Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Helix.vim

Emulate Helix keybindings inside Vim emulators. Useful for IDEs with a Vim emulator but no Helix emulator.

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Helix.vim launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Helix-Vim – A Vim-like configuration for Helix▲7

   A Vim-like configuration for Helix. Contribute to LGUG2Z/helix-vim development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Helix▲557

   From idea to prototype in 3 mins

   2025 · scout7.ai · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Vim-which-key: Vim port of emacs-which-key▲63

   :tulip: Vim plugin that shows keybindings in popup - liuchengxu/vim-which-key

   2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Helix▲153

   Train your own AI with open-source AI and your data

   2023 · helix.ml · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Using Vim as an input method editor (IME) for X11 apps▲132

   As a Vim user, I often use Vim to write some text and then copy & paste it into another text field of GUI apps (e.g. browsers, chat apps, etc.), because almost all of these text fields provide only very basic editing functions. A while ago, I came up with an idea: what if we could use Vim as an IME? Ordinary IMEs are used to input some non-English characters, but the essential functions of IME are 1) receiving a keyboard sequence 2) process the key sequence and outputting a text These functions are the same as text editor's. So I thought implementing an IME that can be used with Vim…

   2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   vim.so▲444

   Learn vim fast with interactive exercises in the browser

   2021 · learnvim.com · its alternatives →

7. 7BY
   Build your own Vim emulation for VS Code▲88

   2020 · johtela.github.io · its alternatives →

8. 8
   I built an online interactive course that helps you learn Vim faster▲667

   Learn vim fast by building muscle memory. 2000+ engineers learned vim with our hands on training. Train your fingers, master vim commands!

   2021 · vim.so · its alternatives →

9. 9VO
   Vim online editor using WebAssembly, storing files using IndexedDB▲316

   2023 · vimonlineeditor.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Helix▲140

    Bring humanoid robots to life with language and vision

    2025 · figure.ai · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Helix▲132

    Your collaborative AI coding agent

    2025 · its alternatives →

12. 12
    VimLM – A Local, Offline Coding Assistant for Vim▲93

    VimLM is a local, offline coding assistant for Vim. It’s like Copilot but runs entirely on your machine—no APIs, no tracking, no cloud. - Deep Context: Understands your codebase (current file, selections, references). - Conversational: Iterate with follow-ups like "Add error handling". - Vim-Native: Keybindings like `Ctrl-l` for prompts, `Ctrl-p` to replace code. - Inline Commands: `!include` files, `!deploy` code, `!continue` long responses. Perfect for privacy-conscious devs or air-gapped environments. Try it: ``` pip install vimlm vimlm ```…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    A terminal spreadsheet editor with Vim keybindings▲126

    While speccing out this spreadsheet tool, I realized that I never had to think about the keybindings. It all just came naturally from Vim. Normal/insert/visual modes, hjkl navigation, dd/yy/p, :w, :q. The usual muscle memory works. It supports CSV/TSV import and export, and a native .cell format that preserves formulas. The formula engine handles SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MIN, MAX, and IF with range references. The codebase is a Cargo workspace: a pure cell-sheet-core library (no TUI dependency) and a cell-sheet-tui crate on top of ratatui. Early days, but it's usable. To…

    Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

14. 14VL
    Vim-Like Layer for Xorg and Wayland▲148

    Create a layer of shortcuts with xkb for Xorg and Wayland

    2020 · cedaei.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    HelixDB▲105

    An open-source OLTP graph-vector database built in Rust.

    Feb 2026 · helix-db.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    HelixDB – Open-source vector-graph database for AI applications (Rust)▲237

    Hey HN, we want to share HelixDB (https://github.com/HelixDB/helix-db/), a project a college friend and I are working on. It’s a new database that natively intertwines graph and vector types, without sacrificing performance. It’s written in Rust and our initial focus is on supporting RAG. Here’s a video runthrough: https://screen.studio/share/szgQu3yq. Why a hybrid? Vector databases are useful for similarity queries, while graph databases are useful for relationship queries. Each stores data in a way that’s best for its main type of query (e.g.…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Vy – a powerful but retro and minimalist IDE▲143

    A vim-like in Python. Contribute to vyapp/vy development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Master Vim▲70

    Learn Vim with interactive exercises

    2021 · vim.is · its alternatives →

19. 19AB
    A bookmarklet for Jimmy-rigging Github's editor with Vim mode▲46

    2011 · misfo.github.com · its alternatives →

20. 20AV
    A Vim distribution inspired by Spacemacs▲175

    Find information, resources and relevant links for liuchengxu.org. This domain may be for sale.

    2017 · vim.liuchengxu.org · its alternatives →

21. 21HI
    Helix I/O – Ultrafast genomic search▲27

    2014 · demo.helix.io · its alternatives →

22. 22
    kindaVim▲84

    Vim for the whole macOS

    2022 · kindavim.app · its alternatives →

23. 23
    Vim Ninja▲112

    Master Vim right from your browser

    2023 · vimninja.com · its alternatives →

24. 24VI
    vimmer.io is an interactive course for Vim with a real embedded editor▲26

    2022 · vimmer.io · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →