Not Emacs vs Lightweight Text Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Not Emacs
A programmer's text editor that mimics common Emacs keybindings and supports iCloud document syncing across devices. It offers syntax highlighting for several languages and is optimized for external keyboards, with an extended virtual keyboard as a backup.
- Emacs keybinding support
- iCloud document editing
- Syntax highlighting (Lisp, Scheme, JS, CSS, XML)
- External Bluetooth keyboard optimization
- Extended virtual keyboard
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Not Emacs is a text editor for programmers that supports many of the most common emacs keybindings. It allows editing iCloud documents that are automatically available from other devices. The app has been designed to be used with an external Bluetooth keyboard, but if you forgot it at home, it is still possible to get by with the extended virtual keyboard. This app is based on the ymacs editor (http://www.ymacs.org) and the Gambit Scheme programming system (http://gambitscheme.org). It has syntax highlighting for the following languages: Lisp, Scheme, JavaScript, CSS and XML.
Lightweight Text Editor
This app allows users to work with plain text files without formatting concerns. It can open any text file, create folders for organization, and adjust encoding and line endings.
- Open any plain text file
- Create folders for organization
- Change text encoding
- Adjust line endings (CR/LF/CRLF)
- No formatting concerns
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Lightweight Text Editor is a great tool for users who work with plain text files. If you want to work with raw text without having to worry about formatting, then this app is for you. It can open any plain text file, regardless of the extension. You can create folders to organize your documents. You can also change the encoding and the line endings (CR/LF/CRLF).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Not Emacs at Free against Lightweight Text Editor's $2.99. Not Emacs also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 26 months) and iOS requirement (6.1 vs 15.0). Lightweight Text Editor's advantage is review sentiment (84% vs 50%) and rating (4.3 vs 4.0). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Not Emacs is free to download; Lightweight Text Editor costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Lightweight Text Editor holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 58 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Not Emacs's written reviews are positive against 84% of Lightweight Text Editor's.
Not Emacs ships an update every 2 weeks, Lightweight Text Editor every 26 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Not Emacs | Lightweight Text Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (21 ratings) | 4.3 (58 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 83.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 21 | 58 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 26 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 6.1 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Marc Feeley | Erik Wegener |
Customer experience
Not Emacs
Lightweight Text Editor
In-app purchases
Not Emacs
No in-app purchases
Lightweight Text Editor
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Not Emacs free?
Is Lightweight Text Editor free?
Which has better reviews, Not Emacs or Lightweight Text Editor?
Do Not Emacs or Lightweight Text Editor have ads?
Which is updated more often, Not Emacs or Lightweight Text Editor?
Other comparisons
