Free Mode forever v16.0.3
BBEdit for Mac app icon

Serious Text Editing, Free with BBEdit for Mac

BBEdit handles code, HTML, prose and giant log files. Search whole folders with grep, preview pages live and keep using it free after the 30-day trial. No nag screens.

Download BBEdit Free 4.8 Rated, Shipping Since 1992

macOS 14+  /  Apple silicon and Intel  /  29 MB disk image

$0Free Mode, no time limit
30 daysFull trial, every feature
1992First release by Bare Bones
14.0+Minimum macOS version

What BBEdit for Mac does best

Barebones built this editor for writers, web authors and developers who live in plain text. Former TextWrangler users get everything they knew plus grep live search, Zip editing and Markdown preview in Free Mode.

Grep search across folders

Find and replace in hundreds of files at once, even ones you never opened. PCRE patterns, capture groups and a built-in Grep Cheat Sheet come standard.

Your keys, your rules

Remap almost any menu command, switch on Emacs bindings or try the new vi emulation. Each language gets its own tab width, wrap and display settings.

Search text in imagesv16

BBEdit 16 reads words inside screenshots and photos. Run a grep pattern over a folder of images and jump straight to the one you lost.

Color schemes and clippings

Pick a theme for each project or notebook so client work never blurs together. Dark Mode swaps colors on its own and saved clippings drop in reusable snippets.

Live HTML and Markdown preview

Write on the left and watch the rendered page update beside it. Open and save over FTP or SFTP, compare two files with Find Differences and scan long files with the Minimap.

Safe by design

Auto-save, optional backups and Document Rescue bring back untitled text you closed by mistake. Quit mid-sentence and BBEdit reopens right where you stopped. The app runs fully sandboxed.

Install BBEdit on your Mac

Grab the disk image straight from Barebones or let Homebrew do it in one line. Both routes give you the same signed app.

Terminal installation

Advanced users can install BBEdit with a single Homebrew command.

$brew install --cask bbedit

How to open Terminal on Mac

  1. Press ⌘ + Space to bring up Spotlight.
  2. Type Terminal into the search field.
  3. Hit Return and a fresh shell window opens.

Installation via Terminal command

  1. Click Copy above to grab the command.
  2. Paste it with ⌘ + V and press Return.
  3. BBEdit lands in Applications, ready for launch from Launchpad.

No Homebrew? Install it from brew.sh, or grab the disk image.

Download DMG

How BBEdit fits your day

Three moves cover most of what people do in a BBEdit mac session.

01

Open a whole folder

Drag a project onto the Dock icon or type bbedit . in Terminal. Every file shows up in one window with a sidebar list.

02

Find and fix in bulk

Open Multi-File Search, write a grep pattern and preview each match. Replace them all at once or step through one by one.

03

Preview, then ship

Check HTML or Markdown in the live preview pane. Save locally or push the file to your server over SFTP without leaving the editor.

Free Mode vs a paid license

Your first 30 days include every feature. After that BBEdit keeps running for free and only the pro tools lock. Here is what stays and what needs a license.

$0Free Mode, forever
$59.99One-time license
FeatureFree ModeLicensed
Multi-file grep search and replace✓✓
Syntax coloring and code folding✓✓
Live HTML and Markdown preview✓✓
FTP and SFTP open and save✓✓
Find Differences file compare✓✓
Projects, Notes and Scratchpad–✓
Git and Subversion integration–✓
Text Factories and LSP completion–✓
AI chat worksheets–✓
Pro tip: Swap "Last, First" names in a list with one grep pass. Find ^(\w+), (\w+)$  Replace \2 \1

What Mac users say about BBEdit

Rated 4.8 out of 5 by 347 people who write code, docs and markup on a Mac.

I moved to BBEdit from TextWrangler years ago and never left. Grep search across a whole project folder still beats every other Mac editor I have tried.
Priya S.
Free Mode is the real deal. My trial ended, the app kept working and not one nag screen showed up. Barebones earned my license out of pure respect.
Tom H.
I open huge server logs in BBEdit for Mac every day. Scrolling stays smooth and Process Lines Containing pulls every error out in seconds.
Lena K.
The interface feels old school next to newer editors, so I knocked off a star. Give it a week though. Keyboard control and grep cheat sheets made me much faster.
Marco D.
Live Markdown preview beside my draft sold me. I write documentation all day and the preview refreshes as I type.
Hannah W.
Editing config files over SFTP straight from BBEdit saves me a terminal session every time. Open, fix, save and the server has it.
Omar R.
Searching text inside images sounded like a gimmick until I needed it. Found an old screenshot by a single word in under ten seconds.
Julia N.
Text Factories handle my weekly CSV cleanup. I recorded the steps once and now one click reformats forty files.
Daniel P.
Bare Bones has shipped this editor since 1992 and it still feels sharp on my M3 MacBook Air. Some software just gets better with age.
Grace L.

BBEdit questions, answered

Straight answers about pricing, Free Mode, TextWrangler and installs.

Is BBEdit really free?

Yes, with one detail. You get every feature for 30 days. After that BBEdit drops into Free Mode and keeps working forever with no nag screens. A $59.99 license brings back the pro tools whenever you want them.

What do I lose when the trial ends?

Projects, Git integration, Text Factories, LSP code completion, Notes, Scratchpad and AI worksheets go behind the license. Grep search, syntax coloring, live preview, SFTP and file compare all stay free.

What happened to TextWrangler?

Barebones retired TextWrangler and folded it into BBEdit. Free Mode covers everything text wrangler did and adds Apple silicon support, Dark Mode and live Markdown preview on top.

Which Macs run BBEdit 16?

Any Mac on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, including macOS 26 Tahoe. It ships as a universal app, so it runs natively on M-series chips and Intel processors alike.

How do I install BBEdit with Homebrew?

Open Terminal and run brew install --cask bbedit. Homebrew pulls the official disk image and drops the app in your Applications folder.

Should I buy from the Mac App Store or direct?

Both builds come from Bare Bones. The Mac App Store version runs on a subscription, while a direct purchase gets you a one-time license for the major version. Pick the billing style you like.

Does BBEdit mac work from the command line?

It does. The app includes bbedit, bbdiff and bbfind tools, so you can open files, compare them or run searches straight from your shell scripts.

Is bbedit.dev the official site?

No. This page is an independent guide. Every download link points to Bare Bones Software servers, and the official home lives at barebones.com.

Get BBEdit for Mac today

Try every feature for 30 days. Then keep editing for free, on your terms.

Download BBEdit Free Release Notes

Version 16.0.3  /  29 MB  /  macOS 14+  /  Rated 4.8