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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    BlueFish Editor

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ABlueFish is a free and open source text editor supporting a wide range of languages, multiple document interface, search tools, in-line checking and auto-recovery, and other features.

    $0

    Brackets

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ABrackets is a free and open source text editor developed at Adobe under the MIT license, featuring inline editing, live preview, and a wide range of extensions.N/A
    Pricing
    BlueFish EditorBrackets
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BlueFish EditorBrackets
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BlueFish EditorBrackets
    Considered Both Products
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    BlueFish EditorBrackets
    Small Businesses
    BBEdit
    Score10 out of 10
    BBEdit
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Vim
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Vim
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Vim
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Vim
    Score9.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BlueFish EditorBrackets
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.5
    (5 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BlueFish EditorBrackets
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Open Source
    BlueFish is a good basic HTML and text editor that is easy for all to use. If I need someone to grab a friendly editor, then BlueFish is the way to go. If you need an editor to fix a bunch of pages then this editor has a lot of functions that are not found it other editors. Stuff like HTML Tidy or functions that strip extra lines out.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Brackets can handle most text editing problems, at least if you have a file small enough that it opens. But with so many free and open-source editors out there, it is easy to have multiple tools that fit specific niches. If you are editing HTML and CSS, get Brackets.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Open Source
    • Easily found and downloaded. If I need someone to go to the web and grab it I can tell them the URL. It is easily installed and one can be edited in minutes.
    • BlueFish is easy to use. It can have a non-technical user use it to edit config files or text documents and not have them frustrated. It has a friendly straight forward user interface.
    • BlueFish does a really good job editing HTML documents specifically. Probably one of the best HTML editors left out there.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • The Live Preview feature is extremely helpful. You can make tweaks to your CSS and then see how it affects the pge you're coding.
    • The recently added file tree feature is really a time saver. You can move files with a drop and drag feature without ever minimizing the program.
    • One of my favorite features is the ability to update the core program with extensions. Some of the extensions are simple, like adding themes, while others are a offer a little more assistance like creating Lorem Ipsum text for you.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Open Source
    • There are WYSIWYG Open alternatives, some of which work perfectly as an Open version of Dreamweaver, but the only suggestion I would have is that Bluefish add a WYSIWYG tab, e.g. code/visual.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • Can be a little slow to open and render larger files at times relative to a similar application running on the same computer.
    • Some plugins have performance or quality issues (not the fault of Brackets per se, but with the ecosystem of extensions).
    • Color schemes, styling ease of use could be improved. For example, provide out-of-the-box schemes like "high-contrast, night-time, bold."
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Open Source
    As far as usability, text editors are about as simple as you can get in the GUI world. The little features that make Brackets unique are intuitive enough that you don't really need a manual to find them and come to rely on them. If anybody knows enough about coding and markup enough to be looking for different editors, they will be up to speed before the download finishes.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Open Source
    As with most GNU GPL products support is top-notch. Documentation is fantastic, all functions are documented. Also, this product has been around for more than a decade so there is lots of stuff on how to do this or that with this tool. The only thing holding you back from support is your own drive to find a solution. RTFM, my friend.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Brackets has a very extensive support site. Everything is organized nicely for easy navigation. If you can't find an answer you can easily file an issue with them and they will be quick to respond. What's cool is you can also message them on Slack, if you request an invite first. Slack is a very popular program right now so it's great having that integration.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Open Source
    Compare it to what I'd call its WYSIWYG editor, BlueGriffon. Again, the two are fundamentally different solutions. Use them together. Don't waste your money on Adobe or any other proprietary alternative.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Brackets can be considered as the barebones version of a more complex piece of software like Dreamweaver. We selected Brackets due to the simplicity of the UI and the ease of use. In our case we do not need all the additional tools and gadgets that other, more complex software packages offer. We need something that's quick, easy, uncluttered and focuses specifically on our needs, which are seeing code and editing code. In this case no frills and complex UIs are required.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Open Source
    • How can you go wrong with a GNU GPL product that works? That's a really low-risk proposition.
    • It is only returns. It is like 0% investment to 5,000% return.
    • The only negative you will have with this product are those Cretans that despise OSS and the willfully ignorant.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • ROI is great. The version of the tool we are using is free so not a whole of lot “investment” went into it. And the work we can accomplish with it more than makes up for the “cost.”
    • The ease of use makes it simple for anyone new to the tool to start using it and contributing to the project.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots