LaTeX Editor (LEd)– Available for Windows and as a portable program; LyX– Available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X; WinEdt– Available for Windows; TeXstudio– Available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X and as a portable program on Windows and Mac OS X; Texmaker – Available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X; Novel Writing Editor. Best free LaTex editor for Mac and Windows. Now you do know about the use of LaTex editors and about the main purpose of these, you can have a look at the best free LaTex editor for Mac and Windows. So in case you need one, here is your list: 1.

Best LaTeX Editors in 2020 - Freely Write Scientific, Non-Scientific, or Technical Journals

Before delving into the LaTex editors you should use, let's first consider, what a LaTeX is ?

Contents

1. Best LaTeX editors in 2020

What is a Good LaTeX Editor

• LaTex is for anyone into writing of scientific, non-scientific, or technical journals.
• It is a set of packages built on top Tex .
• Tex is an advanced typesetting system.
• LaTeX is a document preparation system.
• Developed by Leslie Lamport in 1984 .
• LaTex uses plain text as opposed to the formatted text. Like those in word processing tools like MS Word, Apple Pages, LibreOffice Writer and so on.
• In academia , it is for the writing and publication of scientific documents.
• Fields such as mathematics, computer science, engineering, physics, economics, and psychology, use LaTex.

Now that you know what LaTex is, let's look at what a LaTex editor is .

• A LaTex editor is software that enables you to write, edit and publish papers in LaTex.
• With a LaTex editor, writing a paper on LaTex becomes easier.
• Research writing poses so many challenges that the general word processing tools cannot handle in a manner it should. To this end, LaTex editors have become the favorite writing tools for the majority of the research community.
• This is because the LaTex editors handle mathematical equations exceptionally well.
• The writing of mathematical equations is one of the primary reasons why the LaTex software came to being, in the first place.
• For the ease of writing mathematical equations, LaTex editor allows users to define the formatting of text . And even before starting work through mark-up instructions.

Other benefits of LaTex editors include;

• LaTeX allows users to define styles for individual elements.
• LaTex allows for flexibility.
• LaTex's quality of output is far superior to the quality of output by MS Word or any other word processing tool.
• LaTeX scripts are platform-independent.
• LaTeX allows you to split up large documents into smaller pieces . And later combine them.
• LaTex is free to use. It is open-sourced, along with its packages.
• LaTex is publisher friendly.
• LaTex generates the bibliography of manuscripts automatically.

Summary of Best LaTex editors and Their Features

Let's move right away into looking at the suitable LaTex editors you should use in this year 2020.

Best LaTeX editors in 2020

Here is the list of 10 Best LaTeX editors in 2020

1. TeXmaker

Textmaker is one of the top LaTex editors out there.

Features:

• It has an integration of many tools in it which makes it stand out from among other LaTex editors.
• It is user-friendly and easy to use by a newbie in LaTex.
• It is available for all major platforms, which include Linux, Windows, and macOS.
• With TextMaker, you can organize your documents into different sections.

Other Features include:

• Syntax highlighting
• Auto-code completion
• Spell checking
• Code folding
• Error tracking during the compilation stage
• Built-in pdf reader

2. TeXnicCenter

TeXnicCenter is another great LaTex editor.

Features:

• Develop for Windows users .
• It is a free LaTex editor and is also open source.
• TeXnicCenter uses Microsoft's MiKTeX typesetting distribution.
• It makes it possible for documents created with LaTex to process on Microsoft Word .

You can check out: Top 10 Free E-Books Readers for Windows

Other Features include:

• Powerful GUI editor which supports auto-completion
• Auto-code completion
• Multiple UTF-8 character encoding
• Smart navigator which helps you easily find your LaTex documents
• Bracket matching
• Spell checking
• Syntax highlighting

• Library of LaTeX snippets which makes it easy to create complex formula and documentation

Best Latex Text Editor Mac

3.LyX

Lyx is among the most popular LaTex editors in use.

Features:

• It supports many unique and modern features.
• It is an open-source editor that works basically on the concept of What You See Is What You Mean ( WYSIWYM).
• It has a simple GUI based interface and works on all major platforms, which include Linux, macOS, and Windows.
• LyX is for the editing of mathematical documents .
• Besides its use in editing mathematical documents, LyX can also work in structuring a novel or script using its advanced markup tools.

Other Features include:

• BibTeX support for creating a bibliography
• Multiple documents format
• Multi-language support
• Best math formula editor
• Auto-completion
• Supports many graphic formats like graphs and tables
• Spell checking
• PDF viewer

You can also check: Best E-Readers For Bibliophiles

4. TeXstudio

Texstudio is before called TexMakerX

Features:

• Texstudio is an extension of TeXMaker.
• It is an open-source and multi-platform LaTex editor used mostly by researchers in the academic community.
• TexStudio helps writing your research paper easily and comfortably.
• It is free to use and supports all major platforms.

Other Features include:

• Document word count
• Frequency count analysis
• Syntax highlighting
• Spell checking
• Reference checking
• Multi-cursors for comfortable editing
• Auto-completion
• Built-in pdf reader
• Image assistance
• Table formatting

5. TeXworks

TeXworks differs from all other LaTex editors.

Features:

• TeXworks is a cross-platform, open-source LaTex editor.
• It has two side by side panels that display both an editor window and a preview window .
• It is an upgrade to another open-source LaTex editor TeXshop.
• TeXworks operates on the GUI-based approach of LaTex editing.
• It supports all major platforms
• It is one of the high-rated LaTex editors by academia.

Other Features include:

• Auto-synchronization
• Built-in pdf reader
• Auto-completion
• Auto-correction
• Unicode support
• Code folding
• Insertion of graphics/tables
• Interaction with external editors
• Citation management
• Syntax highlighting
• Fast rendering capacity

6. Papeeria

Papeeria is an online LaTex software with wonderful features and advance tools.

Features:

• It is one of the best web-based LaTex editors.
• It allows you to compile everything in the background with its auto-compilation feature.
• Papeeria offers you a huge library of templates .
• Templates include:

I. Journal articles

II. Technical paper layouts

III. Curriculum vitae

IV. Scientific magazines and lots more.

• Papeeria supports all major web browsers which include Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
• It is also supported on Android and iOS devices .
• Papeeria is available for free and you can also upgrade for a fee of $5/month.
• The free access only allows you to one active LaTex project.
• While the paid-for allows ten active LaTex projects.

Other features are:

• Real-time collaboration
• Document history
• Google Drive, GitHub, and Dropbox synchronization supported
• Plots builder which allows you to build complex plots
• Auto-completion
• Instant math previewer
• Spell checker
• Discussions in the margin
• Loaded template gallery of journals, curriculum vitae, presentations and more

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7. Overleaf

Overleaf is a great online editing tool in the LaTex community.

Features:

• It owns the trust of over 2,000,000 users from across the globe.
• It offers a variety of templates. This makes it easy to create professionally formatted documents without beginning from scratch .
• You can access Overleaf for free and can also upgrade for a fee of $15/month or $30/month.
• The $15/month plan allows for 10 collaborations
• The $30/month plan gives you unlimited collaborations.

Other Features include:

• Real-time collaboration
• Rich text view
• Easy error tracking
• Real-time previewing
• Compatibility with major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.
• Effortless sharing
• Multi-language spell check

8. Authorea

Authorea is a great web-based, online LaTeX editor.

Features:

• It allows users to write in both LaTex and Markdown language.
• It allows researchers to publish their papers to multiple open access journals. Asides formatting the paper automatically to the selected journal style.
• It is also known as the Google Docs for Scientists .
• Authorea allows you and your team to modify changes on a document simultaneously.
• You can attach the documents with comments and the comments posted can be seen by only you, publicly to everyone or a group of users with access to the comment
• It supports all major browsers and it allow the documents for exporting to PDF, Word, or LaTex formats .
• You can access Authorea for free or upgrade to an unlimited LaTex document for a fee of $10/month.
• The free version allows you to create up to 3 LaTeX documents.
• While 10 LaTex documents for students or educators.

Other features include:

• Inserting of tables, mathematical formulae, images, etc.
• Auto-creation of bibliography
• In-built citation search which allows you to search and add citations
• Commenting feature
• Creation of index pages
• Sharing of documents over social media
• Word count

9. Kile LaTex Editor

Kile is an open-source LaTex editor developed by KDE.

Features:

• It is a user-friendly LaTex editor with unique graphical interphase .
• Kile allows you to customize anything and is very easy to use.
• It also offers the basic key features of a LaTex editor such as:

I. Image insertion

II. Creation of tables

III. Quick preview.

• It also allows you to view, compile, and convert documents in one click.
• Kile works on all major platforms.

Other features are:

• Huge variety of templates and wizards
• Interactive preview mechanism
• Easy insertion of standard tags
• Easy insertion of citations and references
• Support for inverse and forward search
• Chapter support
• Advanced editing commands
• Auto-completion

10. Vim-LaTeX

Vim-Latex is an extension used for documentation.

Features:

• Vim is a very powerful open-source editor.
• It is one of the best editors and its combination with LaTex gives a very powerful LaTex editor.
• This editor combines the editing features of Vim with LaTex for the typesetter to view, edit and compile LaTex documents.
• The process of installation of Vim-LaTex is on their SourceForge page.
• Vim-LaTeX is design for programmers and is highly configurable.
• It supports major platforms like Linux/Unix, macOS, and Windows.

Other features are:

• Visual editing
• Compiling
• Mode mapping
• Code folding
• Error tracking
• Custom templates and macros

The task you wish to do will determine the LaTex editor you pick. Look through each of them and compare their features. And you can decide that which you think will best serve your publishing need.

Here are some other offline LaTex editors for you to check:

You can also consider the following online LaTex editors

LaTex or Lamport Tex focuses on the WYSIWYM (‘What you see is what you mean’) approach versus the WYSIWYG (‘What you see is what you get’) approach, used in many document editing tools including the MS Word.

LaTex editors resemble the HTML in its formatting style. It was developed primarily for insertion of mathematical equations for scientific research papers in digitized documents.

The best LaTex editors described below can ease your task of handling digital documents daily.

LaTex editors help in formatting the text, enabling one to insert artwork, scientific and technological photographs, cross references, tables and equations into a single text document.

Edit Your Documents Using the Best LaTex Editors:

Now that you know how the LaTex text editors can help you, let us look at the list of the widely used LaTex editors in the market.

1. TeXmaker

TeXmaker is the bestLaTex text editor. TeXmaker is an open source platform. It incorporates multiple tools required for creating LaTex documents. TeXmaker operates on many cross platforms simultaneously.

TeXmaker includes Unicode support, and can auto check spellings. Separate blocks can be selected for tabular and pictographic representations. With TeXmaker, many tags and mathematical symbols can be incorporated using a single click.

It can also locate grammar errors automatically through the log files and can send timely warning signals to ensure appropriate corrections.

Asymptote, a descriptive vector language, is supported by TeXmaker.

TeXmaker supports three modes of viewing a document- rotation mode, presentation and continuous mode.

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2. LyX

Lyx is also an open-source editor that typically follows the La Tex typesetting technique. Lyx is a popular LaTeX text editor and is used by almost every scientific and technical writing team nowadays. It is available across many operating systems.

Lyx can support right to left languages like Urdu, Persian, Arabic and many more. It can also support Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages and is thus counted as one of the best LaTex editors. There is a table editor and math editor available with LyX. Different text formats are also supported by the Lyx editor.

You can get headings, paragraphs, titles and tables automatically with this editor. After compilation, you can export documents to DocBook SGML, HTML, and plain text formats.

3. TeXworks

TeXworks is a simple LaTex front end program that works on all the major operating systems. It is created out of another free LaTex text editor called TeXshop.

Mac Best Latex Editor Templates

You can generate a PDF output directly using TeXworks as it is primarily PDF centred. It can provide you with auto correct and auto complete features. TeXworks is a Unicode supportive editor.

Importance of TeXworks lies in its minimalistic approach. It offers fewer tools than other LaTex editors. However, it facilitates insertion of graphics, tables, pictures and can interact with various other external editors comfortably.

Thereby, even with lesser features you can still create accurate digital representations of your work and is thus one of the best LaTex editors in the business.

4. TeXstudio

TeXstudio is a free LaTex text editor. It guarantees a spell checker, provides code folding facilities, and highlights syntax error.

It completes commands automatically and helps with images, formulas and equation inputs comfortably.

This tool has an integrated PDF viewer and thus, helps you view formulas and code segments. It supports export of documents into HTML format alone.

TeXstudio can also handle simple jobs like the lexical analysis of the source documents with precision. It supports several templates and also backs the drag and drop feature very well.

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5. Gummi

Gummi is a LaTex editing tool that can help you compile all your data together in one file.

You can configure snippets & elaborate calculations quickly with Gummy. It is claimed to be one of the best LaTex editors. Inserting tables and images graphically is super easy with this editor. Gummy provides several templates for new documents.

You can do project and bibliographic management with the help of Gummy. You can insert calculations with charts comfortably using this tool.

With Gummi, you can preview the PDF live and there is no need to compile the PDF manually.

Gummy restricts you however, to graphically insert mathematical symbols or document summary structure.

6. Authorea

Authorea is one of the most popular LaTex editing tools for publishing articles, figures, data files and much more. It has a beautiful interface that can make your work citable.

Inserting equations is not very difficult with Authorea. You can explore different ways to improve the content in hand. It can help you incorporate interactive figures, tables, equations and dynamic charts thus, enriching the document.

You can add multiple formats for a single document. Different templates are supported by Authorea for different purposes like conferences, journals and organisations.

Authorea is one of the best LaTex editors for storing the entire history of a document. Additionally, you can also publish data driven notebooks with Authorea.

7. TeXnicCenter

TeXnicCenter is a free app and is known for being the best LaTex editing tool. It allows users to type their documents in LaTex and enables users to compile those typed documents into PDF, DVI or PS formats. It helps you document project creation from planning to completion. It also allows addition of bibliography and indexing of the various phases of the project.

TeXnicCenter uses Microsoft’s MikTex typesetting used in Windows. This set up helps MS Word to process LaTex documents. TeXnicCenter uses a master branch navigator to navigate through various LaTex documents simultaneously.

It also offers you a quick setup Wizard and is enabled with a GUI (graphic user interface). TeXnicCenter provides multiple UTF-8-character coding facilities.

8. Spacemacs

Spacemacs is known as the best LaTex editor for offering the Brobdingnagian library of templates, one of the leading template creators of the world. It is an open source software which has both command line and graphical user interfaces.

The X Window system is used to execute Spacemacs. It works on Unix shell terminals that is both an interactive command language and a scripting language. It is easy to set up and offers innumerable layers. Layers is a configuration file system that loads one atop the other.

The app is created on four pillars:

• Key binding through mnemonic prefixes,
• Discoverable timely display of the available key bindings,
• Consistent arrangement of key finders,
• Community driven configuration packages.

9. MiKTeX

MiKTeX is a free LaTex typesetting for Windows, Mac, and some Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora.

It is easy to install and is complete with a separate pack of programs, styles and fonts. There is an installation wizard that takes care of the entire installation process, thus, to install it you need not be the techie guy.

It has an integrated package management and the system is always kept up to date by the company. MiKTeX integrated package manager helps in installation of missing components from the internet into the program in a regular manner.

MiKTeX comes with TeXworks and is a well maintained platform.

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10. Overleaf

Overleaf is the online LaTex text editor that is highly collaborative. Every person working on the project can add to the document together in one single version at the same time.

Overleaf is easy to install, and very easy to use. It contains all the packages and templates that you might need for your digital document creation. You can keep a tight track of the document history with this tool.

You can always check what is added and removed from the tool during maintenance. You also have the option to go back to any of the older versions of your document.

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Additionally, you can work from anywhere on your document and can sink your files either using GitHub or Dropbox.

Final Words: Best LaTex Editors 2020

Best Mac Latex Editor

If you are a scientist or a researcher, the best LaTex editors can help you enter every single data in one document while making it digital-ready for you.

You can choose either of the above-mentioned editors to incorporate the data that you have built up over a period. The LaTex text editors have separate fragments that can help you enter your information easily and then helps in compiling them together in one of the user-friendly formats.

I am sure this information is what you were searching for, and now that you have it, you know how easy it is to create your document. All you need is your rough sheets compiled together.

Best Latex Editors For Mac

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