GStars
    helix-editor

    helix-editor/helix

    A post-modern modal text editor.

    developer-tools
    kakoune
    rust
    text-editor
    vim
    Rust
    MPL-2.0
    46.8K stars
    4.0K forks
    46.8K GitHub watchers
    Updated Nov 5, 2026
    View on GitHub

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    Where it stands

    Rank, growth pace and release cadence relative to everything GStars tracks.

    No releases in the last 90 days; the most recent was 474 days ago, with 415 contributors on GitHub.

    Peaked at #20 in the weekly ranking the week of Nov 23, its best in the past year.

    Use Cases & Benefits

    • Helix is a modern modal text editor inspired by Kakoune and Neovim, designed for efficient code editing in terminal environments.
    • Key features include Vim-like modal editing, multiple selections, built-in language server support, and incremental syntax highlighting via tree-sitter.
    • Written in Rust, Helix offers performance and safety benefits but currently supports indentation definitions for only certain languages.
    • Organizations can integrate Helix for developer productivity in terminal-based workflows, leveraging its language server protocol for enhanced coding assistance.
    • Ideal use cases include developers seeking a fast, modal, terminal text editor with advanced code editing features and extensibility in Rust.

    Should you depend on it?

    License terms, project hygiene and risks, from GitHub metadata and GStars' snapshots.

    License

    Mozilla Public License 2.0

    Weak copyleft: changes to the licensed code itself must be shared when you distribute it, but code that merely uses it can stay under your own license.

    Community files

    • README: present
    • Contributing guide: present

    Watch-outs

    No watch-outs from GStars' checks.

    General guidance from repository metadata, not legal advice. How we score

    From the README

    A Kakoune / Neovim inspired editor, written in Rust.

    The editing model is very heavily based on Kakoune; during development I found myself agreeing with most of Kakoune's design decisions.

    For more information, see the website or documentation.

    All shortcuts/keymaps can be found in the documentation on the website.

    Although it's primarily a terminal-based editor, I am interested in exploring a custom renderer (similar to Emacs) using wgpu or skulpin.

    Note: Only certain languages have indentation definitions at the moment. Check runtime/queries/<lang>/ for indents.scm.

    Excerpt from the helix-editor/helix README on GitHub (MPL-2.0 license). © its authors.Read the full README on GitHub

    Daily snapshots

    Stars gained per day, and how forks and open issues moved, from GStars' daily snapshots

    Aug 29: +28Aug 30: +24Aug 31: +16Sep 1: +15Sep 2: +11Sep 3: +8Sep 4: +11Sep 5: +9Sep 6: +7Oct 2: +16Oct 3: +22Oct 4: +12Oct 5: +11Oct 6: +11Oct 7: +13Oct 8: +10

    +1,001 stars over 86 days across 22 snapshot days; best day +28 on Aug 29.

    Forks

    4.0K+313

    Open issues

    1.8K+181

    Compared with peers in Developer Tools

    Fastest-growing repositories GStars tracks in this cohort for the week of Nov 8, by 7-day star growth

    View category →
    helix-editor/helix compared with Developer Tools repositories by stars, 7-day star growth, health score and last release
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    herdrdev/herdr50.0K+2.1K7527 days ago
    max-sixty/worktrunk12.4K+1.9K7521 days ago
    helix-editor/helix46.8K—40474 days ago
    Category median121.4K+4.3K75—
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