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Which is the better code editors for Mac in 2026?
We compared TextMate and Sublime Text across 5 key factors including price, open-source status, and community adoption. Both TextMate and Sublime Text are excellent code editors. Read our full breakdown below.
General-purpose text editor
Text editor for code, markup and prose
Both TextMate and Sublime Text are excellent code editors. TextMate is better for users who prefer polished experiences, while Sublime Text excels for those who value established ecosystems.
| Feature | TextMate | Sublime Text |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Monthly Installs | N/A | N/A |
| GitHub Stars | N/A | N/A |
| Category | Media & Entertainment | Developer Tools |
brew install --cask textmatebrew install --cask sublime-textTextMate is a lightweight, convention-based text editor designed specifically for macOS. It distinguishes itself with its clean interface, focused feature set, and powerful scripting capabilities. TextMate emphasizes simplicity and elegance, offering a streamlined coding experience that appeals to developers who value efficiency and a distraction-free environment. Its bundle system allows users to extend functionality with custom commands, snippets, and language support. While it may not have as many built-in features as some other editors, TextMate's extensibility and convention-based approach make it a favorite among Mac developers who appreciate a minimalist yet powerful tool. In 2026, TextMate continues to be a relevant choice for those who prioritize a clean workflow and enjoy customizing their editor to fit their specific needs.
Sublime Text is a sophisticated, cross-platform text editor known for its speed, flexibility, and extensive feature set. It offers a highly customizable environment with advanced capabilities like multiple selections, a command palette for quick access to commands, and a robust plugin ecosystem. Sublime Text caters to developers who need a versatile tool that can handle a wide range of coding tasks and be tailored to their specific workflows. Its performance and cross-platform compatibility make it a popular choice for developers working on diverse projects. Sublime Text continues to evolve with regular updates and a thriving community, ensuring it remains a powerful and relevant code editor in 2026.
TextMate offers basic multiple selection capabilities, allowing users to select and edit multiple instances of the same text within a file. However, its implementation is not as advanced or intuitive as Sublime Text's, lacking some of the more sophisticated selection tools and features. Customization is limited compared to Sublime Text's extensive options.
Sublime Text excels with its robust multiple selection feature, enabling developers to efficiently edit numerous instances of text simultaneously. It boasts advanced selection tools, such as column selection and regex-based selection, providing unparalleled flexibility and control. This makes complex editing tasks significantly faster and easier. The editor also features customizable keybindings to further enhance the multiple selection workflow.
Verdict: Sublime Text provides a far more powerful and flexible multiple selection experience.
TextMate offers a basic command palette through its bundle system, allowing users to execute custom commands and snippets. However, its functionality is limited compared to Sublime Text's comprehensive command palette, lacking built-in features and a seamless user experience. Customization requires scripting and bundle management.
Sublime Text features a powerful command palette that provides quick access to virtually any command, setting, or plugin. It offers fuzzy search, making it easy to find the desired action, and supports custom commands and keybindings. The command palette streamlines workflows and enhances productivity.
Verdict: Sublime Text's command palette is far more comprehensive and user-friendly.
TextMate's bundle system allows for extending functionality through custom commands, snippets, and language support. While the ecosystem is smaller than Sublime Text's, it offers a curated selection of high-quality bundles. The bundle management system can be less intuitive than Sublime Text's package manager.
Sublime Text boasts a vast and thriving plugin ecosystem, offering a wide range of packages for virtually any coding task. The package manager makes it easy to install, update, and manage plugins. The community is active and contributes to a constant stream of new and updated packages. The Package Control system makes finding and managing extensions straightforward.
Verdict: Sublime Text's plugin ecosystem offers more options and a more user-friendly experience.
TextMate provides solid language support through its bundle system, offering syntax highlighting, code completion, and other language-specific features for a wide range of programming languages. Bundles often rely on convention and scripting for custom language support. Built-in support is limited.
Sublime Text offers excellent language support out of the box, with syntax highlighting, code completion, and other language-specific features for numerous programming languages. Its plugin ecosystem provides even more extensive support for less common languages. Language definitions are easily customizable and extendable.
Verdict: Sublime Text provides broader built-in language support and greater extensibility.
TextMate allows for customization through its bundle system, enabling users to create custom commands, snippets, and themes. Customization often requires scripting knowledge and familiarity with TextMate's conventions. The theming system is less flexible than Sublime Text's.
Sublime Text offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to tailor virtually every aspect of the editor to their preferences. It boasts a flexible theming system, customizable keybindings, and a powerful plugin API. Settings are controlled via JSON files, providing granular control.
Verdict: Sublime Text provides more granular control and flexibility in customization.
TextMate features a clean, minimalist interface that emphasizes simplicity and focus. Its design adheres to macOS conventions, providing a familiar and intuitive experience for Mac users. Some may find the interface too basic compared to Sublime Text's more feature-rich UI.
Sublime Text offers a clean and modern interface with a dark theme by default. The UI is highly customizable through themes and plugins. Some may find the default UI less visually appealing than TextMate's minimalist design, although themes address this.
Verdict: TextMate's UI adheres more closely to the Mac aesthetic.
TextMate offers basic project management capabilities through its project drawer, allowing users to organize and navigate files within a project. However, it lacks some of the more advanced features found in Sublime Text, such as project-specific settings and workspaces. No indexing is performed. Simple folder based browsing.
Sublime Text provides robust project management features, allowing users to create and manage projects with project-specific settings, workspaces, and build systems. It offers indexing making file and symbol navigation efficient. Supports automatic loading and saving of workspace configurations.
Verdict: Sublime Text's project management is more comprehensive.
Sublime Text's plugin ecosystem and language support provide powerful tools for web development, offering extensions for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other web technologies.
Sublime Text's versatility makes it suitable for backend development, with plugins and language support for Python, Java, Go, and other server-side languages.
TextMate's convention-based approach and scripting capabilities make it ideal for automating tasks and creating custom workflows.
Sublime Text’s project management and efficient performance make it more suitable for larger projects.
Sublime Text's cross-platform compatibility allows developers to work seamlessly on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
TextMate provides a simple learning curve, allowing new developers to focus on learning to code without being overwhelmed by UI elements or too many options.
Migrating from TextMate to Sublime Text involves familiarizing yourself with Sublime Text's command palette, package manager, and settings system. Keybindings can be customized to mimic TextMate's, and TextMate bundles can often be adapted for Sublime Text. Sublime Text projects must be setup instead of simply browsing file trees.
Switching from Sublime Text to TextMate requires adjusting to TextMate's convention-based approach and bundle system. Sublime Text keybindings can be imported into TextMate. Sublime Text's theme settings and user settings may need to be manually reimplemented or translated into shell scripts or applescript bundles. No complex setups are necessary.
When migrating, focus on transferring essential settings and plugins first. Take advantage of each editor's customization options to create a familiar and efficient environment. Be prepared to change preferences to what is idiomatic for each editor, as not all preferences are created equal.
Winner
Runner-up
TextMate and Sublime Text are both excellent code editors that cater to different preferences and needs. TextMate excels with its simplicity and speed, while Sublime Text shines with its versatility and extensive feature set. Each offers a unique coding experience that can be tailored to individual workflows. While one may be better than the other for one type of programmer, they provide roughly equivalent levels of functionality to most users.
Bottom Line: Choose TextMate for a clean, macOS-focused coding experience or Sublime Text for a highly customizable, cross-platform environment.
Browse code editors apps, read our complete guide, or discover curated bundles.
Plugin and customization options for extending editor functionality.
Last verified: Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
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