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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    BBEdit

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ABBEdit is a text editor from Bare Bones software headquartered in Massachusetts.N/A

    Brackets

    Score10 out of 10
    N/ABrackets is a free and open source text editor developed at Adobe under the MIT license, featuring inline editing, live preview, and a wide range of extensions.N/A
    Pricing
    BBEditBrackets
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BBEditBrackets
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BBEditBrackets
    Considered Both Products
    Bare Bones Software
    Chose BBEdit
    Compared to Brackets, BBEdit feels faster, leaner, and has more utility value. Brackets feel oriented towards coders specifically, whereas BBEdit is like a toolbox of text tools for a wide array of needs. I feel like the same is probably true for Visual Studio Code, but I have …
    Incentivized
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    BBEditBrackets
    Small Businesses
    Sublime Text
    Score9.8 out of 10
    BBEdit
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Vim
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Vim
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Vim
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Vim
    Score8.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BBEditBrackets
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.5
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.7
    (7 ratings)
    9.5
    (5 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BBEditBrackets
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Bare Bones Software
    I'm primarily a graphic designer who does occasional web development. For me, BBEdit works very well. I use it both for developer projects (editing code, editing system files) and for general text processing (cleaning up, formatting, or extracting text). I like that it offers real-time previews of edits to web project files. It comes with some nice editor themes and supports adding more or customizing them. I expect that for some coders, it will be inadequate. It is not an IDE. On the other end of the spectrum, someone who expects an experience more like Microsoft Word will be very disappointed; or if they wanted something more along the lines of Windows Notepad, they may find it to be overkill. It is an ASCII text editor with many advanced commands and tools built-in.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Brackets can handle most text editing problems, at least if you have a file small enough that it opens. But with so many free and open-source editors out there, it is easy to have multiple tools that fit specific niches. If you are editing HTML and CSS, get Brackets.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Bare Bones Software
    • BBEdit remembers what I had open, so I never have to worry about losing work when I accidentally close the software. It will hold onto information almost indefinitely, so that the next time I open a program, I can access the information that I may have forgotten to save. Thankfully, its save function is also very simple to use, so I recommend still saving your work as needed.
    • Scripts are the most important aspect of BBEdit for the company I work for. Being able to import scripts and create new ones all in the same location are great.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • The Live Preview feature is extremely helpful. You can make tweaks to your CSS and then see how it affects the pge you're coding.
    • The recently added file tree feature is really a time saver. You can move files with a drop and drag feature without ever minimizing the program.
    • One of my favorite features is the ability to update the core program with extensions. Some of the extensions are simple, like adding themes, while others are a offer a little more assistance like creating Lorem Ipsum text for you.
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    Cons
    Bare Bones Software
    • The cost of this product has just become too much for the functionality that most people need. You can find free or $10 tools that do what most people need to do.
    • The BBEdit program has lots of functionality, but could it be too much? Are there too many options?
    • It seems that there are too many upgrades.
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    Open Source
    • Can be a little slow to open and render larger files at times relative to a similar application running on the same computer.
    • Some plugins have performance or quality issues (not the fault of Brackets per se, but with the ecosystem of extensions).
    • Color schemes, styling ease of use could be improved. For example, provide out-of-the-box schemes like "high-contrast, night-time, bold."
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    Usability
    Bare Bones Software
    No answers on this topic
    Open Source
    As far as usability, text editors are about as simple as you can get in the GUI world. The little features that make Brackets unique are intuitive enough that you don't really need a manual to find them and come to rely on them. If anybody knows enough about coding and markup enough to be looking for different editors, they will be up to speed before the download finishes.
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    Support Rating
    Bare Bones Software
    I've been using BBEdit — no joke — for nearly three decades now. Believe it or not, I'm still getting "upgrade pricing" 13 versions later. Bare Bones' support has always been stellar, and pricing continues to be affordable compared to similar tools.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Brackets has a very extensive support site. Everything is organized nicely for easy navigation. If you can't find an answer you can easily file an issue with them and they will be quick to respond. What's cool is you can also message them on Slack, if you request an invite first. Slack is a very popular program right now so it's great having that integration.
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    Alternatives Considered
    Bare Bones Software
    BBEdit wins over TextEdit every time. They are as different as chalk and cheese. I am so glad we moved to BBEdit.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Brackets can be considered as the barebones version of a more complex piece of software like Dreamweaver. We selected Brackets due to the simplicity of the UI and the ease of use. In our case we do not need all the additional tools and gadgets that other, more complex software packages offer. We need something that's quick, easy, uncluttered and focuses specifically on our needs, which are seeing code and editing code. In this case no frills and complex UIs are required.
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    Return on Investment
    Bare Bones Software
    • It saves me time, not only with web projects, but even with design, when I want to strip out formatting in text, I bring it in to BBEdit to clean it up.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • ROI is great. The version of the tool we are using is free so not a whole of lot “investment” went into it. And the work we can accomplish with it more than makes up for the “cost.”
    • The ease of use makes it simple for anyone new to the tool to start using it and contributing to the project.
    Incentivized
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