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The best Notepads alternatives

6 tools that do a similar job to Notepads, 6 of them open source. Each entry says what it does and who it suits, so you can pick the one that fits instead of the most famous.

You're replacing

Notepads

A lightweight Windows text editor with tabs, Markdown preview, and a diff viewer.

  1. 1

    VS Code

    Open source · MIT · ★ 194k

    Microsoft's open-source code editor, the base of Visual Studio Code, for writing and debugging code.

    Best for: Developers who want a lightweight editor that can be extended with add-ons; People who want to read or modify the editor's source code

    Full review Notepads vs VS Code
  2. 2

    Files

    Open source · MIT · ★ 46.4k

    A modern Windows file manager for organizing files and folders.

    Best for: Windows users who want a more modern alternative to File Explorer; People who manage many folders and want a tabbed or organized browsing experience

    Full review
  3. 3

    Calculator

    Open source · MIT · ★ 31.1k

    The Windows Calculator app source code, the one that ships pre-installed with Windows.

    Best for: Windows 11 users who want to read or modify the built-in calculator; Developers studying how a XAML and UWP desktop app is structured

    Full review
  4. 4

    DevToys

    Open source · MIT · ★ 32.2k

    A desktop bundle of small tools for everyday developer tasks like encoding, formatting and converting.

    Best for: Developers who often decode, encode, or format small pieces of data; People who prefer not to paste data into unknown online websites

    Full review
  5. 5

    CodeEdit

    Open source · MIT · ★ 23.1k

    A free, open-source code editor built natively for macOS, aiming to feel like a Mac app.

    Best for: Developers on a Mac who work on non-Apple projects and want a native macOS editor; People who prefer open-source software that is free and licensed under MIT

    Full review
  6. 6

    omi

    Open source · MIT · ★ 13.9k

    Open-source app that captures your screen and conversations, then summarizes them and answers questions about

    Best for: People who want a searchable record of their meetings and conversations; Developers who want to build or modify a wearable AI product

    Full review

How we pick: tools in the same category that solve the same problem, projects that name each other as alternatives, and open-source projects that describe themselves as an alternative to Notepads. We don't take payment for placement.