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Brackets

Brackets

Overview

What is Brackets?

Brackets 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.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Brackets, a popular code editor, has gained a loyal following among users who appreciate its reliability and versatility. It is often …
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Brackets Rules

10 out of 10
April 23, 2020
Incentivized
I currently use Brackets as a way to edit XML files. We have a client that submits XML files to our production team. Brackets is a simple …
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Brackets for the win

9 out of 10
February 25, 2019
Incentivized
Currently, we use Brackets as the tool of choice for editing CSS and HTML classes for our various web applications. It’s mainly used by …
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Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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What is Brackets?

Brackets 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.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

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

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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.

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Product Details

What is Brackets?

Brackets Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Brackets 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.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 9.5.

The most common users of Brackets are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(32)

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!

Brackets, a popular code editor, has gained a loyal following among users who appreciate its reliability and versatility. It is often chosen as a reliable alternative to other code editors offered by the company. With its lightweight design and support for multiple programming languages, Brackets proves to be a valuable tool for software code writing. Users primarily utilize Brackets for editing HTML, CSS, JS, and PHP files. The live preview feature in Brackets allows developers to quickly view the results of their web application development, saving time and effort. Additionally, Brackets' extendable and customizable nature makes it an ideal choice for developers working with JavaScript, HTML, XML, and Java.

Web designers find Brackets particularly useful for creating new web pages or sites, simplifying the management of multiple pages. The image hover info and live updating browser view features are highly appreciated as they enhance productivity in web development tasks. Moreover, Brackets is a suitable option for managing codebases of company websites and developing browser extensions. Its ability to handle XML files with a simple and user-friendly interface makes it accessible even to non-coders. CSS and HTML classes in various web applications can also be efficiently edited using Brackets. Overall, users rely on Brackets for quick and easy code editing across a range of languages including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, and MySQL.

Live Preview Feature: Many users have found the Live Preview feature extremely helpful, as it has allowed them to make real-time adjustments to their CSS and instantly see the effects on the page they are coding. This feature has been praised for its convenience and efficiency in streamlining the coding process.

File Tree Tool: The recently added file tree feature has been widely praised as a time-saving tool by users. They appreciate being able to drag and drop files without needing to minimize the program, which enhances productivity and makes organizing files much easier.

Extensibility: Users have consistently mentioned that one of their favorite features of Brackets is its ability to update the core program with extensions. These extensions range from simple ones like themes to more advanced ones that offer assistance in coding tasks such as generating Lorem Ipsum text. The availability of these extensions has greatly enhanced users' experience with Brackets, making it a versatile tool for various coding needs.

Live Preview Issues: Some users have reported that Live Preview in Brackets occasionally fails to work when they need it the most, leading to frustration and inefficiency while working on projects.

Performance and Quality Problems with Plugins: Several reviewers have mentioned that some plugins in Brackets have performance or quality issues. While this is not directly the fault of Brackets itself, it can be a drawback for users who rely heavily on extensions to enhance their coding experience.

Slow Opening and Rendering of Larger Files: According to user feedback, Brackets can sometimes be slow to open and render larger files compared to similar applications. This can cause delays and hinder productivity for those working with complex projects or extensive code bases.

Users highly recommend Brackets for its simplicity and ease of use. They mention that it is a good text editor for web development projects, especially for beginners. Users suggest trying Brackets even if you already use another editor.

The interface of Brackets is clean and customizable, with an excellent dark theme. Users appreciate the live preview feature, which is beneficial for front-end web development using HTML/CSS. Additionally, users recommend checking out the free extensions available for Brackets.

However, some users note that Brackets may not be suitable for more advanced tasks or server-side work. Overall, users highly recommend Brackets for its simplicity, ease of use, and affordability.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-13 of 13)
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Tony Danh | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The product helps me write code better. I enjoy the feature of matching brackets, as well as the color coding of different functions. It also makes scanning through code easier with the ability to open and close functions.
  • Color coding
  • Highlighting
  • Open and closing
  • The option to customize a theme would be nice
  • The ability to support better network connections
  • Project management features could be a bit more featured
If you like a quick text based coding tool, then Brackets is right for you.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Brackets to make changes to, and edit, our HTML, CSS, JS and PHP files. Using the "edit" function in our FTP application opens the relevant file in Brackets directly from the web server (or local server). Once our changes are done, the save command in Brackets sends the updated version back to our FTP server and the file is uploaded and ready live on the web. Brackets speeds up our overall editing process tremendously.
  • Edit code directly
  • Color-code code snippets for an easy overview
  • Clean interface for distraction-free editing
  • Lightweight application with fast loading speeds
  • Showing hints for potential coding or syntax errors
  • Having descriptions for the working files list (especially when working on multiple index.php files at once)
  • Easier preference settings
We use Brackets exclusively to make coding changes on our websites, specifically changes to PHP & HTML files, as well as CSS and HTACCESS files. We use FileZilla as our FTP application and have set the edit functionality to open the selected file directly in Brackets. When we've located the specific file that needs editing, it's as simple as a right-click, then "edit." The file opens in Brackets, we make our changes, select save, and the updated file is re-uploaded directly to the server. Depending on the settings in FileZilla, we have an additional prompt confirming that we are overwriting the current file, with the updated version.
April 23, 2020

Brackets Rules

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I currently use Brackets as a way to edit XML files. We have a client that submits XML files to our production team. Brackets is a simple program that allows you to edit the code. I'm not a coder but this program is easy enough to use and to get the job done. Currently, I am the only one using the software.
  • Easy coding
  • Simple interface
  • Only need a basic understanding of code to use
  • Without being a coder and never having used other html software, I can't say I have any cons of Brackets. Brackets was recommended to me and that's all I've used. It works for my purposes.
Brackets is a simple to use code editor. I use it for basic HTML and XML document editing. I can't say that there's any scenario where Brackets is an inappropriate program. Maybe for coders that are coding all day long, but from what I can tell Brackets can handle any and all coding efforts.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Brackets have been used for many years for developing web applications based on HTML, CSS, and BootStrap. It is being preferred over the other IDE because of its feature of live preview, which allows seeing the result of the developing application live and as fast as possible. It is not only used for developing web-based applications but also used for writing software codes in various supported languages such as Java, C/C++, Python, Groovy, etc. This IDE supports all the modern languages, and It is very light in weight. Moreover, it is available to use freely.
  • Live preview is best feature of the Brackets.
  • Intellisense for the many languages is available.
  • Takes more time on startup.
  • Sometime Live preview automatically shut down.
Brackets is an excellent Development IDE for Web applications. It is straightforward to use and can be used by both experts as well as novice programmers. The Brackets IDE supports many languages, and plug-ins are available for different languages for additional features. It is free to use and openly accessible over the Internet for downloading.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Brackets for basic code editing in HTML, CSS, JavaScript (and jQuery), and PHP & MySQL. It is not the most advanced editor but is my go-to because it is quick and easy to use.
  • Highlighting code
  • Code indenting with a hotkey (if you enable the feature).
  • Fast and easy setup.
  • Managing projects, such as opening files from a repo. It can be done, but it is pretty much file by file instead of accessing a project or folder.
  • Working with repos (see the previous answer).
I'd recommend Brackets for basic editing or if someone wanted to make quick code changes in a good tool.
Jeff Hanson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
This product is used by developers to develop applications using a wide variety of programming languages and syntax. The program is used by a limited number of developers and is not used outside of the technology department (to my knowledge). It addresses the needs of developers by providing an extendable, customizable, and rich editor for use with Javascript, HTML, XML, and Java.
  • Javascript auto minification
  • Code auto-completion
  • Extensibility (custom add-ons) is easy to configure. Many are available for code beautification, formatting, syntax checking.
  • 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."
Well Suited: Javascript, CSS, and HTML development. Brackets works better with scripting languages as in the situation where you are augmenting an IDE like Eclipse, where web page development is lacking. Less approprate: developing in environments when controlling the servers is required, or where a compilation of code is needed. It would not be useful in environments like .Net where a superior editor exists.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Brackets is the workhorse for developing HTML and CSS projects. There is a lot of overlap in the world of text editors, and we actually use several, as they are useful for different things. The niche Brackets fills, it fills nicely, with a few specific conveniences. The specific features that make it such a time-saver are the image hover info and the live updating browser view.
  • Image hover info. If you hover your mouse over an image link in the code, you get specific file information that is useful for the HTML, image size and dimensions, etc. ...as well as a preview.
  • Live browser preview. You can open your working files in a browser and all saved changes are automatically updated. It doesn't seem like a big deal to go over to the browser and refresh, but once you get used to it, it is a pain when missing in other browsers.
  • Brackets is still fairly small in the text editor arena, but there is already a rich ecosystem of plugins and customizations.
  • It is actually fairly easy to create your own custom themes.
  • Multiple cursors!! It is amazing to be able to insert multiple cursors and type the same thing in multiple places.
  • As it is a javascript based program it can have some performance issues, especially with larger files (too large and it can't even open them).
  • Themes are limited to the editor area, but it would be nice to be able to customize the file-tree and gutter areas.
  • And the smallest quibble of all, make the open files area resizable. It's a little annoying to have to scroll up and down when you have plenty of screen space to see all the open files.
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.
Somit Vishwakarma | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Bracket is an open source code editor that helps us to create new web pages or sites. I have been using this application for the last few years and it seems it provides a simple interface to web designers. Many members of our team used this application to create websites as well, as it helps to manage multiple pages at once.
  • Live preview of web page
  • Inline editor
  • simple user interface
  • Easily switch between the tabs or pages
  • Some ready-made code
  • Unexpected shutdown (Not Responding)
  • Auto save option
If you are a beginner in the web designing field and you need the best application from which you can manage web pages easily then this is a perfect opportunity to use Bracket without any cost. This is a nice application for an earlier stage. With Bracket, it is hard to know the start and end point of Div, Section, or Class. You need to maintain it from the starting point.
February 25, 2019

Brackets for the win

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Currently, we use Brackets as the tool of choice for editing CSS and HTML classes for our various web applications. It’s mainly used by our software engineering group/teams as we stand up and modify our applications.
  • Editing CSS classes are done particularly well. It’s very simple and straightforward. Brackets will throw errors while editing so you know where you may have made a wrong turn. Very helpful
  • The simple UI is refreshing. Often times code editors throw too much on the screen. Brackets keeps it simple and it’s appreciated!
  • Would be nice if Brackets had an easy way to export and share code between users. Would help on projects you are working on together.
Brackets is great for editing CSS and HTML code and classes. Some colleagues of mine have used it to edit Java classes with minimal success. I would suggest keeping it to simpler code and leaving Java and other similar languages to Eclipse or similar tools.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Brackets for quick code editing. It’s fast and works very well for what it’s intended to do, which is to write and edit code. It's my ‘go-to’ for any quick coding and editing.
  • Code-writing.
  • Code-editing.
  • General and advanced coding.
  • It doesn’t allow you to view multiple browsers, only Google Chrome.
  • The shortcuts aren’t robust.
  • Some ‘suggestions’ aren’t robust.
Best suited for quick editing. Not recommended for multiple browser testing. It only works with Google Chrome.
James Pautz II | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Brackets is used by me in my role managing my company website's codebase as well as some other websites that I run. I also use it for development of browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome. It is a very web-focused text editor that has a good number of useful plugins to extend functionality.
  • A clean simple UI with an excellent dark theme
  • There are plenty of customization options and extensibility via plugins
  • It is pretty fast and very smart when working with front-end website files
  • The live preview mode is a nice feature when coding as part of a presentation
  • The implementation of code-completion feels natural and effortless
  • It has some readability issues with the fonts being too small on my personal laptop.
  • It isn't as powerful as some new competitors.
If you are just developing for the front end of the web, Brackets is a great option. It is cross-platform works well. If you rely on all the extras that an IDE gives you, Brackets probably won't satisfy you.
William Ruthrauff | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
While not used by the company as a whole, there are pockets of us that use this free code editor. I intially was using another product which was offered by the company, but eventually was removed as an offering. In speaking with another more experienced coder, he had suggested using Brackets. I downloaded the editor and have never looked back. When anyone comes to me for advice on editors to use, I let them know what is out there, but always guide them to Brackets.
  • 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.
  • Since Brackets is an open source software, it is always improving. So if you feel it is lacking something, shortly thereafter it almost always appears in the next software release.
  • While using extensions are at your own risk, I have sometimes found an extension that caused a problem. It was easily resolved by deleting the software and then reinstalling.
  • Live Preview sometimes doesn't work for me. While most of the time it does, it almost always seems to not work when I need it to work the most.
When I'm designing a specific page, I can line up all the folders and files in the left File Tree panel. This keeps me organized and able to find things as I need them. Once I'm organized, I'm ready to start coding. Brackets allows you to control quite a bit of your environment, which contributes to your efficiency at coding in an effort free environment. One of the standard features of the color coding of tags really makes a difference. As I'm reviewing the code, generally I can quickly notice a missing </> or some other typo. Plus the color coding often helps you quickly find a particular line you need. And speaking of color, when you hover over a hexadecimal value in the code, a box pops up showing you the color of that code. This is particularly helpful when you have multiple colors and you want to make sure that your CSS is spot on.
December 17, 2018

Brackets is Great!

Reed Horanburg | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Brackets is the best text and code editor around. We use it daily for fixing HTML and CSS and for opening any text/code files. The beautify.co plugin works very well for keeping to industry standards. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a full featured text editor for similar purposes.
  • Auto fill of code
  • Auto formatting of code
  • Easy to use GUI
  • More themes
  • Have beautify.co built in
  • Better previews
It works well as an editor replacement for SharePoint and other weaker intranet applications.
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