Vim
Vim 9.2 (released Feb 14, 2026) is a modal, terminal-based text editor maintained by open-source contributors on github.com/vim/vim, continuing since creator Bram Moolenaar's death in Aug 2023. Licensed under the Vim license -- charityware, GPL-compatible, requests donations for a Uganda children's charity. Scripting runs on Vim9script, a typed/compiled language that gained enums, generics, and tuple types in 9.2; classic Vimscript still works. No native LSP client -- IDE features require plugins like coc.nvim (which shells out to a separately-installed system Node.js runtime) or vim-lsp (pure Vimscript, no Node.js needed). 40.6k GitHub stars vs Neovim's 101k. Stack Overflow's 2025 Developer Survey put Vim at 24.3% usage, 5th among all dev environments, up from 21.6% in 2024. Current version/status: 9.2 (Feb 14, 2026). License: Vim license (charityware, GPL-compatible). Maintained by Open-source community via github.com/vim/vim (Bram Moolenaar maintained it until his death Aug 2023).
Pick Vim when you're SSH'd into a minimal server, a Docker base image, or any *nix box where it ships preinstalled and Neovim doesn't -- decades of muscle-memory keybindings travel with you everywhere. Don't pick it for a daily LSP-driven dev loop: Neovim has shipped a native LSP client since 0.5 (Lua-configured, no plugin required), so nvim-lspconfig and Telescope work out of the box instead of needing coc.nvim's separate Node.js dependency. The honest gap even Vim's own patch history admits: its async and LSP story is bolted-on, not built-in, which is why Vim keeps back-porting features Neovim pioneered first. Known weakness: No native LSP client -- full IDE-style completion and diagnostics require a plugin (coc.nvim, vim-lsp, ALE), and coc.nvim in particular requires a separate, system-installed Node.js runtime just to work.