What is Nova used for?

Nova is a native macOS code editor from Panic that combines editing, a terminal, Git, debugging and extensions in one workspace. It is a good fit for web development on a Mac; Swift, Rust or C/C++ projects; and editing files on remote servers.

How much does Nova cost?

Nova is a paid product with no free plan. Commercial editor with a free 30-day trial; licenses are sold through the vendor's site.

No. Nova is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Nova include Visual Studio Code, VSCodium and Neovim.

What are some alternatives to Nova?

Nova competes with Sublime Text, BBEdit and Cursor. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Nova alternatives.

Nova: features, pricing and alternatives

About Nova

Nova is a commercial code editor and IDE for macOS from Panic. It is built with native Mac frameworks, which the vendor says keeps memory use and battery impact low, and it brings the editor, terminal and Git tools into a single workspace.

The editor includes a minimap, multiple cursors, a debugging sidebar with breakpoints and console debugging, build and run tasks, live previews of web pages, and the ability to browse, edit and publish files on remote servers. Nova 14 adds a language server manager that can install servers for you, built-in support for Rust, Swift and C/C++, and per-language editor settings. An extensions library and an API let developers add further functionality.

Nova is proprietary software and requires a recent version of macOS. The vendor offers a free 30-day trial, and a license can be purchased from its site.

Key features

Native macOS editor with minimap and multiple cursors
Built-in terminal and Git integration
Debugging sidebar with breakpoints
Language server management
Remote file transfers and publishing
Live web previews and build tasks

Good fit for

→Web development on a Mac
→Swift, Rust or C/C++ projects
→Editing files on remote servers

Tags: code-editor; macos; ide; git; terminal; panic; web-development

Nova: questions and answers

What is Nova used for?: Nova is a native macOS code editor from Panic that combines editing, a terminal, Git, debugging and extensions in one workspace. It is a good fit for web development on a Mac; Swift, Rust or C/C++ projects; and editing files on remote servers.
How much does Nova cost?: Nova is a paid product with no free plan. Commercial editor with a free 30-day trial; licenses are sold through the vendor's site.
Is Nova open source?: No. Nova is proprietary (closed-source) software. Open-source alternatives to Nova include Visual Studio Code, VSCodium and Neovim.
What are some alternatives to Nova?: Nova competes with Sublime Text, BBEdit and Cursor. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Nova alternatives.