Worst Macintosh HTML Editors

1. TextEdit

TextEdit is a text editor (not a text HTML editor, a plain text editor), and not even a very good text editor at that. It is a free text editor that comes with your copy of MacOS, so anyone who has MacOS has this editor. It has search and replace over the current document and spell checking and no other features I look for in an HTML editor. Yes, it's free, but there are lots of free Macintosh HTML editors out there that just require a download, and all of them are better than TextEdit. (2 stars, 14%)

2. Emilé

Emilé is a text XML editor for Macintosh. Like most XML editors, you can use it to write XHTML, but it's not built for that and there are lots of other editors that work better for Web pages. It has color coding, search and replace, some CSS support, and lots of XML features. (2 stars, 17%) Note: when I last checked (December 29, 2008) the Emilé site was down.

3. Create

Create is a simple WYSIWYG Web editor that is best suited to newcomers and children. It's fairly expensive at around $150 and there are many other Macintosh WYSIWYG Web Editors that are better. It has search and replace, image editing, multimedia, some JavaScript, spell check, and code snippets. (2 stars, 17%)

4. 350 Pages Lite

350 Pages Lite is an inexpensive version of 350 Pages which is essentially a hosting provider that makes it easy to build Web pages. The editor is a WYSIWYG editor with limited functionality and you are forced to use them as a Web host, so it's a subscription service, rather than purchasing the software. 350 Pages Lite has FTP and site manager, image editing, multimedia, and pre-built templates. (2 stars, 18%)

5. 350 Pages Standard

350 Pages Standard is a hosting provider that makes it easy to build Web pages. The editor is a WYSIWYG editor with limited functionality and you are forced to use them as a Web host, so it's a subscription service, rather than purchasing the software. 350 Pages Standard has a WYSIWYG editor, FTP and site manager, image editing, multimedia, form wizards, ecommerce wizards, photo gallery maker, and pre-built templates. (2 stars, 18%)

6. Radio Userland

Radio Userland is a blog publishing website that you can use to build Web pages. It is a subscription service rather than paying for the software, you subscribe to their hosting service. It includes a WYSIWYG editor, FTP and site manager, search and replace on the current page, connectivity to the radio weblog service, and pre-built templates. (2 stars, 18%)

7. Freeway Express

Freeway Express is a lower cost version of the WYSIWYG editor Freeway Pro. It is best suited to newcomers and children, but is still fairly expensive at nearly $80. It has FTP, search and replace on the current document, image editing, CSS, and uses a valid HTML DOCTYPE, but doesn't have a validator. (2 stars, 18%)

8. EditLive! for XML

EditLive! for XML is an XML editor that you can use to edit XHTML pages. But at nearly $9000 dollars, this is not a tool that most freelance and individual Web designers or developers will want to use. It is intended for use by corporations. It allows non-technical people to manipulate XML files live on the server. It has some WYSIWYG for XML files, search and replace in the current document, special characters, CSS editor, spell check, customization, a form wizard, and lots of XML support. (2 stars, 20%)

9. eWebEditPro+XML

Ektron's eWebEditPro+XML is another XML editor that you can use to edit XHTML pages. It is expensive at nearly $600, and is intended for corporations who have non-technical employees who need to edit XML files directly on the server. It has a WYSIWYG editor, accessibility validator, limited FTP, search and replace on the current document, special characters, spell check, and lots of XML. (2 stars, 20%)

10. Emilé Lite

Emilé Lite is the free version of Emilé XML editor. It is intended to act as a gateway to encourage you to purchase Emilé. Because it's an XML editor, you can use it to edit XHTML, but it's not really intended for that purpose. It has color coding, search and replace on the current page, CSS, and lots of XML. (2 stars, 21%)