Alternatives to Brackets
Adobe's web-design editor
It is licensed under MIT, free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 1 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Adobe's web-design editor. Brackets has been discontinued; the active alternatives listed here are maintained products you can switch to.
Front-end and web developers who want a free, open-source code editor with strong CSS/HTML/JS-specific tooling and live browser preview.
An open-source text editor built specifically for web design, with inline editors for CSS and JS tied to HTML, a Live Preview feature that updates connected browsers as you edit, and native support for preprocessors like LESS and SCSS. It was developed by Adobe and released under the MIT license, with an extension system for adding functionality. Adobe ended official development and support in September 2021.
You edit HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files directly in the editor, using inline tools to jump to related CSS rules or preview LESS/SCSS output without a build step. Live Preview connects to Chrome to reflect changes in the browser as you save or type, and community-maintained forks continue to be built and distributed since Adobe's sunset of the official project.
Why people leave Brackets
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Every fact and feature listed for Brackets is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Status discontinued verified 2026-07-11
On September 1, 2021, Adobe will end support for Brackets.
https://github.com/adobe/brackets -
License MIT verified 2026-07-11
Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction"
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
https://github.com/adobe/brackets/blob/master/LICENSE -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-11
Brackets is a modern open-source code editor for HTML, CSS and JavaScript that's built in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
https://github.com/adobe/brackets -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux verified 2026-07-11
Installers for the latest stable build for Mac, Windows and Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) can be [downloaded here]
https://github.com/adobe/brackets -
Extensions marketplace Yes verified 2026-07-11
there is a large and growing community of developers building extensions that add all sorts of useful functionality. See the [Brackets Extension Registry]
https://github.com/adobe/brackets
FAQ
Yes. Cursor, Devin Desktop and Emacs have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Emacs, Helix and Kate — every license claim links its source.