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IDEs & Code EditorsUnclaimed

Emacs

A highly customizable text editor with self-documenting features and extensive scripting capabilities

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Vendor
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Also known as
emacs

What is Emacs?

An open-source text editor written in C and Lisp that emphasizes extensibility and customization through programming, with support for multiple platforms and international character input methods.

Independently observed

Emacs pricing

We don't have Emacs's full plan breakdown yet (its pricing page resisted automated reading). Here's what we could confirm. Always check live pricing for exact numbers.

Pricing as of verify at live pricing ↗Independently observed
Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source

What Emacs does

The capabilities that matter for ides & code editors, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.

Core
Type
Terminal editor
Language scope
Polyglot
Deployment
Deployment
Desktop
Platform support
OS support
GNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Android
Base platform
Original
Extensibility
Extensibility
Plugins
DX
LSP / DAP support
✓
Remote / dev-containers
✗
Integrated debugger / profiler
✓
Code intelligence depth
LSP-grade
Built-in git integration
✗
AI
Built-in AI
None
Licensing
Openness
Open-source
Pricing
Pricing model
Free
Independently observed

Platform & deployment

Independently observed
Platforms
  • CLI
  • macOS
  • Linux
  • Android
  • Windows
Deployment
  • Self-hosted

Integrations (2)

Independently observed
  • Tree-Sitter
  • EditorConfig

Security & compliance

Known vulnerabilities: 0 (0 in the last 12 months) sourcea count reflects scale & disclosure, not quality

Emacs FAQ

Common questions about Emacs, answered from independent, dated evidence.

What is Emacs?

A free and open-source text editor built on a Lisp interpreter that enables extensive customization through Lisp code. It combines core text editing with broader functionality including project planning, email and news reading, debugging, calendar, and IRC capabilities. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.

Source: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

Is Emacs free to use?

Emacs is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the GPL-3.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.

Source: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

What platforms does Emacs support?

Emacs supports Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.

Source: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

Can Emacs be self-hosted?

Yes. Emacs can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.

Source: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

Is Emacs open source?

Yes. Emacs is published under the GPL-3.0 licence, a copyleft licence, so check its terms before embedding it in a closed-source product. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.

Source: https://github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs

Emacs alternatives

Other ides & code editors we track, ranked by the same independent score.

All Emacs alternatives, ranked →

Compare Emacs

Side by side against other ides & code editors, attribute by attribute, with a source on every value.

Independent · unbought · dated

The vioscaleAI score: one lens on the evidence

Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for Emacs, not the verdict.

Balanced composite 39 / 100
medium · 53%
Signal contributions to the composite score
SignalScoreWeightContributionEvidence
Development activity630.095.9✓
Capabilities460.073.2✓
Stars700.031.8✓
Security score320.041.3✓
Integrations140.081.1✓
Dependent projects00.060.0✓
Release cadence00.050.0-
Security posture00.060.0-
Package downloads00.140.0-
Developer Q&A activity00.060.0-

Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.

All data & sourcesshow ↓

Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.

Activity

AttributeValueEvidence
Commits last 30d100mediumsource · 2026-10-13 · 65%

Adoption

AttributeValueEvidence
Github stars5,218highsource · 2026-10-13 · 90%
Dependent repos0highsource · 2026-10-13 · 85%

Content

AttributeValueEvidence
Faq5 itemsmediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 67%

Features

AttributeValueEvidence
CapabilitiesType: terminal_editor · Lsp dap: Yes · Builtin ai: none · Deployment: desktop · Os support: GNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Android · Remote dev: Nomediumsource · 2026-10-13 · 60%

Integrations

AttributeValueEvidence
Count2mediumsource · 2026-08-03 · 60%

Language

AttributeValueEvidence
PrimaryEmacs Lisphighsource · 2026-10-13 · 90%

License

AttributeValueEvidence
SpdxGPL-3.0highsource · 2026-10-13 · 95%

Pricing

AttributeValueEvidence
Free tierYesmediumsource · 2026-10-13 · 60%
Modelopen_sourcemediumsource · 2026-10-13 · 60%
Price levelfreemediumsource · 2026-10-13 · 60%
TransparentYesmediumsource · 2026-10-13 · 60%

Security

AttributeValueEvidence
Scorecard3.2highsource · 2026-10-13 · 90%
VulnerabilitiesCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Femacs-mirror%2Femacs&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0highsource · 2026-10-13 · 90%
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For the makers of Emacs

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Last updated . Canonical URI: https://www.vioscale.ai/software/emacs.