The Free Software Store

It's tempting to believe that if you pay more for something then it will offer you more value than something that's cheaper.

This is often true in real life. But it's not necessarily true when it comes to HTML editors.

There's a big price gap between the bottom of the commercial HTML editor range (US$S39) and the top (US$399).

So you need to ask: is a top of the range commercial editor really 10 times better than one at the bottom? The simple answer is no, we don't think so.

There's just been a lot more marketing hype poured into the top end of the HTML editor market than into the bottom end.

And the cost of this hype is being paid for by customers who buy into the idea that a web editor - which is now a fundamental tool of the Information Age - should be a big ticket item rather than an everyday commodity.

Over the last 10 years we've tested web editors in every price range from absolutely free to top of the tree.

And while some were pretty woeful, the differences in features and functionality amongst the really good ones were hard to spot (in some cases, just about impossible to spot).

So our recommendation is that if you want to buy a HTML editor, you'll get best value by focussing on the area where the bulk of the market is (ie in the US$30-$60 price range).

Yes, HTML Editors priced higher than this may be good products. But we don't think they're necessarily good value.

Background: A HTML editor is a program that helps you create web pages. And while you can build web pages in a text editor if you want to (in much the same way you can learn to program in binary if you really, really want to), good HTML editors make the task easier by offering extra convenience and added functionality.

There are two broad types of HTML editors:

Text Editors - web page text editors require you to have some understanding of HTML and any other related web technologies you might like to use (eg: CSS, JavaScript etc). HTML text editors will usually provide syntax highlighting, templates, toolbars and keyboard shortcuts to quickly insert common HTML elements and structures. Some will also provide wizards, tooltip prompts and auto-completion to help with common tasks. In the end, though, text editors are really tools for HTML/web experts. So if you're just starting out you're probably better off using...

WYSIWYG Editors - What-you-see-is-what-you-get web editors provide an editing interface which resembles how a page will be displayed in a web browser. Because using a WYSIWYG editor doesn't require any HTML knowledge, they're easier for an average computer user to get started with. The downside of this is that some WYSIWYG editors can create bloated and excessive HTML (some of the earliest ones were so inefficient they often built pages that literally drew like snails down the screen - a problem more contemporary editors now seem to have overcome). However, advanced WYSIWYG editors will usually also allow direct HTML editing so that users with HTML knowledge can tweak or fine-tune their design if they wish.

In our experience there are usually close to 300 HTML editors on the market at any given time, and the commercial ones range in price from US$39.99 (for quite a few very good ones!) up to US$399 for Adobe's DreamWeaver (which is about the top of the HTML Editor price range). And since nearly all of the commercial web editors offer free trial downloads, you shouldn't be afraid to try them out if you think you might wind up buying one.

But if you'd like a free HTML editor that's a little bit more advanced than Windows Notepad, the good news is that there are also slightly more than 80 of them available at any time too, ranging from very basic web editors up to surprisingly advanced ones.

Here's our quick guide to the cream of the crop:

CoffeeCup Software's CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor is a cut-down version of the company's US$49 commercial web editor and it's a solid choice for any web design beginner. Although the program lacks the variety of features found in the commercial version, it can create neat and functional personal web pages quickly and easily. The program comes complete with a set of Quickstart layout templates to speed up development and its WYSIWYG editor is well-designed and easy to use, with drag-and-drop functionality. The editor also allows access to a page's code if you're eager to learn HTML and/or tweak the WYSIWYG editor's output. In addition, the program has built-in FTP for uploading, and handy wizards for tables, frames, forms, images and links. It also supports all HTML 4.0 and XHTML tags and runs on Windows (XP and Vista). Get CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor.

Kompozer is an open source web development tool built on NVU (pronounced "N-View") which was a very popular free HTML editor that's now been discontinued. The Kompozer project is working on fixing NVU's bugs and adding new features to it - so if you ever used NVU in the past you'll feel right at home! While it's still in beta, Kompozer has so far fixed all the bugs in the HTML editor and the CSS editor, and when we tested it we were very pleased with its performance. Kompozer avoids the "bloat" of some other HTML editors and its WYSIWYG interface allows most people to get productive fast without needing to know a great deal about HTML (though you can directly edit HTML too). Kompozer's main feature set is exactly the same as NVU's too. The interface is still a trifle less polished than some other editors, but that's likely to change in future. The software also includes in-built FTP and versions are available for Windows (2000 and XP), Mac OSX and Linux. Kompozer is rapidly gaining market share - deservedly, we think - and well worth investigating if you're looking for a great HTML editor with a big future. Get Kompozer.

FormBreeze's PageBreeze Free HTML Editor is a powerful HTML editor which has both WYSIWYG and HTML modes. PageBreeze's design emphasizes simplicity and ease-of-use, and most people will find that they can create great-looking Web sites almost instantly with virtually no learning curve. PageBreeze's visual editor is powered by Microsoft Internet Explorer, so you can be fairly certain that you're seeing exactly what you'll get when your Web site is uploaded to your server (though we'd advise double-checking in Firefox just to be 100% sure the rest of the world will see the same thing). PageBreeze also includes a drag-and-drop form builder which makes it easy to build powerful online forms and get them working quickly without the need for programming or scripts. You can also switch between HTML and visual modes at any time with a mouseclick. Pagebreeze works on Windows (from Win95 to Vista) and is highly regarded by many people. Get PageBreeze Free HTML Editor.

Mor Yazilim's MoreMotion Web Express is a totally WYSIWYG web editor that lets you develop web sites without needing to know HTML at all. However, MoreMotion also allows advanced users to enter HTML code and ASP, JSP or PHP tags to build professional, dynamic applications. The key features are a truly WYSIWYG design editor; powerful design tools (eg: align, size, dock, anchors, and usage restrictions); extensibility and reusability through library elements, page templates and advanced theme support; DHTML events; an integrated JavaScript editor; an integrated image-map editor; a web-safe color palette; graphic text (especially useful for creating buttons!); broken-link checking; and an integrated FTP client for uploading the finished result to your web server. MoreMotion runs on Windows (from Win98 to XP). It's also completely free. Get MoreMotion Web Express.

Website Pro's NetObjects Fusion Essentials is a cut-down version of the company's commercial (and long-established) US$200 NetObjects Fusion web editor and was only unveiled in late 2007. It offers many of the core features found in Fusion 10 including drag and drop design, full website management, built-in FTP, form builders, photo galleries and an e-commerce tool. It also has a navigation menu builder, an online form builder, and can create rollover images, scrolling ticker-tapes, and time-based rotating pictures. You can also insert custom HTML, scripts, Flash, Quicktime videos and other web components into your pages. And you can enhance the basic free version for US$14.95 and/or upgrade to the commercial version later at a reduced price if you wish (at almost 50% off). In order to use the software you need to obtain a serial code. To do this, install the software and follow the instructions in the installer. The software runs on all versions of Windows (from Win95 to Vista) and has extensive documentation. Get NetObjects Fusion Essentials.

Enersoft's SiteGenWiz is designed to allow absolute beginners to create web sites and online photo albums without needing to know anything about HTML at all. The program includes a full-featured photo-album/image-gallery generator and you can select from 10 different templates, define a menu structure for your pages and choose your colors, fonts, bullets, and background images by simply pointing and clicking. You can also create and edit your pages with the program's WYSIWYG editor; set formatting options (eg: headline, subheadline, text, bold, italic, and underline); and easily add links and images in the same way. SiteGenWiz will automatically generate site maps and image galleries (which can be web-optimised). And when you're finished, you can upload the finished result to your web server with SiteGenWiz's in-built FTP. SiteGenWiz is somewhat limited because of what it does and the way it works - but if you don't want to learn anything about HTML (and that applies to a lot of people) this may well be the editor for you. SiteGenWiz runs on all versions of Windows from Win98 to Windows XP. Get SiteGenWiz.

This page last updated: 14-Aug-2008