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Neovim

Extensible, Lua-configurable fork of Vim with built-in LSP and Tree-sitter.

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About Neovim

Neovim is a community fork of Vim that set out to modernise the codebase and make the editor easier to extend. It keeps Vim's editing model and runs most Vimscript, so existing Vim users can move over, but adds Lua as a first-class configuration and plugin language, a built-in language server client for code intelligence, Tree-sitter parsing for accurate highlighting and text objects, an embedded terminal and an RPC API that lets GUIs, IDEs and other tools use Neovim as their editing engine. A large plugin ecosystem, along with ready-made distributions like LazyVim, turns it into a full IDE inside a terminal. It is free and open source, runs on Linux, macOS, Windows and BSD, and works over SSH. The catch is time: a comfortable setup takes learning modal editing and maintaining a config, and things can break when plugins change. Developers who enjoy shaping their tools often stay with it for years.

Best for: Keyboard-driven developers who want a fast, fully customisable terminal editor.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Very fast and works anywhere, including over SSH
  • Lua plugins, built-in LSP and Tree-sitter
  • Compatible with Vim's editing model and most Vimscript

Why people leave

  • Steep learning curve for modal editing
  • A good setup needs ongoing config maintenance
  • Plugin updates can break configurations

Top Neovim alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1Zed logo
    Zed

    A fast GUI editor with a solid Vim mode for people tired of maintaining configs.

    70.9
  2. 2Vim logo
    Vim

    The original, available on almost every Unix system, with a more conservative pace.

    66.5
  3. 3Helix logo
    Helix

    Modal editing with LSP and Tree-sitter working out of the box, no config needed.

    62.6
  4. 4GNU Emacs logo
    GNU Emacs

    Another deeply extensible editor, programmable in Emacs Lisp.

    59.6
  5. 5Visual Studio Code logo
    Visual Studio Code

    Use the Vim or Neovim extension to keep modal editing with an easier setup.

    57.5

Why people left Neovim

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Neovim: common questions

Is Neovim free?

Yes. Neovim is free, open-source software.

Is Neovim open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at neovim/neovim.

What platforms does Neovim run on?

Neovim is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

What are the best alternatives to Neovim?

The highest-ranked Neovim alternatives right now are Zed, Vim and Helix. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Neovim alternatives