--- title: Kate is the IDE you need to replace VS Code | daily.dev description: Kate, KDE's free and open-source text editor, is presented as a lightweight alternative to VS Code. It offers a clean interface, built-in terminal, code... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/kate-is-the-ide-you-need-to-replace-vs-code-j4dunn9s2 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Kate is the IDE you need to replace VS Code | daily.dev og:description: Kate, KDE's free and open-source text editor, is presented as a lightweight alternative to VS Code. It offers a clean interface, built-in terminal, code... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/kate-is-the-ide-you-need-to-replace-vs-code-j4dunn9s2 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/j4duNN9S2.png og:image:alt: Kate is the IDE you need to replace VS Code og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Kate is the IDE you need to replace VS Code **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 3 min read · 47 upvotes · 28 comments ## Summary Kate, KDE's free and open-source text editor, is presented as a lightweight alternative to VS Code. It offers a clean interface, built-in terminal, code completion for over 200 languages, and plugins for projects and builds, but lacks advanced debugging, build automation, and external plugin support. It's best suited for beginners and intermediate coders rather than power users needing a full IDE feature set. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What features does the Kate text editor have compared to VS Code? Kate, KDE's free open-source editor, offers a built-in terminal for running code directly (e.g., executing Python 3 scripts), code completion across over 200 programming languages, and plugins for Project, Build, and Terminal management. It lacks advanced debugging, project-wide build automation, and support for external plugins, making it better suited for beginners and light workflows than power users. _Comparing lightweight editors before switching from VS Code is easier with daily.dev's developer content._ ### Is Kate a good replacement for VS Code for beginners? Yes, Kate suits beginners and intermediate coders well due to its clean, minimal interface, quick setup, and no-frills experience, though seasoned developers may find it limited without advanced debugging or an extensive plugin ecosystem. It runs lightly on almost any hardware and is free and open source, developed by the KDE community. _Developers weighing editor tradeoffs like this can find similar comparisons on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@fab978** · 11 upvotes > Kate is nice, but I use zed :) **@khauma** · 8 upvotes > Obligatory Neovim mention. **@davidrudman** · 6 upvotes > Are there developers who would use this lol? **@codingtornado** · 5 upvotes > Kate is often forgotten, but it's a perfectly functional GUI text editor. A quick search shows that there are [plugins](https://docs.kde.org/trunk_kf6/en/kate/kate/plugins.html) for LSP and many other tools a dev might find useful. > > It's free, fully open source, comes with KDE (which all things considered is a great desktop environment), does not spy you or in any way answer to a creep like microslop, and is quite lightweight. > > I would definitely recomend it. Quite often less is more, and getting free of microslop's bloat might be worth the switch **@janaka** · 2 upvotes > IDE in 2026. that isn't an AI agents something something. madness. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I love this lightweight VS Code alternative, and it even supports plugins](https://daily.dev/posts/i-love-this-lightweight-vs-code-alternative-and-it-even-supports-plugins-um7jxzdz7) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [VS Code is the best productivity app on my PC, and I barely use it for coding anymore](https://daily.dev/posts/vs-code-is-the-best-productivity-app-on-my-pc-and-i-barely-use-it-for-coding-anymore-jhmlf8lkp) · XDA Developers · 59 upvotes · 11 comments - [IntelliJ IDEA Goes LSP: Java and Kotlin Intelligence Comes to VS Code, Cursor, and Agentic Flows](https://daily.dev/posts/intellij-idea-goes-lsp-java-and-kotlin-intelligence-comes-to-vs-code-cursor-and-agentic-flows-tqkhupkzt) · JetBrains · 12 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#devtools](https://daily.dev/tags/devtools), [#vscode](https://daily.dev/tags/vscode) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/kate-is-the-ide-you-need-to-replace-vs-code-j4dunn9s2) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Kate is the IDE you need to replace VS Code","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/kate-is-the-ide-you-need-to-replace-vs-code-j4dunn9s2","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/kate-is-the-ide-you-need-to-replace-vs-code-j4dunn9s2"},"datePublished":"2026-09-22T13:34:51.680Z","dateModified":"2026-09-22T13:39:18.517Z","description":"Kate, KDE's free and open-source text editor, is presented as a lightweight alternative to VS Code. It offers a clean interface, built-in terminal, code...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f7b50d63c52429c585ff15368acb4669?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f7b50d63c52429c585ff15368acb4669?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":28,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/kate-is-the-ide-you-need-to-replace-vs-code-j4dunn9s2","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":47},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":28}],"keywords":"open-source,linux,devtools,vscode","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Kate is the IDE you need to replace VS Code"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/kate-is-the-ide-you-need-to-replace-vs-code-j4dunn9s2","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Kate is nice, but I use zed :)","datePublished":"2026-09-23T12:46:45.747Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/j4duNN9S2#c-3sHrQXTDO","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Furqan ahmad","url":"https://daily.dev/fab978","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--GY0VPIs1--/f_auto/v1788339486/avatars/avatar_01YKXdhx6XxiWycQaD2rh?_a=BAMAMicg0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":11}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Obligatory Neovim mention.","datePublished":"2026-09-23T15:47:38.207Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/j4duNN9S2#c-W7OOiNIy1","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Kahlil Wallace","url":"https://daily.dev/khauma","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--QvppE9Ip--/f_auto/v1767378558/avatars/avatar_7eQFeSQRDx0muV3n92gxT?_a=BAMAK+ZW0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":8}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Are there developers who would use this lol?","datePublished":"2026-09-23T10:31:56.104Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/j4duNN9S2#c-FjVwVWoBE","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"David Rudman","url":"https://daily.dev/davidrudman","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocLxJiMdHcsKjwhFdi4mPuLb0xE8_YfSbhq2gfa136kf8SCN-1Us=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":6}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Kate is often forgotten, but it’s a perfectly functional GUI text editor. A quick search shows that there are plugins for LSP and many other tools a dev might find useful.\nIt’s free, fully open source, comes with KDE (which all things considered is a great desktop environment), does not spy you or in any way answer to a creep like microslop, and is quite lightweight.\nI would definitely recomend it. Quite often less is more, and getting free of microslop’s bloat might be worth the switch","datePublished":"2026-09-23T11:23:30.835Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/j4duNN9S2#c-anuCDyINY","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Urist McCoder","url":"https://daily.dev/codingtornado","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--O0TOmw4y--/f_auto/v1715772965/public/noProfile"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":5}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"IDE in 2026. that isn’t an AI agents something something. madness.","datePublished":"2026-09-23T12:24:33.628Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/j4duNN9S2#c-EaEdk6v8A","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Janaka Abeywardhana","url":"https://daily.dev/janaka","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/51779?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/kate-is-the-ide-you-need-to-replace-vs-code-j4dunn9s2#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What features does the Kate text editor have compared to VS Code?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Kate, KDE's free open-source editor, offers a built-in terminal for running code directly (e.g., executing Python 3 scripts), code completion across over 200 programming languages, and plugins for Project, Build, and Terminal management. It lacks advanced debugging, project-wide build automation, and support for external plugins, making it better suited for beginners and light workflows than power users. Comparing lightweight editors before switching from VS Code is easier with daily.dev's developer content."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Is Kate a good replacement for VS Code for beginners?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, Kate suits beginners and intermediate coders well due to its clean, minimal interface, quick setup, and no-frills experience, though seasoned developers may find it limited without advanced debugging or an extensive plugin ecosystem. It runs lightly on almost any hardware and is free and open source, developed by the KDE community. Developers weighing editor tradeoffs like this can find similar comparisons on daily.dev."}}]} ```