When comparing Unclutter vs TextWrangler, the Slant community recommends Unclutter for most people. In the question“What are the best power user tools for macOS?” Unclutter is ranked 64th while TextWrangler is ranked 65th. The most important reason people chose Unclutter is:
Unclutter lives in the navbar at the top of your screen, and is always accessible. Any files and notes stored in Unclutter can be quickly accessed from anywhere, with just a mouse movement and scrolling down.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Convenient and fast access to files and notes
Unclutter lives in the navbar at the top of your screen, and is always accessible. Any files and notes stored in Unclutter can be quickly accessed from anywhere, with just a mouse movement and scrolling down.
Pro Keep desktop clean(er)
Instead of keeping commonly used files on the desktop, you can tuck them away to the top of the screen. This can unclutter your screen, or create more room for more icons if you like quick access to everything.
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 Can't keep visor open when typing in other applications
The unclutter visor will not stay open when working/typing in other apps. Sometimes it is desirable to use the visor to re-type things, it's not possible outside of copying and pasting, or opening and re-closing the visor.
Con $10 seems a bit much for what it does
Con No Longer Maintained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.