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Comparison of TeX editors
List article

The following is a comparison of TeX editors.

Table of editors

Properties of TeX editors 1
NameEditing style 1Native operating systemsLatest releaseCostsLicenseConfigurableIntegrated viewer
VersionDate
AUCTeXSourceLinux, macOS, Windows14.0.92 2025-02-25FreeGPLYesYes
  AuthoreaSource / partial-WYSIWYGOnlineFreeProprietaryYesYes
CoCalcSourceOnlineFreeAGPL + Commons ClauseYesYes
GNOME LaTeXSourceLinux3.47.03 2024-09-14FreeGPLYesNo
GummiSourceLinux0.8.34 2022-04-29FreeMITYesYes (Live update)
KileSourceLinux (macOS, Windows)52.1.367 2012-09-23FreeGPLYesYes (Quick preview)
LyXWYSIWYMLinux, macOS, Windows2.4.38 2025-01-16FreeGPLYesYes
Notepad++SourceWindows8.7.99 2025-04-02FreeGPLYesNo, but can be integrated 10
OverleafSourceOnlineFreeAGPLv3YesYes
Scientific WorkPlaceWYSIWYMWindows6.1.211 2021-07-01Non-freeProprietaryYesYes
TeX LiveSourceFreeBSD, Linux, macOS, NetBSD, Solaris, Windows2025-3-8FreeLaTeX Project Public LicenseYesNo (used by other editors/tools)
TeXmacs12WYSIWYGLinux, macOS, Windows2.1.413 2024-03-11FreeGPLYesPartial (preview using system Pdf viewer)
TexmakerSourceLinux, macOS, Windows6.0.014 2024-08-16FreeGPL2YesYes
TeXnicCenterSourceWindows2.0215 2013-09-29FreeGPLYesNo
TeXShopSourcemacOS5.4916 2025-01-28FreeGPLYesYes
TeXstudioSourceLinux, macOS, Windows4.8.617 2025-02-07FreeGPL2YesYes (pdf, selection with dvi2png)
TeXworksSourceLinux, macOS, Windows0.6.1018 2025-02-13FreeGPLNoYes (pdf)
VerbosusSourceOnline, Android, iOS, WindowsFreeProprietaryYesYes (pdf)
VimSourceLinux, macOS, Windows9.11920 2024-01-02FreeVimYesNo
Visual Studio CodeSourceLinux, macOS, Windows1.99.321 2025-04-17FreeSource code: MIT Microsoft-built binaries: ProprietaryYesYes (pdf) 22
WinEdtSourceWindows11.123 2023-05-19Non-freeProprietaryYesYes
WinShellSourceWindows4.0.0.624 2023-05-27FreeProprietaryYesNo
NameEditing styleNative operating systemsVersionDateCostsLicenseConfigurableIntegrated viewer
Latest release
Properties of TeX editors 2
NameInverse search25DDE support26Organises ProjectsMenu for inserting symbolsDocument comparisonSpell-checkingMultiple undo-redo
AUCTeXYesNoPartial (master file)YesYesYes27Yes
  Authorea YesYesNoNoYesYes
CoCalcYesNoNoNoYesYes
GNOME LaTeXYesYesYesNoYesYes
GummiYesYesNoNoYesYes
KileYesNoYesYesNoYesYes
LyXYes?NoYesYesYesYes
Notepad++Yes, with SumatraPDFYes, with a DDE clientYesPartial28YesYesYes
OverleafYesNoYesNoYesYesYes
Scientific WorkPlace??YesNoYesNo (one level)
TeXmacsYesPartial (shows document parts)YesPartial (for own format only)YesYes
TexmakerYesNoPartial (master file)YesNoYesYes
TeXnicCenterYesYesYesYesNoYesYes
TeXShopYesNoNoYes29NoYesYes
TeXstudioYesYesPartial (master file)YesYesYesYes
TeXworksYesNoNoNoNoYes 30Yes
VerbosusNoNoYesYesNoNoYes
VimYes?YesYesNoYesYes
Visual Studio CodeYes?YesYesYesYesYes
WinEdtYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
WinShellYesNoYesYesNoYesYes
NameInverse searchDDE SupportOrganises ProjectsMenu for inserting symbolsDocument comparisonSpell-checkingMultiple undo-redo
Properties of TeX editors 3
NameCollapsible sectionsFind and replace using RegExIntelligent error handlingAutocompletion of LaTeX commandsParenthesis matchingStarts up to previous state31Unicode supportRTL Support32
AUCTeXYesYesYesYesYesYes33YesYes
  Authorea NoYesNoNoYesYesYes?
CoCalcYesYesNoYesYesYesYes?
GNOME LaTeXPlannedYesYesYesYes(just same files)YesYes
GummiNoNoNoNoYesNoYes?
KileYes 34YesYesYesYesYesYesYes
LyXNoYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Notepad++YesYesNoPartial 35YesYesYesYes
OverleafYesYesYesYesYesYesYes?
Scientific WorkPlaceNo??YesNoYes?
TeXmacsNoYesYes?
TexmakerYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
TeXnicCentersince v2.0since v2.0YesYesYesYessince v2.0?
TeXShopNoYesYesYesYesYesYes?
TeXstudioYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
TeXworksNoYes36NoYes37YesNoYesYes
VerbosusNoNoYesYesYesNoYes?
VimYesYes?YesYesYesYes
Visual Studio CodeYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNo
WinEdtYesYes (modified)YesYesYesYesYesYes
WinShellYesYesYesYesYesNo (just same files)Yes?
NameCollapsible sectionsFind and replace using RegExIntelligent error handlingAutocompletion of LaTeX commandsParenthesis matchingStarts up to previous state38Unicode supportRTL Support39
Screenshots and Video Tutorials of TeX editors
EditorScreenshot
LyX  
Texmaker
TeXmacs
TeXstudio
Visual Studio Code
EditorScreenshot

See also

Notes

References

  1. "Source" means you see and edit the TeX source files. "WYSIWYM" = What You See Is What You Mean, i.e. you see and edit formatted text. WYSIWYG means that see the output file automatically updated during the edit. Note that some PDF viewers (e.g. evince) automatically reload the PDF document when it is updated on the disk. So, any "source" TeX editor can be turned into partial WYSIWYG editor by opening such a reader in an adjacent window. /wiki/WYSIWYM

  2. "[GNU ELPA] Auctex version 14.0.9". 25 February 2025. Retrieved 1 April 2025. https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnu-emacs-sources/2025-02/msg00090.html

  3. "Tags". Retrieved 20 March 2025. https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/gedit/enter-tex/-/tags

  4. "Release 0.8.3". 29 April 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022. https://github.com/alexandervdm/gummi/releases/tag/0.8.3

  5. Support for non-Linux systems considered experimental. /wiki/Linux

  6. "Latest news". Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160506155907/http://kile.sourceforge.net/news.php

  7. "Release 2.1.3". 23 September 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2019. https://github.com/KDE/kile/releases/tag/v2.1.3

  8. "[lyx-announce] LyX 2.4.3 Released". 16 January 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2025. https://lists.lyx.org/pipermail/lyx-announce/2025/000022.html

  9. "Download Notepad++ v8.7.9: We are with Ukraine". 2 April 2025. Retrieved 3 April 2025. https://notepad-plus-plus.org/downloads/v8.7.9/

  10. Notepad++ can execute Tex viewers

  11. "Version 6.1.2 (07/01/2021)". 1 July 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2025. https://www.mackichan.com/techtalk/v60/1002updatesv6.htm

  12. TeXmacs is an original document preparation system, with own syntax and own algorithms, but can be used to obtain TeX files through its LaTeX export capability.

  13. Joris van der Hoeven (2 April 2024). "TeXmacs 2.1.4". Retrieved 2 April 2024. https://lists.texmacs.org/wws/arc/texmacs-users/2024-04/msg00001.html

  14. "A new version (6.0.0) of Texmaker". 17 August 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2025. https://bsky.app/profile/texmaker.bsky.social/post/3kzvsiusljv2m

  15. "TeXnicCenter - Small Fixes-". 29 September 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2025. https://www.texniccenter.org/2013/09/29/small-fixes/

  16. "TeXShop (v 5.49) Release 1/28/2025(for Intel and Arm, High Sierra through Sequoia)". 28 January 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025. https://pages.uoregon.edu/koch/texshop/index.html

  17. "Release 4.8.6". 7 February 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025. https://github.com/texstudio-org/texstudio/releases/tag/4.8.6

  18. "Release 0.6.10". 13 February 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025. https://github.com/TeXworks/texworks/releases/tag/release-0.6.10

  19. "Vim 9.1 is available". 2 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024. https://www.vim.org/vim-9.1-released.php

  20. "Release v9.1.0". 2 January 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2024. https://github.com/vim/vim/releases/tag/v9.1.0

  21. "Release 1.99.3". 17 April 2025. https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.99.3

  22. Requires installation of LaTeX Workshop extension.

  23. "WinEdt Downloads". https://www.winedt.com/download.html

  24. "WinShell 4.0 File Version: 4.0.0.6, 2023-05-27; Contains: Scintilla 5.3.4, Hunspell 1.7.2". 27 May 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023. https://www.winshell.org/

  25. Inverse search means that one can locate the relevant part of the source code from the viewer (e.g., double-clicking in dvi or pdf file brings up the appropriate line/paragraph in the latex code) /wiki/Inverse_search

  26. On Windows some pdf viewers like Sumatra PDF or Adobe Reader don't use command line arguments for forward search, but the editor sends the document position to them using Dynamic Data Exchange /wiki/Sumatra_PDF

  27. Requires installation of extra package.

  28. A plug-in is required.

  29. LaTeX panel & Matrix panel

  30. Requires installation of extra package

  31. Starts up to previous state including the current editing point.

  32. RTL support means Right to Left language support.

  33. configurable as an option of the Emacs editor /wiki/Emacs

  34. With usual \section{} notation, Kile collapses equations and figures, but not sections. Collapsing of sections is possible with non-standard notation \begin{section}{}...\end{section}{}, but it eliminates sections from Structure View. An alternative possibility is bracketing sections with comments %BEGIN and %END.

  35. This will have to be set up manually.

  36. Provides a subset of the regular expression syntax implemented in the Perl scripting language, but fully supports Unicode /wiki/Perl

  37. Template file in resource directory ( Documentation of the code completion feature ) https://code.google.com/p/texworks/wiki/CodeCompletion

  38. Starts up to previous state including the current editing point.

  39. RTL support means Right to Left language support.