The G2 on Vim

Vim Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users appreciate the ease of use of Vim, finding it fast and efficient for editing and configuring files. (6 mentions)

Users appreciate the efficiency and productivity of Vim, enjoying its powerful text manipulation and automation features. (3 mentions)

Users love the customization options in Vim, making it a versatile tool for editing across different systems. (2 mentions)

Users appreciate the easy editing capabilities of Vim, making it a versatile tool for various text editing tasks. (2 mentions)

Users value the efficiency of Vim, enhancing productivity with limited resource usage and high performance. (2 mentions)

Users find the steep learning curve of Vim intimidating, making it difficult for beginners to adapt and remember commands. (4 mentions)

Users find the difficulty of learning Vim challenging due to its complex setup and numerous keyboard shortcuts. (3 mentions)

Users find Vim's limited customization challenging, particularly for newcomers navigating its complex command system. (1 mentions)

Users find Vim to be time-consuming due to its complexity and the difficulty of remembering numerous keyboard shortcuts. (1 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of Vim

1. Ease of Use

Users appreciate the ease of use of Vim, finding it fast and efficient for editing and configuring files.

See 6 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Rajan G.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Experience on using vim"

What do you like about Vim?

It can be used as a gui tool as well as a command line tool, it help me to configure or edit anything on my remote servers to edit the configuration i

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Steep learning curve but couldn't ever go back"

What do you like about Vim?

I like how you don't need to use your mouse, and it's much faster to get an idea in your head to actual code using Vim. I also like that I feel more

2. Daily Use

Users appreciate the efficiency and productivity of Vim, enjoying its powerful text manipulation and automation features.

See 3 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Steep learning curve but couldn't ever go back"

What do you like about Vim?

I like how you don't need to use your mouse, and it's much faster to get an idea in your head to actual code using Vim. I also like that I feel more

ARYAN S.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.0/5

"Vim too complex or worth the trouble"

What do you like about Vim?

The thing I like the most about Vim is the long list of text manipulation options, which do have a learning curve but are of great help once you get t

3. Customization

Users love the customization options in Vim, making it a versatile tool for editing across different systems.

See 2 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Rajan G.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Experience on using vim"

What do you like about Vim?

It can be used as a gui tool as well as a command line tool, it help me to configure or edit anything on my remote servers to edit the configuration i

Nir L.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"A very strong editor, but with a very steep learning curve"

What do you like about Vim?

I have been using Vim as my editor of choice for the better part of 25 years now. It has many very useful features and is, once you know how to use it

4. Easy Editing

Users appreciate the easy editing capabilities of Vim, making it a versatile tool for various text editing tasks.

See 2 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Rajan G.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Experience on using vim"

What do you like about Vim?

It can be used as a gui tool as well as a command line tool, it help me to configure or edit anything on my remote servers to edit the configuration i

Nir L.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"A very strong editor, but with a very steep learning curve"

What do you like about Vim?

I have been using Vim as my editor of choice for the better part of 25 years now. It has many very useful features and is, once you know how to use it

5. Efficiency

Users value the efficiency of Vim, enhancing productivity with limited resource usage and high performance.

See 2 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Rajendra K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Best tool for Creating/Editing files in CLI"

What do you like about Vim?

Working with Vim makes you an excellent developer, as it is widely used in most of the organizations to work on servers. It is very efficient with ver

Vijay P.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Screen-based Text Editor Program - Vim"

What do you like about Vim?

Vim is a free and open source text editor. It allows us to make changes to the any kind of text in a very efficient way. It is commonly used in UNIX s

Top Cons or Disadvantages of Vim

1. Learning Curve

Users find the steep learning curve of Vim intimidating, making it difficult for beginners to adapt and remember commands.

See 4 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Rajendra K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Best tool for Creating/Editing files in CLI"

What do you dislike about Vim?

For new users, working with Vim is a complex task with learning curve and especially with multiple commands to remember, and in terms of customization

Nir L.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"A very strong editor, but with a very steep learning curve"

What do you dislike about Vim?

Ok, yes, it's very complicated to learn. You have to understand how that editor functions and change the state of mind that you have in simpler, more

2. Difficulty

Users find the difficulty of learning Vim challenging due to its complex setup and numerous keyboard shortcuts.

See 3 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Nir L.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

3.5/5

"A very strong editor, but with a very steep learning curve"

What do you dislike about Vim?

Ok, yes, it's very complicated to learn. You have to understand how that editor functions and change the state of mind that you have in simpler, more

Vijay P.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Screen-based Text Editor Program - Vim"

What do you dislike about Vim?

Vim is time consuming when compared to other text editor like Sublime, Notepad++. It has many shortcuts key associated with keyboard difficult to rem

3. Limited Customization

Users find Vim's limited customization challenging, particularly for newcomers navigating its complex command system.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Rajendra K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Best tool for Creating/Editing files in CLI"

What do you dislike about Vim?

For new users, working with Vim is a complex task with learning curve and especially with multiple commands to remember, and in terms of customization

4. Time-Consumption

Users find Vim to be time-consuming due to its complexity and the difficulty of remembering numerous keyboard shortcuts.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Vijay P.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Screen-based Text Editor Program - Vim"

What do you dislike about Vim?

Vim is time consuming when compared to other text editor like Sublime, Notepad++. It has many shortcuts key associated with keyboard difficult to rem

Top-Rated Alternatives

View All Alternatives

G2 reviews are authentic and verified.

Here's how.

Aditya T.

Software Programmer

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

6/15/2022

"It is the best free IDE for GO programming language"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Vim?

It is a very light IDE that uses very less RAM.

It is included in most of the Linux distributions.

The best feature which I like about Vim is its code linting and AI-integrated auto-completion feature.

It is very easy to collaborate with your other team members using VIM. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

Vim works very well on Linux operating system but its functionality is a bit weird when using the windows version of VIM.

I did not like its syntax highlighting feature very much as it becomes buggy at times.

Its UI is not very much beginner-friendly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Vim solving and how is that benefiting you?

I am currently using Vim to provide an Integrated Development Environment for the code writing of my GO programming language as it works best with it according to me. It is open-source software that allows you to make it work according to your needs. It is available at absolutely no cost to the users. It has a lot of customizable templates, which can also be a motivating factor for your code writing and hence increase your efficiency. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sanjiv S.

Software Engineer

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

6/28/2022

"VIM is an excellent IDE which I use for GO programming language."

4/5

What do you like best about Vim?

Its real-time collaboration feature is very good which helps you save a lot of your time.

I personally like its color-coded syntax feature very much.

Its syntax highlighting and code linting is very well optimized. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

It does not have a fully optimized auto-completion feature like other paid software.

It does not work well on Linux operating system.

It is not much compatible with HTML and JavaScript programming languages. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Vim solving and how is that benefiting you?

I am primarily using VIM for the code editing of my JavaScript programming language as I found it to be the most compatible with this programming language only. It provides a very good coding environment so that you do not feel bored. It is available free of cost to the user which benefits you financially. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Yash R.

Member of Technical Staff

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

11/3/2022

"Best file editing tool"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Vim?

Its very easy to edit create update files using vim from terminal. You ca just open terminal and type vim. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

There should be list of commands on the screen while editing or creating doc so that its easy to work with for new users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Bipul H.

CP Lead | CodeChef CGC Chapter

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

2/7/2022

"Powerful but a little confusing at beginning"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Vim?

It's my second most used editor after VSCode, and I mostly used it for writing small programs. It provides syntax highlighting of almost all programming languages I used with it. You can also enhance your experience with vim by installing various plugins for it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

At first, it wasn't obvious for me to get started with it. I faced many issues when I used it for the first time, so definitely anyone who is thinking of using it, please make sure to watch some guides or tutorials from YouTube before opening any file with it. An excellent place to start is to run "vimtutor" which will tell you all the basics you should know to get familiar with it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/19/2022

"The Pro Code and Text Editor"

4/5

What do you like best about Vim?

Vim is an editor that is used by most of the good developers who are truly interested in doing their jobs. This is because of the speed and shortcuts that make it very easy to edit any part of the code without having to touch your mouse even once. If you are a good developer you will understand how inefficient it is to repeatedly take your hand off your keyboard to use your mouse or your arrow keys to edit code or text. Best part of Vim is that it makes it very efficient to edit text/code without having to take your hand off your keyboard even once. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

There is not much to dislike about Vim, but one thing I dislike is it's learning curve. For any beginner, it is not at all easy to get used to Vim and thus, many people give up in the beginning phase as they think that it was easier with their old editor only. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Vim:

If you are considering Vim, I would suggest you to give it few hours to practice it and then I can guarantee that you will definitely feel the difference in your efficiency once you get hold of it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Vim solving and how is that benefiting you?

I am a freelance Web Developer and I have to write a lot of code on daily basis and thus I usually use Vim on my PC as it is one of the fastest ways for writing code for me. I don't have to move my hand from the keyboard and thus my efficiency is at it's peak most of the times. Also, I can use the standalone application of vim for windows or I can also use it's extension for VS Code which combines the power of two of my favourite code editors. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Georges A.

Graduate Research And Teaching Assistant

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

1/4/2022

"Powerful but difficult editor"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Vim?

It can make programming a fast process once you know all the right shortcuts. There is a key combination for everything, and I can quickly do whatever I want as long as I know what to put in. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

The learning curve is very steep, and I'm not sure that can be helped. I find it hard to introduce it to my friends because they like easy text editing. It personally took me a week or two during break to be comfortable with it, while simpler editor took me a day. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Vim:

Be sure you have time to learn how to use it well; otherwise you can ruin something! Once you become good at it, it is hard to mess things up, but the wrong key combination can ruin your work. Save frequently, and you should do fine. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Vim solving and how is that benefiting you?

I use vim mostly for coding in C/C++ because it has solid support for the language. I have memorized enough key combinations to be very speedy with it as well, and the C++ plugins allow for autocompletion, which I love. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nilantha H.

Consultant

Telecommunications

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4/24/2022

"Usage of Vim"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Vim?

Searching and replacing capability chars Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

Ability to combine lines and words

Interface colors Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Vim:

I am using Vim for nearly 14 years for my scripting and this is the best tool I have ever found though a plethora of other alternatives emerged recently. This improves the efficiency of coding much higher compared to other tools. I recommend anyone to use this software but if you are not familiar you should have patience while learning and then you will find the best tool for your work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Vim solving and how is that benefiting you?

Scripting to automate various functions with python and shell scripting Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

11/7/2022

"Better than notepad++"

5/5

What do you like best about Vim?

I like this because in Linux we don't have much option like windows. And this works very much with ease and convenience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

There is nothing I dislike about VIM editor and I would recommend this to others too. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Anmol S.

Software Engineer

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/29/2022

"A very lightweight IDE"

4/5

What do you like best about Vim?

It is a very much configurable IDE for Javascript.

It has hundreds of plugins available which can be used to boost your code writing speed.

It is very lightweight.

I personally like its autosave function very much which helps you a lot in case of an electricity cut. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

It does not have a really good UI which makes it a bit difficult for amateurs to find different settings on it.

It is not fully optimized for heavy usage and hence, I have faced crashing issues several times. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Mohit G.

Software Programmer

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2/7/2022

"The most user friendly IDE"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Vim?

Vim has one of the best UI and is the most friendly text editor I have ever used.

It is very lightweight software, and I have never faced any lagging issues with it.

It comes at no cost to the user and is also an open-source software.

It allows you to add a lot of plugins according to your requirements. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Vim?

There is nothing that I dislike about Vim as it has almost everything which I need for my coding. The only thing which can be improved a bit is its auto-completion feature. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Vim:

I would recommend to Vim to all the Java programmers as it is a ompletely free IDE for it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Vim solving and how is that benefiting you?

I am personally using Vim as a text editor for Java Programming as I found it to have the strongest hold over this language only. Also, Vim being a free IDE saves my money too besides increasing my productivity. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.