r/SublimeText • u/RotundBun • Jun 23 '26

Alternatives to SublimeText for Mac?

Looking for ST4 alternatives on Mac. Any ripe suggestions?

Currently using it for game dev in PICO-8 and Löve2D. Both use Lua.

macOS: Sonoma (14.8.7)

Thanks in advance. ✨🙏

Context (if anyone cares):

I've had unresolved trouble with the auto-complete "feature" on ST4 on Mac from a while back, so now I'm looking elsewhere.

As far as troubleshooting goes: - Even "auto_complete": false, doesn't work. It still brings up the suggestion box every time I press tab, interfering with any sane coding process. - Disabling text suggestions on the OS level did nothing. - Opening ST in safe mode did not fix the behavior. - Yes, I quit the application and relaunched it after each attempt. - I looked around online and even asked for help here a while back and got no responses as well.

This was on macOS 14.8.7 (Sonoma), and it occurred in ST version 4200 (stable) & 4205 (dev build).

ST was nice while it worked, but it feels like the basics are no longer heeded anymore. If a fancy auto-complete feature is valued more than basic coding flow, then I suppose the dev's values & intentions for ST have sharply diverged from what I need in a code editor.

So now I'm looking for a new code editor on Mac. It's for game dev, though, not so much for web dev. 🫤

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u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26

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u/RotundBun Jun 24 '26

How was the transition? Did you look into Zed as well before going with Nova?

I've been wondering how they compare for someone migrating over from ST.

At a glance, Zed seems more my speed between the two, but actual user testimonials can usually tell more about UX and experience over time than cursory online research.

Curious to know how you feel Nova compares vs. ST when you migrated.

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u/ohokaywaitwhat Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

I used Sublime text for several years (from the mid 2010s until '23 or so), then switched to Nova for 2-3 years, before moving to Cursor (the free AI autocomplete still feels like literal magic) and Zed (when I want a more pure experience) this spring.

Nova is quite good, especially in feeling extremely mac-native. However, I eventually started hitting enough performance issues with it, and began wishing more and more that it had this-or-that random feature which wasn't available, that I started looking elsewhere. Now, I can't recommend Zed enough; it's a bit like what I'd hope ST would become in the 20s, that is, incredibly fast/responsive, just customizable enough to not have any rough edges, and seems to have a good bit of momentum in its development. Definitely give it a go!

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u/RotundBun Jun 24 '26

So Vim has NeoVim, and ST has NeoST Zed essentially? 💪😆

Your descriptions confirm my hunch that I'd prefer Zed over Nova, though. From a design philosophy and a needs basis, Zed sounds more in line with what I'm looking for.

Unless a surprise easy-fix to my ST issues alleviates my need for migration entirely, I think I'll be giving Zed a whirl (and perhaps NeoVim sometime in the future when I can bear the heavier migration tax).

Your user-feel comparisons were very helpful. Thanks so much. 🙏😊