7 Vim Editors for Better Productivity in 2022

Vim is a flexible, efficient, and open-source terminal-based text editor. Vim stands for “Vi Improved”, which means it’s a revamped version of the Vi text editor.

Vim is regarded as one of the best text editors for security professionals and Linux users. Vim has a huge and active user base that is continually releasing new modules, add-ons, and text editor improvements.

It’s quick and easy to use, allowing users to make changes to files and directories with a few keystrokes. The Vim editor comes pre-installed in almost all Linux distros.

Features of Vim

• Cross-platform compatibility
• Very customizable and adaptable
• Built-in package manager and text manipulation primitives.
• Portable configuration and a flexible plugin framework
• Steep learning curve. But once learned, it will be a fantastic productivity tool.

Despite the fact that Vim is constantly being improved to become an effective text editor, some individuals have developed a variety of Vim-inspired editors with more efficient and functional capabilities like asynchronous execution, advanced file search, etc. There are plenty of Vim-inspired editors available on the internet.

In this article, we’ll show you some excellent vim-inspired editors that help you be more productive.

Let’s get rolling!

NeoVim

NeoVim is a fast, modern, and hyperextensible vim-based text editor. NeoVim is designed for users that want the best of Vim plus additional features. It is a free and open-source text editor tool. It’s merely an extension of vim that adds several new features to the standard Vim edition, including significant performance improvements and several community-contributed add-ons.

NeoVim is also known as “Nvim”. Nvim has excellent LUA support, and also Extended UIs can be enabled without any changes to the underlying functionality.

Features:

• Cross-platform compatibility
• Syntax highlighting
• Very customizable and scalable according to user needs.
• Built-in Terminal emulator
• Asynchronous execution is possible.

It’s well worth your time to try out the NeoVim. It is available to download for various operating systems like Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Kakoune

Kakoune is a free and open-source code editor. It is a Vim-based editor to improve the editing mechanism for more responsiveness. It is extremely customizable according to user requirements. Various text editing and rewriting tools are included in this code editor.

Kakoune is a modal code editor written in C . It has its own distinct style in terms of design and functionality. Automatic indentation and auto-completion while typing are just a few features available. It’s also worth noting that this code editor supports a wide range of programming and scripting languages.

Features:

• Advanced text manipulation primitives
• Fast and flexible
• Built-in text editing tools for syntax highlighting and code suggestions for various languages.
• Multiple selections for simultaneous code interaction using different primitives like filtering and aligning.

To know more features of the Kakoune text editor, feel free to visit the official GitHub repository.

Helix

Another elegant and portable vim editor is Helix. Helix is a Rust-based modern text editor. In Helix, Tree-sitter is used for syntax highlighting, similar to NeoVim. Tree-sitter works like a compiler that parses code into syntax trees and delivers a broad range of information on the structure of the code.

Analysis and code modification are supported via the built-in language server. Pre-built packages are available for various distributions.

Features:

• Built-in Tree-sitter integration for syntax highlighting and code navigation.
• Multiple selections for simultaneous code editing.
• Built using rust and capable of running in a terminal.

Please visit the official GitHub repository for more installation details.

Amp

Amp is a fast, scalable, and vim-based text editor. It includes all of the essential elements of a contemporary text and code editor. It runs in a terminal similar to vi/vim editor. It also uses flexible keymaps to combine numerous built-in commands and directives to create new and unique macros. Amp editor is written in the Rust language

Features:

• Runs in a terminal without any need for a GUI application.
• Syntax highlighting and git integration
• Combines numerous built-in directives to create updated macros.
• Robust file searching mechanism to index the files.

Amp is available under a free and open-source license. A Rust programming language must be installed on the system before installing this text editor. There is no need to configure Amp manually after installation. It has everything you need to get started and doesn’t require additional add-ons.

Moe

Moe is another fantastic text editor based on vim and written in the multi-paradigm programming language Nim. It’s a text editor that runs on a terminal similar to Amp, Nano, and Vi. Moe utilizes the very same environment and key bindings as similar to vim. If you’ve used Vim before, you’ll have no trouble adapting.

The purpose of this Moe project is to create a powerful text editor that is highly flexible, productive, user-friendly, and high-performing.

Features:

• Simple file manager and auto-indentation mechanism
• Option to perform Incremental search and filter the results
• Configuration mode and automatic backups
• Windows can be split into horizontal or vertical for managing workspaces.

Check the installation guide to configure and compile the Moe editor in the terminal.

Vis

Vis is a highly efficient free and open-source text editor that combines the best features of Vi and Sam editors. It’s a screen-oriented editor with good Unicode support that can handle a wide range of files, including binary and directory files.

It supports a variety of file archiving formats, including tar, dar, zip, and others. Selections are the primary editing primitives in Vis and use the same modal editing method as vim.

Features:

• Built-in Lua extension API
• Expression Grammars are used to emphasize syntax.
• Multiple selections for simultaneous code editing

Vis also includes a built-in shell checker and other features like digraph and clipboard handling. It also provides a Lua interpreter for writing plugins and extensions. Many Linux distributions include Vis by default. If not, it can also be installed manually by cloning the GitHub repository.

Vile

Vile is an elegant open-source text editor that incorporates features from both the Emacs and vi editors. Vile stands for “VI Like Emacs,” written in C language. It supports syntax highlighting, multiple window selection, command auto-completion, and more.

And also, there is an X version of vile called xvile for an X-windows system with cursor support, navigation bar, and other features.

Features:

• Multiple windows are supported.
• There’s no limit to how many times the user can undo or redo the contents.
• Complex code fences and command auto-completion
• Built-in directives can be used to connect Vile instructions in a restrictive manner.

Vile documentation is unlike every other text editor. It includes an extensive help file that may be accessed with keystrokes, as well as interactive panels that display register entries, mode selections, and other information.

Wrapping Up

The vim-inspired editors described above, together with their distinctive features, can help you choose the best one according to your needs. Try them out right now!

I hope you found this article helpful in learning about some of the best Vim Editors.

You may also be interested in learning about the best Linux desktop environments to use that can be installed on any Linux distribution.