covers Mac, Windows, and Linux machines. Settings and packages travel. For consultants and polyglot OS users this alone often ends the comparison.
Verdict: Cross-platform licensing is a decisive Sublime advantage.
Development Activity & Modern Tooling
HighOpen source continuity keeps TextMate installable and patchable, but it is not shipping the cadence or AI-adjacent workflow integrations that define 2026 editor discourse. Treat it as stable classic software, not a rocket ship.
Stable releases are infrequent compared with Electron editors, yet 4200 and 2026 dev builds prove the product is alive: syntax updates, plugin host planning, git status work, sidebar options, and API additions. It will not match VS Code's extension velocity, but it is not abandoned.
Verdict: Sublime is the more actively commercial modern editor of the two.
Price & Licensing Clarity
MediumCompletely free and open source. No evaluation nag for commercial features that do not exist. Ideal for students, hobbyists, and FOSS-preferring Mac users.
$99 personal with three years of updates is clear and still reasonable for professional tools. Business annual seats start at $65. Unlimited free evaluation exists, but serious daily use expects a license purchase. Not free, but honest.
Verdict: TextMate wins pure price; Sublime wins paid value for pros.
macOS Integration
MediumBorn on Mac, TextMate still feels at home with Unix underpinnings, shell commands, and native UI patterns. For pure Apple environments its integration story is part of the charm.
Native Mac builds, Apple silicon support, and polished windowing make Sublime feel first-class on macOS even though it is cross-platform. OS compatibility docs and Universal binaries keep it Tahoe-ready for typical 2026 Mac hardware.
Verdict: Both feel native enough; TextMate is Mac-only by nature, Sublime is Mac-strong by engineering.
Who Should Choose Which?
1Professional full-stack developer on Mac + Linux
One license, one muscle memory, high speed, and packages that travel across machines beat a Mac-only free editor.
2Student who needs a free Mac editor
Zero cost and native simplicity work; consider also free VS Code/Zed if they need language servers and AI helpers.
3Writer editing Markdown and configs
TextMate is fine free; Sublime is nicer if already licensed for code.
4Legacy TextMate bundle power user
Switching costs can exceed Sublime's benefits if your world is already encoded in TextMate scopes.
Migration Guide
Textmate → Sublime Text
Install Sublime, buy a personal license when evaluation proves daily value, install Package Control, and recreate snippets as Sublime snippets or packages. Map frequently used TextMate commands to the command palette. Keep TextMate briefly for edge bundles you have not ported.
Sublime Text → Textmate
Only migrate if cost or philosophy demands it. Export critical snippets, rebuild as TextMate bundles, and accept Mac-only lock-in. Do not expect Package Control parity.
Pro Tips
Many developers evaluating both should also shortlist VS Code, Zed, Neovim, or BBEdit depending on AI needs and Mac purism. This pair is no longer the whole market.
Final Verdict
Sublime Text
Winner
Runner-up
Scores are Bundl.run editorial ratings out of 10 across 7 criteria (the feature comparison above), last reviewed August 2026.
August 2026 confirmation: Sublime Text still beats TextMate for nearly all professional Mac developers. Build 4200/dev 4205 activity, Package Control, cross-platform licensing, and editing speed justify $99. TextMate remains a respectable free open-source Mac editor with historic craft, but its ecosystem quietness and Mac-only limit keep it a niche choice. The verdict did not flip.
Bottom Line: Buy Sublime Text for daily professional editing. Use TextMate when free and Mac-only is enough, or when your bundles already define your world. If you are standardising an editor for a Mac team, time cold starts on a real project, note package-install friction, and try multi-cursor edits on a production file before you decide.
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Author
Explore More on Bundl
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Expert Insights
TextMate's risk is opportunity cost, not crashes: developers lose modern ecosystem use even when the app feels fine.
Sublime's slow stable cadence is a feature for people who hate breaking plugin weeks, not proof of abandonment.
Sources & References
Key Verified Facts
- Sublime Text personal licenses cost $99 USD with three years of updates as listed on the official store.[cite-2]
- Public stable Sublime Text 4 build is 4200 (21 May 2025) on the official download page.[cite-1, cite-6]
- TextMate is free to download from macromates.com and open source on GitHub.[cite-3, cite-7]
- 1Sublime Text Download
Accessed Aug 9, 2026
"Sublime Text 4 stable Build 4200; free evaluation; changelog notes."
- 2Buy Sublime Text
Accessed Aug 9, 2026
"Personal license total $99 USD; business licensing path; Merge bundle option."
- 3TextMate homepage
Accessed Aug 9, 2026
"Product overview of bundles, multiple carets, snippets, macros."
- 4
- 5Sublime Text Sales FAQ
Accessed Aug 9, 2026
"License terms including personal vs business purchasing guidance."
- 6
- 7
Related Technologies & Concepts
Related Topics
Mac code editors
Native and cross-platform editors used on macOS for software development.
Editor licensing models
Free open-source versus paid perpetual-style editor licenses.