Atom
A free, hackable desktop text editor built on Electron; archived and no longer maintained.
- Stars
- 60.7k
- Forks
- 17.2k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- JavaScript
- Last update
- 3.8 years ago
- Type
- App
This repository is archived and no longer maintained.
What it is
Atom is a desktop text and code editor built on Electron, the framework used for many desktop apps made with web technologies. It is designed to be customizable while still working well with its default settings. The project was archived on December 15, 2022, so it no longer receives updates.
- Edit code or text files in a desktop window with the default configuration
- Install and use community packages to extend the editor
- Read the source to learn how an Electron desktop app is structured
- Build Atom from source by following the linked platform guides in the Flight Manual
Great for
- Developers who want a desktop code editor they can customize with packages
- People who want to read or modify an editor written in JavaScript
- Users on macOS, Windows, or 64-bit Linux who want to run an existing Atom release
Not ideal for
- Anyone who needs ongoing updates or security fixes, since the repository is archived and the README says the Linux build does not auto-update
- Users on 32-bit Linux, since the README says Atom is only available for 64-bit Linux
How to get it
- 1
Download the app
You'll need: Git
Ubuntu dependencies for the Linux archive version
sudo apt install git libasound2 libcurl4 libgbm1 libgcrypt20 libgtk-3-0 libnotify4 libnss3 libglib2.0-bin xdg-utils libx11-xcb1 libxcb-dri3-0 libxss1 libxtst6 libxkbfile1Extract the Linux archive
tar xf atom-amd64.tar.gz - 2
Run it
- Download the installer for your system from the Atom releases page
- Install it, or on Linux extract the archive into a folder of your choice
- Launch Atom from the app or run the atom command from the extracted directory
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use the Atom Flight Manual at flight-manual.atom.io for guidance on using Atom and developing packages
- Read the API reference on atom.io for building your own packages
- Use the Chocolatey command cinst Atom on Windows if you prefer a package manager, as noted in the README
Downloads
Strengths
- Deeply customizable, according to the README
- Usable with its default configuration
- Free and open source under the MIT license
Trade-offs
- Archived on December 15, 2022, so no further official updates are expected
- Linux users must upgrade manually when using the archive version, per the README
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| atom (this) | 60.7k | App | beginner | 3.8 years ago | Developers who want a desktop code editor they can customize with packages |
| vscode | 194k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Developers who want a lightweight editor that can be extended with add-ons |
| Vim | 15.2k | App | beginner | 6 days ago | Developers who already know Vim and want its keybindings in VS Code |
| marktext | 63.5k | App | beginner | 4 days ago | People who write notes or articles in Markdown and want a clean, minimal editor |
| nativefier | 35.2k | CLI | beginner | 3.1 years ago | People who want a site like WhatsApp Web or Gmail in its own window |
| nylas-mail | 24.7k | App | advanced | 4 months ago | Developers curious about how an extensible Electron and React desktop app is structured |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.