---
title: "Choosing Emacs vs. Vim"
description: "Is there anything you wouldn't give for freedom? That's what the Emacs text editor is all about. If you're going to spend most of your day working in a text editor, wouldn't you want the text editor..."
url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/edu/emacs/choosing-emacs-vs-vim/
date: 2020-09-09
modified: 2023-08-22
author: "Christopher Maiorana"
categories: ["Emacs"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Choosing Emacs vs. Vim

![](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/emacs-vs-vim.png)

Is there anything you wouldn’t give for freedom? That’s what the
Emacs text editor is all about. If you’re going to spend most of your
day working in a text editor, wouldn’t you want the text editor that
gives you the most freedom over how you work?

This article is part of the Emacs Education
channel. Emacs is a text editor but also a productivity
system for anyone who uses plain text for organizing projects or managing private
[cloud servers](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/cloud-vps).

Often, the argument around text editors can drown out the important
differences between different editors and how they can help you do
your work at a higher level. Too often, the focus is on features
rather than freedom.

- [Basic text editors](#basic)
  - [Integrated development environments](#ide)
  - [Modal editor difference](#modal)
  - [You should try different editors all the time](#try)
- [The Emacs difference](#differnce)
  - [Porting Vim keys over to Emacs](#evil-mode)
- [The final tally: Emacs vs Vim](#tally)
  - [Editing remote files and shell fu](#server)
  - [Other features and support](#features-and-support)

Every text editor has unique strengths and weaknesses. That’s why the
argument persists, and it’s why you should know more about these text
editors and what the differences may be. You should also take these
various editors for a test drive to see how they work first hand.

This guide is part of our Emacs education channel, so the benefits of
the Emacs text editor will be more heavily represented. Nevertheless,
in reading this article you might decide it’s not for you. In either
case, the purpose of this article is to present some background and
cover different options.

## Basic Text Editors

Most new users will start off using a basic text editor. This means
you would use the one that comes with your computer, like Mac OS’s
TextEdit or the Windows default Notepad.

Or, you might install a more advanced editor like Sublime, Atom,
Brackets, or other.

These text editors do exactly what they’re supposed to do. They allow
the user to edit files in plain text that can be parsed by an
interpreter or compiler and run as individual programs.

While most of these editors cover the basic feature set, they also
provide some extra niceties, which you are best advised to explore at
your leisure. It is these extra features that set various editors
apart and help you decide which features help you get your work done.

![Multi-line editing feature in Sublime text.](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/sublime_multi_line_editing.gif)

### Integrated Development Environments

At the next level up you have an integrated development environment
(IDE). These are usually expensive but they are geared up to optimize
and enhance the features of th basic text editor and literally
“integrate” all of the external features you might need to speed up
your development process, including debugging and version control.

![PHPStorm from JetBrains tip window, launches on startup.](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Tip_Window_PHPStorm_JetBrains.png)

Integrated development environments are typically built around a
certain programming language. For example, JetBrains produces IDEs
built around PHP, C, Ruby, Python, and more.

However, some IDEs, like Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VSC) provide
IDE support for multiple languages (and it’s free).

### Modal Editors

Emacs and Vim, the editors I’ll be comparing more directly in this
article, belong to the category of modal editors.

Modal editors basically give you different modes based on what type of
work you’re doing.

But the different modes, of course, work differently in Emacs and Vim.

In Vim, you have Insert mode (in which you insert text) and Command
mode (in which you run commands on the text).

Emacs mixes those modes in some ways, unless you have your Emacs set
up to use Vim commands (more on that elsewhere).

In this sense, modal editors can be set up like IDEs, depending on how
you want to use them. The point is, they’re fully customizable.

### Weighing and Trying Different Editors

You would be best advised to try many different kinds of editors from
all across the board.

A lot of popular text editors are free to use. Even expensive IDEs
will provide a free trial version you can install and use for a
predefined period.

In the case of Vim, you can try it by opening virtually any terminal
editor and typing `vim`.

In the case of Emacs, you will need to first install the program and
open it as you would any application. If you’ve never used Emacs
before, you should start with the Emacs tutorial. You can open the
tutorial by typing `C-h t` (holding down the control key on your
keyboard and pressing “H”, followed by “t”).

![Emacs tutorial startup screen.](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/emacs_tutorial.png)

## The Emacs Difference

The Emacs way of working starts with the basics, as any text editor
does:

- Editing and saving files
- Enabling special modes for coding and other tasks

Then you can progress along to customizing your Emacs with alternate
color schemes, display modes, look and feel, behavior, and custom key
commands.

Eventually, you can start playing with your own Lisp coding. Emacs
provides its own language, Emacs Lisp, which is a Turing complete
programming language. From that point, you have ultimate freedom to
make Emacs do whatever you need it to do.

### Porting Vim Into Emacs

One of the primary expedients that Vim users love about Vim is the
vast array of key commands. The experienced Vim, once in command
mode, can fly to any point in a document and executed advanced editing
commands with a few keystrokes.

In addition to Vim’s widespread availability in most operating
systems, it is these key commands that keep most Vim users away from
exploring the advantages of Emacs.

This is why a group of Vim users ported the Vim keys over to Emacs. By installing “evil mode” in your Emacs configuration, you can use the advanced Vim key commands and take advantage of the powerful time-saving features of Emacs like [Org Mode](https://orgmode.org/) and many others.

## The Final Emacs Vs Vim Tally

Place your bets.

| Desirable features | Emacs | Vim |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Superior file editing | ✅ | ✅ |
| Fast, intuitive key commands | ✅ | ✅ |
| Rich library of plugins | ✅ | ✅ |
| Proprietary file navigator | ✅ |   |
| Editing remote files in single session | ✅ |   |
| Self-documenting | ✅ |   |
| Graphical user interface | ✅ |   |
| Git integration | ✅ |   |
| Spotify music player | ✅ |   |
| Watch videos | ✅ |   |
| Play Doom | ✅ |   |

You may not need many of these features, but they demonstrate the
capabilities that Emacs offers.

### Server File Editing and Shell

One of the greatest advantages of Emacs for sysadmins or anyone who
[logs into a server](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/server/ssh/how-to-login-ssh/) has got to be the TRAMP feature. Built into Emacs
core, TRAMP lets you open and edit remote files within your current
window.

This means if you want to edit, copy, or paste text in or from a file
on a remote server, you could visit that file by simply typing in a
file path.

Likewise, if you need a shell instance, you can use Emacs as your
terminal emulator. That means you could have all the features of
Emacs available in addition to normal shell operation. For example,
if you wanted to copy/paste shell output or simply output your shell
session to a text file, Emacs lets you easily do that.

![The Emacs shell.](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/the_emacs_shell.png)

### Other Weird Features and Support

When it comes to Emacs, the sky’s the limit. Many of the most
advanced features come pre-installed, but as you go you can all kinds
of packages and custom scripts.

For example, writers will find “[word count mode](https://github.com/bnbeckwith/wc-mode)” very useful for
setting word goals and tracking the word count of your document.

The [Spotify music player](https://github.com/danielfm/spotify.el) lets you enjoy and control your favorite
music while in Emacs.

[Helm](https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm) lets you quickly search for files and functions dynamically.

With all the volunteer developers around the world writing packages
for Emacs, you’ll never run out of support.