An HTML editor is computer software for creating web pages. As this type of editor helps to remove the frustration out of creating web pages, it represents an indispensable tool for graphic and web designers. Specialized HTML editors provide convenience and added functionality.
There are three main types of HTML editors. The most common type is the WYSIWYG HTML editor. Here the editor provides an editing interface which resembles how the page will be displayed in a web browser. This is achieved by embedding a layout engine. For example, in the case of BlueGriffon, the layout engine that is used is Gecko, which is also used in the Firefox web browser. The other types of editor are text source editors and object editors.
There are a diverse range of HTML editors available for Linux. To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 10 competent Linux HTML editors, ranging from simple editors that are suitable for beginners, to editors that are targeted towards programmers, to integrated development environments.
The chart below captures our recommendations. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.
Click the links in the table below to learn more about each editor.
| HTML Editors | |
|---|---|
| Zed | Fast, multiplayer code editor built for serious development |
| VSCodium | VS Code binaries without Microsoft branding or telemetry |
| Bluefish | Powerful editor for writing websites, scripts and programming code |
| NetBeans | Java based integrated development environment |
| Pulsar | Community-led Atom continuation for highly customizable editing |
| SeaMonkey | All-in-one internet application suite |
| Phoenix Code | Browser-based editor with live preview and collaborative coding |
| Webstudio | Visual website builder aimed at open, code-friendly design |
| Geany | Lightweight IDE offering speed, simplicity, and broad language support |
| Kate | KDE’s powerful text editor with sessions, projects, and plugins |
There are other types of software that offer the ability to compose and edit HTML. For example, there are a wide range of text editors available that include some HTML functionality. And many content management systems offer excellent HTML editing functionality.
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |
Old comments have been retained for historical reasons.
Thank you for your review!
I’m and OLD Windose user who LOVED, WYSIWYG… html editor, and just move to Mint OS, 5 years ago! That app, was also ported to android, and I tried it out and it ran ONCE and poofy, no work again!
NOW, being LOW budget, on SS, I’d love to find a FREE “WYSIWYG” that is just LIKE the one that ran under Windose.
I’m old and don’t want go thru hours, nor even many minutes to RELEARNING a more optioned, app, expectantly when it was or is advertised as FREE, and it turns out to be “catch wear,” that is only FREE for a few weeks, or what-ever the NOT-Free, “bate-wear app” was falsely advertised as free!
THANK you for your time for writing this INFO, and suggestions!
I’m impressed by your research, it really shows in the quality of the article.