TextMate review

TextMate is a locally installed desktop text editor for macOS, not a hosted API, SaaS service, library or self-hosted server. It sits at the editing layer of a developer’s stack: open project files, make changes, search across text, and use built-in version-control tools without routing work through a cloud service. The homepage lists macOS 10.12 or later as the minimum requirement.

Its feature set targets code and text workflows rather than a full IDE. Multiple carets let you edit at several insertion points; search can extract matched text and preview replacements; version-control views show file and line changes, diffs and selected commits. Scoped settings apply shortcuts and preferences according to selectors such as language or build system. Bundles, commands, snippets and macros provide ways to tailor repetitive work. The vendor describes support for many programming languages, markup systems and workflows.

TextMate is an editor to customize, not a service to call: the vendor documents no REST API, webhooks, SDKs or command-line interface. Its extension surface is commands and bundles. The homepage says custom actions can be written in any language that works with stdin, stdout and environment variables. For more complex interactions, commands can use WebKit or TextMate’s dialog framework for Mac-native or HTML-based interfaces.

Bundles provide support for languages, markup systems and workflows. Snippets can include placeholders and transformations, while macros record or replay editing actions. Scoped settings associate shortcuts and preferences with selectors such as language or build system. The site links to documentation for versions 2.0 and 1.x. Developers building custom bundles should consult those docs for the relevant format and compatibility details. Since TextMate is not an API product, confirm any third-party SDK or integration requirements against the vendor’s documentation before adopting it in a larger toolchain.

TextMate is free and open source. The pricing information lists no monthly or annual price, and the official purchase page says license keys are not available for sale. There is no published usage allowance, request quota, seat charge, compute meter or paid add-on to budget for. Because TextMate is a local editor rather than a hosted service, there is no usage-based bill that grows with requests or traffic.

That makes the direct cost straightforward for an individual or team: the editor is available without a stated purchase price. The vendor does not publish a paid tier, free-trial terms, or a pricing schedule for commercial use. The specific open-source licence is not stated on the homepage, so organizations with licence-review requirements should check the project’s source and documentation before distributing or modifying it. Budget separately for the time needed to maintain custom bundles and workflows; the vendor publishes no support or maintenance plan in the pricing information.

The vendor describes TextMate as open source, but the homepage does not name its licence. Check the project’s source and licence terms before including modified versions in a product or redistributing the editor. TextMate is installed and used as a macOS application; self-hosting is not relevant in the way it is for a server or hosted API.

There is no hosted TextMate account or service from which to export project data. Your work remains in the files you edit locally, so moving to another editor does not require exporting data from a vendor platform. Custom commands, bundles, settings and snippets may take more effort to reproduce elsewhere; their portability depends on how they are built. The editor itself does not impose a service API that ties application code to a provider.

TextMate is a local editor, so hosted-service concerns such as API rate limits, request scaling and service uptime are not the main production risks. The homepage lists macOS 10.12 or later, but does not give a support SLA, security or compliance commitments, or a release schedule. Teams standardizing on it should verify current macOS compatibility and decide who will maintain custom bundles and commands.

Developer comments on Reddit are mixed on maintenance: some describe TextMate as working well, while others say they are unsure when it was last updated or call it stagnant. One commenter says the project still gets updates, while another reports using TextMate 2 daily. Those are individual reports, not a vendor support commitment. For a team workflow, test the required bundles and version-control operations on the macOS versions you support, and keep project files and customizations in a form your team can maintain independently.