When comparing PSPad vs Coda 2, the Slant community recommends PSPad for most people. In the question“What are the best JavaScript IDEs or editors?” PSPad is ranked 24th while Coda 2 is ranked 30th. The most important reason people chose PSPad is:
PSPad is completely free to download and use.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free
PSPad is completely free to download and use.
Pro Simple and small
PSPad is simple, small, and lightweight. It's also quite fast.
Pro Code highlighting for many languages
PSPad supports code highlighting for several languages.
Pro Portable version
Pro Column mode
Editing in column mode.
Pro Integrated HEX editor
Pro Accented words
In PSPad, the user can add accents to words.
Pro Integrated FTP client
Pro Real IDE with all the benefits
Coda 2 comprises all you would expect from an IDE: it supports multiple languages (including all the standards); it performs autocomplete of project names, as well as language functions; it supports SVN and GIT; it has good support for plugins (or you can write your own); it has a configurable editor; and it has a built-in preview.
Cons
Con Windows only
It's only available for Windows.
Con No code folding
Does not support code folding.
Con No content assist
Con Defective UI
There are several things in Coda that simply don't work, and never have. For instance, the root directory for your local and remote files is simply not honored. For every project, you can specify the root directory for its files. But when you open the project in Coda, it doesn't go there. The file browser just shows whatever the last directory was that you were using, and will write files to the wrong place. Thus, it defeats the purpose of setting the home directory in the first place.
Also, splitting the editor doesn't work. If you've done any programming, you know how important it is to be able to view two files simultaneously. Coda fails to do this, with a bizarre insistence on making the two panes dependent on each other.
Con Support for Mac and commercial use only
Coda 2 is only available on Mac (even though that does make it a native app, meaning its much faster). Coda 2 costs $99 after the 30 day free trial is up.
Con No XDebug
If you also write PHP, there's no XDebug support available.