BBEdit is Bare Bones Software's macOS text and code editor. See 2026 pricing (Free Mode, subscription, one-time license), features, pros and cons.
BBEdit is a macOS-native text and code editor made by Bare Bones Software, Inc., founded by developer Rich Siegel. BBEdit was first released as freeware in 1992, and the company itself was formally established in 1993 and incorporated in Massachusetts in 1994, making BBEdit one of the longest continuously developed applications on the Mac platform.
The product is known within the Mac developer and publishing community for its depth of text-manipulation tools, particularly its grep-based search and replace, and for its long-standing trademarked tagline, 'It doesn't suck.'
Bare Bones Software is headquartered in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and remains a small, privately held company focused primarily on BBEdit alongside a small number of other Mac utilities.
BBEdit's core strength is text manipulation at scale: grep-based pattern matching and replace across a single file or an entire multi-file project, combined with syntax coloring for a wide range of programming and markup languages and code folding for navigating large files.
It includes practical workflow tools such as FTP/SFTP file access for editing remote files directly, integrated Git and Subversion support for version control, and AppleScript and Unix shell scripting hooks for automating repetitive editing tasks.
For web and markup work, BBEdit provides dedicated HTML authoring tools, and more broadly it supports text and code completion and flexible project definitions for organizing related files.
BBEdit offers a full-featured 30-day trial, after which it automatically drops into a 'Free Mode' that remains usable indefinitely at no cost, with a reduced but still practical feature set and no nag screens, according to Bare Bones' own description.
For full functionality, BBEdit is available as a subscription (reported pricing of $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year) through the Mac App Store, or as a traditional one-time commercial license purchased directly from Bare Bones Software's online store.
Owners of older commercial licenses (BBEdit 15.5.5 and earlier, per current documentation) can access upgrade pricing rather than paying full price again, reflecting Bare Bones' long-standing practice of rewarding existing customers.
BBEdit offers a full 30-day trial, after which it can be used indefinitely in a reduced-feature 'Free Mode' at no cost; full functionality requires a paid subscription or license.
Reported pricing is $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year via Mac App Store subscription, with a traditional one-time commercial license also available directly from Bare Bones Software.
BBEdit is made by Bare Bones Software, Inc., founded by developer Rich Siegel and headquartered in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
BBEdit was first released as freeware in 1992; Bare Bones Software was formally founded in 1993 and incorporated in 1994.
Yes, BBEdit includes integrated support for Git and Subversion version control.
No, BBEdit is a macOS-native application only, with no official Windows or Linux version.
Free Mode activates automatically after the 30-day trial ends and provides a reduced but still practical set of BBEdit's core features at no cost, with no nag screens according to Bare Bones.
Yes, Bare Bones Software offers upgrade pricing for owners of older commercial licenses (BBEdit 15.5.5 or earlier, per current documentation) rather than requiring a full-price purchase.