--- 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) ![Ganesh G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Ganesh G.") GG Ganesh G. Senior Software Engineer Information Technology and Services Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 1/9/2026 "Highly Configurable and Extensible Platform" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Everything is configurable and extensible Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? Learning curve is very low and its take lot of time to figure out things. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? Editing code requires using dedicated IDE for which a pricely license is required. This open source software allows to code without paying Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Our network of Icons are G2 members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions and commitment to helping others through their expertise.G2 IconValidated ReviewerSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Banking](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Banking") UB Verified User in Banking Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 7/9/2024 "Power and flexibility" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Power. Flexibility. I love to able to do everything in the same software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? Lack of interaction with other users. No availbility to install in work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? Ease to write with. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Phil C.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Phil C.") PC Phil C. Community Volunteer Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 12/7/2015 "GNU emacs is wonderful OS , it just miss a good editor ... jk" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? One feature, I don't know in other editor, is the ability to run subshell inside the editor, M-x rgrep M-x compile etc ... I also enjoy using fantastic modes like org-mode to manage notes... tramp is a cool utility to visit remote filesystems (ssh, ftp). magit worth to be used if you use git. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? It's unclear over version to maintain configuration, usually I split my configs files and load them on purpose. debuging inside editor is not that easy, the mail client is counter intuitive, ie If I just want to open an IMAP url , I'll have to define a bunch of variables. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering GNU Emacs: try to use xemacs or emacs with menu , until you learn the basic keystrokes, if vim user then use elvis mode which provide compatible vi key shortcuts. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I made a script to trace allocations , and share the location of the new / delete using c++ macro , then I am able to switch to one line if file to an other ... I think I could other many other tools, but as far as I know org-mode is only supported by emacs and this is a reason to keep using it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 1/2/2022 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ZM Zhaorong M. Programmer Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/16/2019 "My favorite IDE -- or I'd say OS ;)" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Fully-configurable. You can configure anything - Theme, sytnax highlighter, checker, menu options, keyboard shortcuts. Cross-platform and consistent experience. I have a github repository with .emacs.d for emacs configuration accessible on any operation system. Active and expert community. emacs community is supportive and experienced. emacs is older than me, so are many emacs developers. :) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? A steep learning curve at the beginning. In fact, I gave up emacs twice before I fell in love with it the third time and decided to commit to it for the foreseeable future. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering GNU Emacs: The built-in tutorial is interactive and easy to follow. Just do not get frustrated. You will be rewarded generously. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I use it mainly as a Python IDE, but I also use it to write NSIS scripts, C++ from time to time. I also use org-mode extensively as a TODO list and a notebook in general. It boosts my coding experience and productivity. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 10/15/2021 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Brian L.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Brian L.") BL Brian L. Staff Machine Learning Engineer Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 8/17/2021 "From the 80s - still my primary editor" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Emacs can do anything and the lisp extensions can tune it for any programming language or coding standards Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? There is a learning curve of the better part of a day Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? Of course I use it for software development but also so much more. I use emacs org mode to organize nearly everything I do and much of the information I've gathered. I use emacs key bindings for when I type in web text boxes (through the Chrome extension - edit with emacs). Basically I've used the same key bindings for everything since 1985 and there is almost no learning curve when using emacs for another application - just to learn some of the new macros like for debugging, formatting to code standards, etc. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Education Management](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Education Management") UE Verified User in Education Management Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 2/16/2022 "Extreme Powertool" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Everything can be done with the keyboard, without once using the mouse. An extensive amount of shortcuts are available Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? Learning emacs is a steep learning curve. It requires lots of time to get into the workflow with emacs and memorizing the shortcuts. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I use emacs in the org-mode to take notes, write my todo lists and manage agenda files. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Justin S.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Justin S.") JS Justin S. DevOps Engineer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 3/3/2020 "Amazing IDE, shell, life organizer" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Emacs can do literally anything if you're determined to push past its initial learning curve. I use mine for development, shell access, and most important, for Org Mode, an organizational add-on that I use with the Getting Things Done system to turn Emacs into my personal task organizer. I'm always finding new uses for it, and Org Mode in particular has been a true lifesaver in terms of keeping me organized. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? It's got an initial learning curve, and the available learning resources for Emacs are not great. Reference documentation is not the same thing as learning resources, and a lot of the time, if you want to go with vanilla Emacs, you're doing a lot of looking at ancient forum posts from days gone by. That's why I eventually went with Spacemacs, an Emacs distribution that has helped me along considerably. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I use Emacs for software development, administration work, and to keep myself organized through Org Mode. By consolidating these many requirements in the scope of a single tool, I feel that I've benefited considerably versus trying to cobble together my own workflow of separate tools. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Samuel L.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Samuel L.") SL Samuel L. Software Engineer Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 7/31/2018 "Emacs - just part of my daily coder life" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Extensibility. You can make Emacs do almost anything. Work in any language. Use it as a markdown note-taking tool. Develop entire applications for console, gui, or web. Even plays games. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? Plugin repositories could stand to be a little more consistent, and you had better get acquainted with common Lisp. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering GNU Emacs: Learn about Lisp and the many, many plugins available. Also helps to know Linux. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I code in PHP, Python, Ruby, shell script, C/C++. I also manage server config files, and keep notes in Markdown. Emacs has a handy tool to show a live MD preview in a web browser that updates as you type. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 Gives Campaign ![Verified User in Education Management](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Education Management") UE Verified User in Education Management Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 2/25/2019 "Super Editor" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? The rich functionality. The user interface. Ability to add custom functions to by writing scripts. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? There is nothing to dislike about gnu emacs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I usually write code. It is easy to edit and write code in it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Computer Networking](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer Networking") UC Verified User in Computer Networking Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 7/19/2018 "You get everything when all you were looking was an editor" 5/5 What do you like best about GNU Emacs? Customizability Power Flexibility Configurability Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about GNU Emacs? The initial learning curve is high. You have to remember a lot of commands and at times will be discouraging when you are coming from an IDE like environment. You need to use key board a lot compared to vim. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering GNU Emacs: Bear the initial learning curve and it is totally worth time spent. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is GNU Emacs solving and how is that benefiting you? I code. I do not need to switch windows and I can compile, run, use a calc all from the same window. I can open an editor in parallel to make notes if I want. 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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