head to head · open source
helix vs CodeEdit
helix has 46,270 GitHub stars, 3,758 forks, 1,671 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. CodeEdit has 23,031 stars, 1,192 forks, 213 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. helix leads on adoption by 101% (46,270 vs 23,031 stars). helix is written in Rust under MPL-2.0; CodeEdit is written in Swift under MIT. helix has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, CodeEdit 5%. helix was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| helix | CodeEdit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 23K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-08-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick helix if
- You weight community size — 46K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick CodeEdit if
- You want the CodeEdit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and CodeEdit fits your workflow better
About helix
Helix is a post modern modal text editor written in Rust that brings the selection first Kakoune editing model to the terminal, aimed at developers who want Vim style modal editing with language tooling built into the editor rather than assembled from a plugin stack.
read the full helix overview →
About CodeEdit
CodeEdit is a code editor for macOS. It is written in Swift, released under the MIT license, and described as a community project. The GitHub description says the app is open source and free forever. The project aims to provide a native editing experience for developers who work on software outside Apple platform projects.
read the full CodeEdit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is helix or CodeEdit more popular?
helix has 46,270 GitHub stars and CodeEdit has 23,031. helix has the larger community by that measure.
Are helix and CodeEdit free?
Both are open source. helix is licensed under MPL-2.0 and CodeEdit under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between helix and CodeEdit?
helix is written in Rust and CodeEdit in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, helix or CodeEdit?
Choose helix if you want the larger community (46,270 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose CodeEdit if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.