Emacs
An extensible, customizable, free/libre text editor — and more.
- Also known as
- emacs
What is Emacs?
Emacs is a text editor with an interpreter for Emacs Lisp at its core, offering content-aware editing modes, full Unicode support, and extensive functionality beyond text editing including mail, debugging, and calendar features.
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.
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.
- Type
- Code editor
- Language scope
- Polyglot
- Deployment
- Desktop
- OS support
- GNU/Linux, BSDs, Haiku, Windows, macOS, Android
- Base platform
- Original
- Extensibility
- Extension marketplace
- LSP / DAP support
- -
- Remote / dev-containers
- -
- Integrated debugger / profiler
- ✓
- Code intelligence depth
- LSP-grade
- Built-in git integration
- -
- Built-in AI
- None
- Openness
- Open-source
- Pricing model
- Free
Platform & deployment
Independently observed- CLI
- macOS
- Linux
- Android
- Windows
- Self-hosted
Integrations (2)
Independently observed- Tree-Sitter
- EditorConfig
Emacs alternatives
Other ides & code editors we track, ranked by the same independent score.
- TheiaThe AI-Native Theia IDE – modern, open IDE for cloud and desktoplow · 14%
- Vimthe ubiquitous text editorlow · 5%
- VSCodiumOpen Source Binaries of VS Codelow · 7%
- Visual Studio CodeThe open source AI code editorlow · 33%
- ZedYour last next editorlow · 33%
- GitHub CodespacesInstant dev environmentslow · 21%
The Vioscale 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.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Contribution | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Github Activity | 63 | 18.00 | 1135.8 | ✓ |
| Capabilities | 29 | 32.00 | 925.0 | ✓ |
| Github Stars | 70 | 5.00 | 350.0 | ✓ |
| Integrations | 14 | 18.00 | 247.0 | ✓ |
| Release Cadence | 0 | 10.00 | 0.0 | - |
| Security Posture | 0 | 12.00 | 0.0 | - |
| Package Downloads | 0 | 26.00 | 0.0 | - |
| Stackoverflow Activity | 0 | 12.00 | 0.0 | - |
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
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Commits last 30d | 100 | mediumsource · 2026-08-03 · 65% |
Adoption
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Github stars | 5,135 | highsource · 2026-08-03 · 90% |
Features
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Capabilities | {"type":"code_editor","builtin_ai":"none","deployment":"desktop","os_support":"GNU/Linux, BSDs, Haiku, Windows, macOS, Android","open_source":"oss","base_platform":"original","extensibility":"marketplace","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"polyglot","code_intelligence":"lsp_grade","integrated_debugger":true} | mediumsource · 2026-08-03 · 60% |
Integrations
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | mediumsource · 2026-08-03 · 60% |
Language
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Emacs Lisp | highsource · 2026-08-03 · 90% |
License
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Spdx | GPL-3.0 | highsource · 2026-08-03 · 95% |