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Posted on Jun 8, 2021 • Updated on Nov 7, 2023

Best Online Code Editors For Web Developers

#webdev #javascript #beginners #programming

Are you looking for Best Online Code editors? Then here is the collection of Best Online Code Editors For Web Developers.

What is an Online code editor?

An online code editor is a tool that resides on a remote server and is accessible via browsers. Some online code editors have basic features more similar to text editors while others are like complete IDEs. In this article, we will review both types.

Some online code editors focus on one language or even a framework. For example, there are products that call themselves – JavaScript online code editors or react online editor.

As a developer, your main tool is obviously the one that allows you to turn your ideas into code: A text editor. As time goes by, more online text editors are created that can help you code from any computer with Internet access. In this article, let’s take a look at 10+ useful online code editors.

Following are the major advantages of using online code editors

Zero setups. You won’t have to download, install and configure an IDE;
Sharing and Collaboration. Start coding and then forward the URL to your colleague to continue your work or help you debug it;
Zero or little cost. The vast majority of online code editors have free versions that will be enough for you for most of the daily tasks;
Subscription-based pricing. It might be very useful to pay monthly for online editors instead of yearly licenses.

How to choose an online code editor?

Most famous online code editors share many great features. These include autocompletion, git integration, plugin support, CI/CD pipelines, and others. But it’s the little things that can make a specific editor a better fit for you than others.

Let’s run through some aspects you need to keep in mind choosing an online IDE/code editor:

How fast an application works
Languages support
For free editors: how much ads it shows
Ease of setup
Integrations with repository managers
NPM support
A number of text and layout settings
Terminal support

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Now, let's begin the collection..!!

StackBlitz

StackBlitz claims to allow you to code the future in your browser. And after trying it, I’m confident you’ll agree that this web application is extremely useful for coders.

StackBlitz features 5 workspaces: React, AngularJS, JavaScript, Ignite UI and KendoReact. Once launched, you will notice a similarity between StackBlitz and the VSCode editor, which is a good thing if you’re used to Microsoft’s editor.

Another extremely cool StackBlitz feature is that all applications get deployed automatically on their servers, and hosted for free.

Features:

Native support for Firebase (which is something I don’t personally use, but hey, it’s a boon for those not wanting to dive into the murky depths of the backend)
Intellisense, Project Search
Hot reloading as you type
Import npm packages
Edit offline when not connected!

Codepen

Probably the most popular online code editor. CodePen is fast, easy to use, and allows a web developer to write and share HTML/CSS/JS code online. CodePen is free and creating an account isn’t mandatory, so you can start writing code and create a new web application straight from your web browser quickly and efficiently.

CodePen editor allows you to use Vim Key Bindings which are command-line keyboard shortcuts. Both of these tools together can help to create a faster workflow.

Features:

File system
Autocomplete
Private sandboxes
Website deployment
Collaboration mode

CodeSandbox

CodeSandbox can be thought of as a much more powerful and complete take on JSFiddle. True to its name, CodeSandbox provides a complete code editor experience and a sandboxed environment for front-end development.

This complete development environment is loaded with many features and code templates that will definitely make your coding faster and easier.

Features:

Npm support: Yes, you can add pretty much any package that is available on npm.
Files, folders, modules: You can split your code into multiple files, add/remove images from the public folder, and build/import modules as you see fit. The workflow mirrors that of a modern module bundler, so you don’t need to set up (almost) anything.
Support for TypeScript, hot reloading, GitHub export, static file hosting, etc.
It is built on Monaco editor, the same beast that powers the favorite VSCode editor. This brings powerful features like “Go To,” “Find References,” and necessary refactoring to your fingertips!
Snippet support for Emmet
Integrated DevTools, linting, error overlays, testing frameworks (Jest), keybindings, and more.
Powerful CLI to directly import local projects into CodeSandbox.

JSFiddle

While JSFiddle can’t replace a full-fledged text editor, it does a damn good job of handling one-off frontend scripts. It’s so popular that Q&A sites like StackOverflow already support the embedding of JSFiddle links directly in their platform.

Advantages:

Free to use (no hidden fee or freemium features). JSFiddle supports itself through ads (at least as of writing), and you can see an Adobe ad in the lower left of the screenshot above.
Code collaboration features — ideal for building concepts together, interviews, etc.
Multiple layouts, font sizes, light/dark themes, etc.
Code formatting (tidying), upcoming support for linters (CSS and JS), and more

JSbin

JSBin is an online text editor primarily focused on Javascript, with a fast and simple interface. Each of your code snippets can be tested through your web browser, and then exported into a text file.

Another good thing to note is that JSBin can import popular HTML/CSS/JS frameworks such as jQuery and Bootstrap, allowing you to easily create modern pages and web applications.

Features:

Live reload both in editor and in full preview
Codecasting - blog post
Console
Full unmodified rendered view
Gist support: import and export
Processors. HTML. CSS. Sass & SCSS (with Compass & Bourbon)
Debug/source mode

Gitpod

Gitpod is a refreshing take on cloud code editors (or IDEs, if you will) that aims to keep your code always tested and up to date. In other words, it’s deeply integrated with GitHub, and every time you add code, it runs your testing and CI/CD pipelines to make sure code is always at 100% health.

Worth checking out if you love the VSCode experience and want something that supports all major back-end/front-end languages and frameworks

Dev environments as code - Gitpod applies lessons learned from infrastructure-as-code. Spinning up dev environments is easily repeatable and reproducible empowering you to automate, version-control and share dev environments across your team.

Features:

Prebuilt dev environments
Integrated Docker build
GitLab, GitHub, and Bitbucket integration
Integrated code reviews
Collaboration

Codespace

Codespaces is a configurable cloud development environment available in your browser on GitHub or through Visual Studio Code. A codespace includes everything developers need to develop for a specific repository, including the Visual Studio Code editing experience and common languages, tools, and utilities

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Theia

If you’re a die-hard SOLID fan and a nit-picking software architect, the Theia IDE will tickle your separation-of-concerns bone. It’s a TypeScript-coded (five points for style straightaway!) code IDE that has a perfectly separate front-end and backend. The front-end runs in a browser, while the backend can be anywhere — local machine or the cloud!

But that’s not all — the front-end can be run as an Electron app with a fully functional, isolated browser environment, giving you the look-and-feel of a native desktop app should you crave it.

Features:

Establish a platform to build IDE-like products.
Provide the end-user with a full-fledged multi-language IDE (not just a smart editor)
Support equally the paradigm of Cloud IDE and Desktop IDE.
Provide support for multiple languages via the language and debug server protocols.

Coder

Coder is a VSCode environment bundled in a server that can be run locally or in the cloud. The recommended configuration is to run the IDE as a server in the cloud and access it locally via the browser. There are prebuilt Docker images for zero-hassle setups, and an enterprise plan should you need support or have different needs.

AWS Cloud9

Cloud9 was arguably the first browser-based IDE that offered serious features and took the idea of browser-as-an-editor mainstream. No wonder that Amazon later acquired it, and today, Cloud9 is part of the AWS offerings.

There are no additional charges for using Cloud9. You can connect Cloud9 to an existing/new AWS compute instance, and you pay only for that instance. It’s also possible to connect to a third-party server over SSH — for exactly no fee

Features:

First-class support for AWS Server less applications (debugging, etc.)
Direct terminal access to AWS from within the editor
Over 40 programming languages supported (Go, C++, Ruby, Node, Python, PHP, Java . . . take your pick)

Replit

Replit is a free, collaborative, in-browser IDE to code in 50+ languages. It is the best tool for quickly starting, sharing, and developing projects in any programming language, right from your browser. On Replit, there is no "deployment" stage of your projects-- we instantly host all of your repls.

Features:

In browser IDE
GitHub integration
API and Plugins
Host and Deploy

Glitch

Glitch is a new coding website from Fog Creek Software (which built Trello and FogBugz and is led by tech entrepreneur Anil Dash) with a simple goal: to provide “a friendly community where you'll build the app of your dreams.”

There's no need to reconfigure your machine and no deployment setup — as soon as you create a new project, your Glitch app is live. Share or embed it anywhere. You can even add a custom domain to make it your own. Glitch handles all the setup so you can focus on building your new app.

Conclusion:

So, this was the collection of the best online code editors for web developers in 2021. You can pick any of them as per your need and requirements.

This is of course not a complete list, as there are many other online code editors available on internet that you can use. We have collected these online editor tools by their popularity.

Tell us which one is you are currently using and which we can add in the list in the comment section below. Also, do not forget to bookmark and share this collection.

We hope you find this collection helpful.