Geany
Geany is a free, lightweight integrated development environment for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
What Geany is
Geany is a free, lightweight integrated development environment for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It provides syntax highlighting, code completion, call tips, and code folding, with support for file types such as C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, Perl, and Pascal. An embedded terminal emulator is included, and plugins can extend the software. Geany supports macro recording and column editing, but not multi-cursor editing. The project recommends distribution packages for Linux, BSD, and similar systems; it names Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu among distributions with packages. Prebuilt binaries for Windows and macOS are available from geany.org, and a portable Windows version is linked from the third-party packages page. Geany is distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later. Building from source requires GTK3 libraries and headers, dependency libraries, and C and C++ compilers.
Good
- Free under the GNU General Public License.
- Supports syntax highlighting and code completion.
- Includes an embedded terminal emulator.
- Supports macro recording and column editing.
- Available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Watch out
- Does not offer multi-cursor editing.
- Building from source requires GTK3 and C/C++ compilers.
Who it suits
Geany suits developers seeking a free code editor and IDE for Linux, macOS, or Windows. Its supported file types and plugin support may fit people who want an extensible environment with an embedded terminal.
Verdict
Geany combines common code-editing features, an embedded terminal, and plugin support across three desktop platforms. Check its build requirements if you plan to compile it yourself.
Plans and prices
From Geany's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Geany | Free | GPL-2.0-or-later · desktop IDE/text editor · No paid tier; distributed as free software |
The facts
Each one read from Geany's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Additional packages
- Geany’s third-party packages page lists packages for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Gentoo, openSUSE, Arch Linux, and BSD variants.checked 4 Oct 2026
- API maturity
- The API documentation is marked as work in progress and warns that undocumented symbols may change.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Association
- Geany e.V. is a registered association in Stendal, Germany created to represent the project and handle donated money.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Association board
- The listed board consists of Enrico Tröger, Frank Lanitz and Silvio Knizek.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Association founding
- The Geany e.V. association was founded on November 3, 2016.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Association governance
- The association says development remains the responsibility of core developers and the community rather than the association itself.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Build requirements
- Building from source requires GTK3 libraries and headers, dependency libraries, and C and C++ compilers.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Build system
- Its build system can compile and execute code through external tools.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Call tips
- The editor offers call-tip assistance while coding.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Code completion
- Geany includes symbol and code completion features.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Code folding
- Geany supports folding sections of source files.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Column editing
- Yeschecked 22 Sep 2026
- Construct completion
- It can complete common constructs such as if, for and while statements.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Desktop availability
- Prebuilt packages are available for Windows and macOS, while packages are also available for many Linux distributions.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- Official documentation includes a manual, FAQ, release notes, hacking guidance, wiki and plugin API reference.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Editing features
- Its listed features include syntax highlighting, code completion, call tips, and code folding.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Extension support
- Yeschecked 22 Sep 2026
- File types
- The project lists support for file types including C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, Perl, and Pascal.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Licence
- Geany is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or any later version.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Licensing
- The project says Geany is distributed under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Limit: advanced IDE depth
- An independent review says Geany lacks advanced debugger and refactoring capabilities found in heavier IDEs.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: bidirectional text
- Wikipedia reports that the Scintilla base has shortcomings with complex graphemes and bidirectional text.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: plugin ecosystem
- An independent review characterizes Geany's plugin ecosystem as smaller than Visual Studio Code's.checked 15 Oct 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 22 Sep 2026
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