Comparison of TeX editors

The following is a comparison of TeX editors.

Table of editors

Properties of TeX editors 1
Name Editing style [a] Native operating systems Latest release Costs License Configurable Integrated viewer
Version Date
AUCTeX Source Linux, macOS, Windows 14.1.2[1]  2026-01-14 Free GPL Yes Yes
  Authorea Source / partial-WYSIWYG Online N/a N/a Free Proprietary Yes Yes
CoCalc Source Online N/a N/a Free AGPL + Commons Clause Yes Yes
GNOME LaTeX Source Linux 3.49.0[2]  2026-01-03 Free GPL Yes No
Gummi Source Linux 0.8.3[3]  2022-04-29 Free MIT Yes Yes (Live update)
Kile Source Linux (macOS, Windows)[b] 2.1.3[4][5]  2012-09-23 Free GPL Yes Yes (Quick preview)
latexwriter Source Windows N/a N/a Non-free N/a Yes Yes
LyX WYSIWYM Linux, macOS, Windows 2.5.0[6]  2026-02-21 Free GPL Yes Yes
Notepad++ Source Windows 8.9.2[7]  2026-02-16 Free GPL Yes No, but can be integrated [c]
Crixet Source Online N/a N/a Free Proprietary Yes Yes
Overleaf Source Online N/a N/a Free AGPLv3 Yes Yes
SciScribe Source Online N/a N/a Free AGPLv3 Yes Yes
Scientific WorkPlace WYSIWYM Windows 6.1.2[8]  2021-07-01 Free Proprietary Yes Yes
TeX Live Source FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, NetBSD, Solaris, Windows N/a 2025-3-8 Free LaTeX Project Public License Yes No (used by other editors/tools)
TeXmacs[d] WYSIWYG Linux, macOS, Windows 2.1.5[9]  2026-03-12 Free GPL Yes Partial (preview using system Pdf viewer)
Texmaker Source Linux, macOS, Windows 6.0.1[10]  2025-04-26 Free GPL2 Yes Yes
TeXnicCenter Source Windows 2.02[11]  2013-09-29 Free GPL Yes No
TeXShop Source macOS 5.49[12]  2025-01-28 Free GPL Yes Yes
TeXstudio Source Linux, macOS, Windows 4.9.0[13]  2025-11-07 Free GPL2 Yes Yes (pdf, selection with dvi2png)
TeXworks Source Linux, macOS, Windows 0.6.10[14]  2025-02-13 Free GPL No Yes (pdf)
Verbosus Source Online, Android, iOS, Windows N/a N/a Free Proprietary Yes Yes (pdf)
Vim Source Linux, macOS, Windows 9.2[15]  2026-02-14 Free Vim Yes No
Visual Studio Code Source Linux, macOS, Windows 1.112[16]  2026-03-18 Free Source code: MIT
Microsoft-built binaries: Proprietary 		Yes Yes (pdf) [e]
WinEdt Source Windows 11.1[17]  2023-05-19 Non-free Proprietary Yes Yes
WinShell Source Windows 4.0.0.6[18]  2023-05-27 Free Proprietary Yes No
Name Editing style Native operating systems Version Date Costs License Configurable Integrated viewer
Latest release
Properties of TeX editors 2
Name Inverse search[f] DDE support[g] Organises Projects Menu for inserting symbols Document comparison Spell-checking Multiple undo-redo
AUCTeX Yes No Partial (master file) Yes Yes Yes[h] Yes
  Authorea  Yes N/a Yes No No Yes Yes
CoCalc Yes N/a No No No Yes Yes
GNOME LaTeX Yes N/a Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Gummi Yes N/a Yes No No Yes Yes
Kile Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
LyX Yes ? No Yes Yes Yes Yes
latexwriter Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Notepad++ Yes, with SumatraPDF Yes, with a DDE client Yes Partial[i] Yes Yes Yes
Overleaf Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Scientific WorkPlace N/a ? ? Yes No Yes No (one level)
TeXmacs N/a Yes Partial (shows document parts) Yes Partial (for own format only) Yes Yes
Texmaker Yes No Partial (master file) Yes No Yes Yes
TeXnicCenter Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
TeXShop Yes No No Yes[j] No Yes Yes
TeXstudio Yes Yes Partial (master file) Yes Yes Yes Yes
TeXworks Yes No No No No Yes [k] Yes
Verbosus No No Yes Yes No No Yes
Vim Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Visual Studio Code Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WinEdt Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WinShell Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Name Inverse search DDE Support Organises Projects Menu for inserting symbols Document comparison Spell-checking Multiple undo-redo
Properties of TeX editors 3
Name Collapsible sections Find and replace using RegEx Intelligent error handling Autocompletion of LaTeX commands Parenthesis matching Starts up to previous state[l] Unicode support RTL Support[m]
AUCTeX Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[n] Yes Yes
  Authorea  No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes ?
CoCalc Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
GNOME LaTeX Planned Yes Yes Yes Yes (just same files) Yes Yes
Gummi No No No No Yes No Yes ?
Kile Yes [o] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
LatexWriter No Yes Yes Partial Yes Yes Yes Yes
LyX No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Notepad++ Yes Yes No Partial [p] Yes Yes Yes Yes
Overleaf Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Scientific WorkPlace No ? ? N/a Yes No Yes ?
TeXmacs No Yes N/a N/a N/a N/a Yes ?
Texmaker Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
TeXnicCenter since v2.0 since v2.0 Yes Yes Yes Yes since v2.0 ?
TeXShop No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
TeXstudio Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
TeXworks No Yes[q] No Yes[r] Yes No Yes Yes
Verbosus No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes ?
Vim Yes Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Visual Studio Code Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
WinEdt Yes Yes (modified) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WinShell Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No (just same files) Yes ?
Name Collapsible sections Find and replace using RegEx Intelligent error handling Autocompletion of LaTeX commands Parenthesis matching Starts up to previous state[s] Unicode support RTL Support[t]
Screenshots and Video Tutorials of TeX editors
Editor Screenshot
CoCalc
LyX   
Texmaker
TeXmacs
TeXstudio
Visual Studio Code
Editor Screenshot

See also

Scientific WYSIWYG editors

Notes

  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.
  2. ^ Support for non-Linux systems considered experimental.
  3. ^ Notepad++ can execute Tex viewers
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Requires installation of LaTeX Workshop extension.
  6. ^ 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)
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Requires installation of extra package.
  9. ^ A plug-in is required.
  10. ^ LaTeX panel & Matrix panel
  11. ^ Requires installation of extra package
  12. ^ Starts up to previous state including the current editing point.
  13. ^ RTL support means Right to Left language support.
  14. ^ configurable as an option of the Emacs editor
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ This will have to be set up manually.
  17. ^ Provides a subset of the regular expression syntax implemented in the Perl scripting language, but fully supports Unicode
  18. ^ Template file in resource directory ( Documentation of the code completion feature )
  19. ^ Starts up to previous state including the current editing point.
  20. ^ RTL support means Right to Left language support.

References

  1. ^ "[GNU ELPA] Auctex version 14.1.2". 14 January 2026. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  2. ^ "Release 3.49.0". 3 January 2026. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Release 0.8.3". 29 April 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Latest news". Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Release 2.1.3". 23 September 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  6. ^ "[lyx-announce] LyX 2.5.0 Released". 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
  7. ^ "Notepad++ v8.9.2 release - Double‑Lock Update Security". 16 February 2026. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  8. ^ "Version 6.1.2 (07/01/2021)". 1 July 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
  9. ^ "TeXmacs 2.1.5 has been released!". 13 March 2026. Retrieved 15 March 2026.
  10. ^ https://bsky.app/profile/texmaker.bsky.social/post/3lnpjb34osk2k. Retrieved 17 July 2025. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ "TeXnicCenter - Small Fixes-". 29 September 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  12. ^ "TeXShop (v 5.49) Release 1/28/2025(for Intel and Arm, High Sierra through Sequoia)". 28 January 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  13. ^ "Release 4.9.0". 7 November 2025. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
  14. ^ "Release 0.6.10". 13 February 2025. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  15. ^ Christian Brabandt (14 February 2026). "Vim 9.2 has been released!". Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  16. ^ "Visual Studio Code 1.112".
  17. ^ "WinEdt Downloads".
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ "Get latex from equation in sympy". YouTube. 20 January 2020.
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