BBEdit is Bare Bones Software’s professional text and code editor for macOS—grep search, multi-file replace, syntax coloring, HTML tools, FTP/SFTP, Git integration, and project workflows in one native app that has shipped since 1992.
How Mac developers use it
BBEdit fits editing prose, web markup, scripts, and large codebases. Open local folders as projects or disk browsers, search across thousands of files with grep patterns, fold functions, compare revisions, and deploy static sites via built-in markup tools. Shell worksheets, AppleScript, and Unix scripting extend automation; Git and Subversion hooks remain familiar to long-time users (Subversion support is retired in 16). After the 30-day evaluation, BBEdit still runs in Free Mode for basic editing; licensed features unlock via a one-time purchase or Mac App Store subscription.
Licensing and system fit
BBEdit 16 requires macOS 14.0 or later on Intel or Apple Silicon Macs. A new license costs $59.99 direct; upgrades from BBEdit 15 are $29.99 (free if you bought 15 on or after 1 November 2025 per Bare Bones upgrade policy). Earlier-version upgrades are $39.99. The Mac App Store edition uses a $5/month or $50/year subscription. Version 16 resets the 30-day full-feature trial for existing Free Mode users.
Version 16.0 highlights
The 16.0 release adds OCR-powered text search inside images, expanded Shortcuts actions for BBEdit text transforms, optional vi keyboard emulation, separate test and production deployment targets in web projects, W3C HTML5 syntax checking, LSP semantic token coloring, notebook sidebar search, streaming AI worksheets, and major SFTP performance gains—plus grapheme-cluster emoji handling fixes and 100+ smaller additions documented in the official notes.
Installation and activation instructions are included (inside).
Compatibility
macOS 14 and later
Architecture
ARM, x86 (64-bit)