When comparing BBEdit vs TextWrangler, the Slant community recommends BBEdit for most people. In the question“What are the best programming text editors for a Mac with a GUI?” BBEdit is ranked 6th while TextWrangler is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose BBEdit is:
BBEdit is commercial software, the paid counterpart to their free application Textwrangler. Though BBEdit comes off as pricey, this allows for stable and consistent updates from the developers. BBEdit has been around since 1992.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Stable development, been around for decades
BBEdit is commercial software, the paid counterpart to their free application Textwrangler. Though BBEdit comes off as pricey, this allows for stable and consistent updates from the developers. BBEdit has been around since 1992.
Pro Can open very large files
Pro Just about every feature is already built in
No searching for plug-ins that may or may not work.
Pro Great customer support
The developer is very responsive to bug reports and feature suggestions.
Pro Native application
Follows platform standards.
Pro Built-in FTP/SFTP browser
BBEdit can open files directly from, and save them to, any available FTP server. It can also open and save files directly via SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol).
Pro Great JAMStack environment
You can build the static site of your dreams without needing any external assistants. Although it does not process LESS, SASS, or SCSS files, BBEdit's includes are very powerful.
Pro Fast to start up
It starts up fast because is not bloated. It has all the essentials of a text editor.
Pro Free
Free but capable alternative to BBEdit.
Pro Built-in FTP/STFP browser
Edit remote files easily.
Pro Robust
Cons
Con Featureless
Con Expensive
It's US$49.99 a single user license.
Con No Longer Maintained
Bare Bones, the developers of TextWranger, recently ended maintenance and support for the product. Per the Bare Bones website (https://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/): "We have sunsetted TextWrangler, and we encourage anyone interested in TextWrangler to download and use BBEdit instead."
Con Not Compatible with macOS High Sierra (10.13+)
Per the Bare Bones website (https://www.barebones.com/support/new-os.html): "TextWrangler is not compatible with High Sierra. We suggest that you use BBEdit as an alternative . . . ." Since Bare Bones officially sunsetted the product, it will unlikely be compatible with subsequent macOS release versions either.