--- title: GNU Emacs Reviews meta\_title: 'GNU Emacs Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 84 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how GNU Emacs works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 4.5 review\_count: 84 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-09' parent\_category: name: Editor url: https://www.g2.com/categories/editor --- # GNU Emacs Reviews & Product Details GNU Emacs is a customizable text editor that is an interpreter and dialect with extension to support text editing with content-sensitive editing modes, built-in documentation, Unicode support, and more. * * * Seller [FreeCAD](https://www.g2.com/sellers/freecad) Discussions [GNU Emacs Community](https://www.g2.com/products/gnu-emacs/discuss) Solution Type Best-of-Breed Show More ## Value at a Glance Averages based on real user reviews. ### Perceived Cost $$$$$ [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/gnu-emacs/pricing) ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Visual Studio Code](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Visual Studio Code") Visual Studio Code 4.7/5(2,732) ](https://www.g2.com/products/visual-studio-code/reviews) [ ![Notepad++](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Notepad++") Notepad++ 4.6/5(2,475) ](https://www.g2.com/products/notepad/reviews) [ ![Sublime Text](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Sublime Text") Sublime Text 4.5/5(1,783) ](https://www.g2.com/products/sublime-text/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/gnu-emacs/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 84 real user reviews. Perceived Cost $$$$$ [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ![Damon B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Damon B.") DB Damon B. Senior Forensic Analyst Computer Software Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 3/18/2016 "GNU Emacs, includes kitchen sink" 1.5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Emacs has been around forever, so has a large base of support and experience to go with it. The set of extensions is pretty extensive, though not always comprehensive. You can customize Emacs to do pretty much anything you like. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? It is overly complex, a bit on the large side, and one need to learn the LISP language to write extensions for Emacs. As a text editor, its keyboard shortcuts are fairly arcane. It uses a GUI only as an afterthought if at all, when available. It is not installed by default on many common systems (Mac OS, Linux) due to its large size and steep learning curve. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering GNU Emacs: Try Vim, SublimeText, Atom, and the other more modern editors out there too. If you'd still choose Emacs over them, it might be for you. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I have used many text editing tools over the years, and looked for those that had at least basic understanding of different programming languages and the conventions that go along with them around tools, syntax, etc. A good text editor makes it easier to translate your thoughts into code and helps you find and organize your work. Emacs does an admirable job at these tasks, once you overcome the learning curve. However, it stands in isolation from other editing tools so if you are in an environment where you can't run Emacs, your skills don't translate well to other common editing tools. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Sunil W.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Sunil W.") SW Sunil W. Consultant Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 3/9/2016 "Stockholm Syndrome" 1.5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? After learning the keybindings, using emacs becomes easy. Second nature. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? In order to do anything beyond light customisation, the user needs to learn lisp. Lisp is difficult to learn. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering GNU Emacs: Consider other platforms as well. Consider all options very carefully. Vim is probably a better alternative: it is installed on more platforms and has a larger community. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I use emacs for day-to-day work with web developement. With emacs, programming can be fast Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ## Questions about GNU Emacs? Ask real users or explore answers from the community Get practical answers, real workflows, and honest pros and cons from the G2 community or share your insights. [ Ask about GNU Emacs ](https://www.g2.com/products/gnu-emacs/discussions/new) GU Guest User What is GNU Emacs used for? 0 Upvotes 0 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-gnu-emacs-used-for) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/gnu-emacs/discuss) ##### Pricing Pricing details for this product isn’t currently available. Visit the vendor’s website to learn more. [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/gnu-emacs/pricing) GNU Emacs Comparisons ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_13aba37ae908d9cf29a2452925257ccc/visual-studio-code.jpeg "Product Avatar Image") Visual Studio Code 4.7/5(2,732) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/gnu-emacs-vs-visual-studio-code) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_d6666b6b8c18d1f36792437ccb1ac3e6/sublime-text.png "Product Avatar Image") Sublime Text 4.5/5(1,783) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/gnu-emacs-vs-sublime-text) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_6093da7187bfc5bbbeeb9c885fe39648/notepad.png "Product Avatar Image") Notepad++ 4.6/5(2,475) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/gnu-emacs-vs-notepad) ## Work at FreeCAD? 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