I Built a Notepad++ Alternative for Mac — Here's What I Learned

Sergio Agustin De Vita — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 23:10:07 +0000

As a developer who spent years on Windows, switching to Mac meant leaving behind one tool I relied on daily: Notepad++. Sure, there's VS Code, Sublime Text, and others — but none of them felt quite like Notepad++. So I built my own.

Meet Notemac++

Notemac++ is a free, open-source text and source code editor for macOS and the web, inspired by Notepad++. It runs as a native desktop app (via Tauri) and as a web app you can try right now in your browser.

Try it instantly: Launch the web app

Why Another Editor?

I didn't set out to compete with VS Code. I wanted something that felt like Notepad++ on Mac — fast startup, lightweight, tabbed editing, and all those small features that make text editing pleasant: bookmarks, macro recording, column editing, line operations, encoding conversion.

But since I was building from scratch, I also added things I wished Notepad++ had:

Built-in Git integration — A full GUI for staging, committing, diffing, and managing branches. Not just a terminal shortcut.
AI coding assistant — Supports OpenAI, Anthropic, and Ollama (local models). Code completion, refactoring, and chat right in the editor.
Integrated terminal — No need to switch windows.
File comparison — Side-by-side diff view.
Web version — The same editor runs in any browser, no installation required.

The Tech Stack

TypeScript + React for the UI
Monaco Editor (the engine behind VS Code) for the editing experience
Tauri for the native macOS app — resulting in a binary that's ~75% smaller than Electron
Vite for the web build
2,651+ passing tests covering the codebase

I chose Tauri over Electron because the difference in bundle size and memory usage is significant. The Tauri app feels snappy and native.

Features at a Glance

Feature	Notemac++
Syntax Languages	70+
Git Integration	Built-in GUI
AI Assistant	Multi-provider
Terminal	Integrated
Themes	7 + custom
Split View	Yes
Macros	Yes
Bookmarks	Yes
Find/Replace	Regex, mark, bookmark
File Compare	Side-by-side diff
Platform	macOS + Web
License	MIT

What's Next

The roadmap includes plugin system support, collaborative editing, git blame view, merge conflict resolution tools, and more. Check the full roadmap on GitHub.

Try It

Web app (no install): https://sergioadevita.github.io/notemac-plus-plus/app/
GitHub: https://github.com/sergioadevita/notemac-plus-plus
Landing page: https://sergioadevita.github.io/notemac-plus-plus/

It's MIT licensed and contributions are welcome. If you've ever missed Notepad++ on Mac, give it a try and let me know what you think!