Skip to main content
TrustRadius
Atom

Atom

Overview

What is Atom?

Atom is a free and open source text editor offering a range of packages and themes.

Read more
Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Atom is a versatile and widely-used text and code editor that offers numerous features and benefits to its users. It is favored by …
Continue reading
TrustRadius Insights
TrustRadius Insights
Read all reviews

Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

View all pros & cons
Return to navigation

Pricing

View all pricing
Atom

Atom

N/A
Unavailable

What is Atom?

Atom is a free and open source text editor offering a range of packages and themes.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Would you like us to let the vendor know that you want pricing?

7 people also want pricing

Alternatives Pricing

Sublime Text

Sublime Text

$80
What is Sublime Text?

Sublime Text is a highly customizable text editing solution featuring advanced API, Goto functions, and other features, from Sublime HQ in Sydney.

Return to navigation

Product Details

What is Atom?

Atom Video

Installing Atom

Atom Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Atom is a free and open source text editor offering a range of packages and themes.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 8.6.

The most common users of Atom are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
Return to navigation

Comparisons

View all alternatives
Return to navigation

Reviews and Ratings

(89)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Atom is a versatile and widely-used text and code editor that offers numerous features and benefits to its users. It is favored by developers across various organizations and industries for a range of use cases. Users appreciate Atom's clean and simple user interface, making it easy to navigate and use without any issues. With support for multiple programming languages, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, C++, and more, Atom is suitable for diverse coding projects.

One key use case of Atom is as a powerful tool for web development. It enables developers to efficiently write code for websites using languages like PHP, CSS, JS, and HTML. Its features, such as syntax highlighting and autocompletion, make coding in these languages more efficient. Additionally, Atom's integration with Git provides version control capabilities, allowing teams to collaborate on website development projects seamlessly.

Another notable use case of Atom is its popularity among data scientists and analytics professionals. With support for programming languages like Python, R, and Unix, Atom serves as an effective code editor for editing multiple codes in analytics workflows. Its customizable nature allows users to tailor the editor to their specific needs, making it a valuable tool for data analytics and machine learning projects.

Furthermore, Atom is recommended by developers as an alternative to Visual Studio Code due to its relatively basic interface and extensive selection of plugins contributed by the community. This attributes to its widespread usage within organizations as a preferred IDE text editor.

Overall, Atom's versatility, ease of use, extensive plugin ecosystem, and compatibility with various programming languages make it a go-to choice for developers seeking a customizable and efficient coding environment.

Highly Customizable: Many users have praised Atom for its high level of customization. They appreciate the ability to tailor their coding environment to their preferences, with various themes and extensions available. This feature allows them to make their code easier to read and navigate, enhancing their overall coding experience.

Code Hinting Features: Several reviewers have been impressed with Atom's code hinting capabilities. This feature helps them write code faster and integrates well with services like LINT, allowing them to clean up their code according to their team's style choices. Users find this functionality particularly useful in speeding up their coding process.

Free Software: The fact that Atom is free has been seen as a major advantage by many users. They appreciate not having to invest in expensive software while still being able to access a robust coding environment. This affordability makes it accessible to a wide range of developers.

Limited API Requests: Some users have experienced the issue of receiving an error message stating "Error: Request failed with status code 429." Several reviewers have expressed frustration with this limitation, as it hinders their ability to make API requests effectively.

Performance Issues: A number of users have reported performance issues while using Atom. They have noticed sluggishness and lag in the software, particularly when dealing with larger files or projects. This has led to delays and inefficiencies in their workflow.

Lack of Intuitive UI/UX: Several reviewers have mentioned that they find the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) of Atom to be less intuitive compared to other text editors. Users have struggled with finding certain features, customizing their workspace, and navigating through the application smoothly.

Users recommend using the self-hosted version of Atom instead of the cloud version and taking advantage of Atom's package manager. They suggest that Atom is suitable for both beginners and professionals, as well as for web development, Ruby on Rails development, and front-end development. Atom is also considered a lightweight and visually appealing text editor. Users often suggest it as an alternative to Sublime Text and for languages without a dedicated IDE. They encourage exploring the wide range of packages available in the Atom community and customizing Atom to personal preferences. Atom is frequently recommended for learning to code and simple web development projects. However, users caution that it may not be suitable for large projects and advise learning the keyboard shortcuts for improved efficiency. Additionally, they recommend using Atom on a PC with higher RAM capacity and exploring Atom's plugins for added functionality.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 31)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
January 02, 2024

Joyful coding

Flavio Mauri | TrustRadius Reviewer
Flavio Mauri
CRM Designer
Asda (Supermarkets, 10,001+ employees)
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is great for simple HTML coding. It's fast, has intuitive shortcuts and several options. I particularly love the "convert spaces to tabs" function that I haven't seen in other editors.

I'm not sure how it would fair in more serious web development today, if there are plugins for live updates of the page you are working on...

But the problem is that it has been discontinued so you know there are no new features or fixes coming through.
October 27, 2021

Atom for all your text editing needs

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Computer Software Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is perfectly suited for a developer that wants a highly capable and highly customizable IDE to work in. It has several available packages to integrate with pretty much anything you want and is backed by Github, so that's a huge plus as well. A possible scenario where Atom may not be best suited would be on machines that are a bit slow, as Atom doesn't seem as fast as other text editors or IDE's.
October 26, 2021

Ideal editor for developers interested in fully customizing their experience

Verified User
Team Lead in Professional Services
Information Technology and Services Company, 11-50 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is great for developers looking for a completely hackable experience. There is a ton of plugins available to you, and you can really build an editor that matches your own personal taste. The performance is also pretty neat and does not impact your CPU as much as the competition.
October 12, 2021

Atom is a Good looking free editor and scripting tool for developers

Laura Glover | TrustRadius Reviewer
Laura Glover
Information Designer
The Pixel Zoo (Online Media, 1-10 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is a great scripting tool for individuals, freelancers, and small development teams. The interface is slick, and if you require bits of functionality, there are packages which you can add on. No accounts or activation code - just download it, and the user can start coding and launching their web development project in a flash. I sometimes use it for the find and replace function for modifying and editing large batches of plain text.
September 28, 2021

Atom - A simplest, finest , open-source text editor

Deepshi Sharma | TrustRadius Reviewer
Deepshi Sharma
Software Engineer
Kognoz Consulting (E-Learning, 11-50 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is well suited for users who just beginning with their development careers. For developing production level or at the local level, for any use-case Atom is well suited as it provides support for many plugins and version control too. It is not suitable for heavy projects because it takes a lot of time in getting opened and also stops unexpectedly in between. It can be used by early-stage startups who are just beginning their project but when there is an ample amount of code, then they must switch to some other software.
May 08, 2021

Beautiful experience with Atom IDE

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 1-10 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I have been using this product since my college days when I had a very low system configuration PC. It's a very good application but sometimes the mix plugins back-end gives unnecessary errors. All features like multiple programming language support, extensions, etc. are personally good. Sometimes we face performance effects when using for the last many hours.
November 23, 2020

Atom editor - multi-cursor mode for the win!

David McCann | TrustRadius Reviewer
David McCann
Director of Technology, Open Source Incubator Initiative
Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) at the United Nations Foundation (International Affairs, 11-50 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is great as a general-purpose text editor, and is especially powerful for bulk text editing, and scripting languages where a more heavy-weight IDE isn't as appropriate (e.g. Javascript, Coffeescript, Ruby, Python, etc.)
June 01, 2020

Highly Customizable IDE With Excellent Git Integration

Jonah Dempcy | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jonah Dempcy
Web & Mobile Developer
Bluefire Productions (Computer Software, 11-50 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is excellent for writing code in any of its supported languages, although for Java, C#, or Objective C, it would probably not be my first choice. The reason is that there are other more robust IDEs that are made especially for those languages (e.g. Eclipse, Visual Studio, and Xcode). I use Atom for writing C++ but I also love it for web development. It's great when you want to customize your development environment for your particular workflow and have time to spare digging into the nitty-gritty of configuration, as well as trying out a lot of different plugins and removing the ones that don't work well. In general, it's great when you have the time to set it up right, and not as good when you want to get moving quickly without a lot of configuration.
March 30, 2020

Atom data scientists overall satisfaction

Verified User
Analyst in Professional Services
Financial Services Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is suitable if you are a data scientist who is not easily [intimidated] with code and object oriented programming layout, and actively working on either creating or improving multiple python packages under different environments locally. It is less appropriate for a business analyst who is not used to writing code.
March 23, 2020

Best local tool, wish to have it on the cloud

Xiaotong Song | TrustRadius Reviewer
Xiaotong Song
Business Analyst
3M (Cosmetics, 10,001+ employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are working on the local environment and with multiple type of code in the same time, Atom is one of the best tools you can choose from the market. However, if your work need tons of RAM and you have to get it to run on the cloud, it is not suitable.
February 15, 2020

Solid editor but since eclipsed by VSCode

Patrick Fong | TrustRadius Reviewer
Patrick Fong
Senior Software Engineer
Iterable (Internet, 201-500 employees)
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
My recommendation depends on whether my colleague is already using Atom or not. If they are not using Atom, I sincerely find VSCode to be a slightly better editor with a much brighter future in terms of feature development, upcoming plugins, and support. So they should start with VSCode. However, if they are already using Atom, I see no reason to switch for the time being. Atom was a great editor for a long time, and though feature development has stalled, it continues to perform well. It will meet most people's needs when it comes to editing dynamically typed languages.
January 23, 2020

Another user review of Atom

Samuel Hadid | TrustRadius Reviewer
Samuel Hadid
IT Security Engineer
Softtek (Health, Wellness and Fitness, 10,001+ employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is great for beginners, for experienced coders, and casual programmers. Is easy to use, easy to export files, easy to identify components, easy to read, and it's pretty good for code reviewing. As we all know, it is always better to review code directly from the compiler/editor used, but if not possible, Atom is an excellent option.
January 18, 2020

WordPress developers get ready for the ATOM bomb...!

Daniel Städeli | TrustRadius Reviewer
Daniel Städeli
Business Owner
Freelance (Information Technology & Services, 1-10 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Well suited for developers and people who are writing with text editors all day. Not so suitable for casual use, as it is rather complex to use efficiently, and it takes a couple of seconds more to open than Notepad.
January 16, 2020

Atom is a solid editor for the long run

Jason Smith, DPA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jason Smith, DPA
Instructional Technologist
Pomona College (Higher Education, 201-500 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is quick to install and get going across a variety of platforms. The open-source nature says that this editor will always be around. I would recommend this editor to someone new to editing code. There is a good help and tip system. I don't think that this editor would appeal to minimalists because it is way maximum on what you can do. Lots of features and lots of configuration that is possible.
January 16, 2020

Robust and well organized.

WA
Walter Aho
Creative Director
Lake Superior Christian Church (Religious Institutions, 1-10 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom does a great job of allowing you to work in multiple coding languages (in my case, HTML, PHP, Javascript, and CSS/SASS) with no confusion. The color-coding, organization, and ability to customize your workspace is extremely helpful as well. The addition of packages, for FTP upload, for example, makes for a quick and easy workflow.
November 23, 2019

A solid editor that will not disappoint

Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Information Services Company, 501-1000 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
As a general rule, I always recommend Atom to someone new to editors or someone looking for a simple editor that is powerful but easy to get used to. For users that are new to any kind of code maintenance, Atom is a real treat. It doesn't have the clutter of Visual Studio Code in the user interface but it is just as powerful and extensible from a plugin perspective.
November 21, 2019

A 'hackable' editor by GitHub

CK
Chaithra Kamath
Local Software Developer
KudlaRoot (Consumer Services, 51-200 employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It is well suited for new programmers who are looking for a free editor to start coding. It also supports most major languages out there. You can use the same software to develop a program in Java, python and many other languages. It is also cross-platform. It is a bare-bones code editor that you can build up to your liking using the available plugins to extend the functionalities.
August 04, 2019

A text editor for general analytics workflows made easy

Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Information Technology and Services Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is well-suited when you need a cross-platform text editor that is basic and highlights code well. This is not an integrated development environment, and therefore you should focus on finding one of those programs instead if your goal is to have a whole testing, run, and automation suite. This works well for rudimentary editing supported by external tools that do running or testing.
June 12, 2019

Atom- A freelancers review

Steven Puringi | TrustRadius Reviewer
Steven Puringi
Junior Software Developer
Freelance Software Development (Program Development, 51-200 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Definitely well suited if you are a freelancing web developer or student because it is free and is open source. Its ease of use and various functionality, depending on packages, is very helpful for beginners and even experts. it is well suited for any task big or small as long as you have the drive and desire to create.
March 27, 2019

Atom- the perfect script solution

Dylan Cauwels | TrustRadius Reviewer
Dylan Cauwels
DevOps Engineer
CBRE (Real Estate, 10,001+ employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Well suited for small, lightweight solutions to problems that need to be made quickly and effectively. My implementation was used mainly for infrastructure scripting and automation processes through python3 and Ansible. Not very good for large application programming, as it won't remember keywords/class names/method names very well and will often suggest wrong fields that would result in errors. Also not very good at catching errors, as it's meant to be lightweight and therefore doesn't have those indexing capabilities.
February 28, 2019

Atom: You have to build it bit by bit.

Matthew Deakyne | TrustRadius Reviewer
Matthew Deakyne
Academic Services Manager
The University of Kansas (Higher Education, 10,001+ employees)
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is great for people that need a desktop text editor, and who like to customize their experience. It's incredibly powerful and serves as a good backup to a full-fledged IDE. It probably won't appeal to those that have to do complex development work, or to those that prefer a web-experience due to the automated syncing.
February 10, 2019

Atom: an editor for the 21st century

Dhruba Jyoti Nag | TrustRadius Reviewer
Dhruba Jyoti Nag
Associate
Cognizant (Entertainment, 10,001+ employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Atom is extensible, it has an active package community and integrated package manager. It is ideal for editing in different programming languages. There is also a fair amount of community support for the different issues one may face. But it is slow compared to other light text editors and cannot handle really large files like a database dump well.
Return to navigation