Ready to continue from Brackets?
The Brackets workflow you know, rebuilt for today’s web. Free, open source, and ready on every platform.
Phoenix Code is the direct continuation of Brackets, built by the Brackets team. It keeps the Live Preview, lightweight feel, and front-end workflow developers loved — reimagined for today’s web.
Free & open source · Windows, macOS, Linux & Browser · No account required
Adobe open-sourced Brackets in 2012 as a code editor built for web development, pioneering Live Preview and inline editors. It grew into one of GitHub's most popular projects and the editor where millions of developers wrote their first line of code.
In 2021, after Adobe ended official support, stewardship of Brackets was transferred to the community we founded and now lead. We continued the project from there, and that work became Phoenix Code — the direct continuation of Brackets, rebuilt for today’s web.
If you're wondering whether Phoenix Code will feel familiar — it will.
Live Preview is still the core of the experience. Edit HTML or CSS and watch the browser update in real time, no manual refresh. This is the feature that defined Brackets, and it's still front and center.
The lightweight workflow is intact. Open a folder, start editing. Everything just works out of the box.
Web-first focus. HTML, CSS, JavaScript — that's the sweet spot. Phoenix Code is purpose-built for front-end work, not trying to be a general-purpose IDE.
Keyboard shortcuts and UI layout are familiar. If you had muscle memory in Brackets, most of it still applies.
Everything that made Brackets special is still here in Phoenix Code — just modernized.
See your HTML and CSS changes render instantly in a real browser as you type — no save, no refresh.
A clean, distraction-free editor that stays fast and out of your way, built for focused front-end work.
Purpose-built for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript rather than trying to be an everything-IDE.
Edit related CSS right where you use it with quick inline editors — context without losing your place.
Free, transparent, and community-driven — developed in the open, exactly as Brackets always was.
Phoenix Code includes everything Brackets offered — Live Preview, lightweight workflow, web-first focus — plus built-in Git, AI assistance, a Markdown editor, a browser edition, visual CSS editing, and an active extension marketplace. Here's the full comparison.
| Feature | Brackets | Phoenix Code |
|---|---|---|
| Live Preview | Yes (limited) | Color pickers, number dials, gradient editors |
| Visual Editing | No | Edit text, copy/paste/delete divs, drag to rearrange & more — in the live preview (Pro) |
| AI Assistant | No | Yes — built-in AI assistance |
| Markdown Editor | No | Yes — live Markdown preview free; WYSIWYG editing like Word or Google Docs (Pro) |
| Terminal | No | Yes — built-in terminal |
| Git Integration | Required third-party extension | Built-in |
| Browser Version | No | Yes — phcode.dev, no install needed |
| Extension Marketplace | No longer maintained | Active and growing |
| Active Development | In maintenance mode since 2021 | Releases every 3 months |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes (AGPL-3.0) |
| Built-in Image Library | No | Yes — stock photos you can drag into projects |
| Price | Free | Free (Pro from $9/mo for Live Preview Edit) |
If you're searching for a Brackets download, Phoenix Code is the actively maintained successor. It's free, open source, and available on every platform — or run it instantly in your browser.
Looking for the original Adobe Brackets instead? You can still get the community-maintained legacy builds from GitHub releases or brackets.io. For all projects, we recommend Phoenix Code — it opens your existing Brackets projects with no migration.
The Brackets foundation, plus a decade of modern web-development features.
Edit text, swap images, and tweak layout directly in the live preview — changes apply instantly.
Adjust your site like a canvas without hunting through stylesheets for every small change.
Stage, commit, and sync with your remote without leaving the editor — no extension required.
AI that sees the rendered page, not just your source code, for context-aware help. Your code stays local.
Preview phone, tablet, and desktop layouts with a single click to catch breakpoints early.
Write Markdown like a document — images, tables, code blocks, and diagrams, with a reader mode.
Customize everything with thousands of extensions and themes — many ported straight from Brackets.
When people look for a Brackets alternative, the usual suggestions are Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, and Notepad++. They're capable editors — but they're general-purpose tools. VS Code is powerful but heavier and aimed at every language; Sublime Text is fast but proprietary; Notepad++ is Windows-only and not designed for live web work.
Phoenix Code is different because it stays true to what Brackets was for: front-end and web development, with Live Preview and visual editing at the center. You get a focused, lightweight editor that feels like Brackets, runs everywhere — desktop and browser — and keeps getting better.
Yes. Although Adobe ended official support for Brackets in September 2021, the editor lives on as Phoenix Code, maintained by the same team. You can still download the original Brackets, but Phoenix Code is the actively updated successor.
The Brackets project is now Phoenix Code. Get it from phcode.io.
For front-end and web developers who loved Brackets, Phoenix Code is the most natural alternative because it is built directly on the Brackets legacy and keeps Live Preview at its core. Editors like VS Code, Sublime Text, and Notepad++ are popular general-purpose options, but they are not focused on visual web development the way Brackets and Phoenix Code are.
Yes. Phoenix Code is free and open source. There is an optional Phoenix Pro plan with extra AI and productivity features, but the full editor — including Live Preview, Git, and extensions — is free forever.
Yes. Live Preview is a core Phoenix Code feature, just like in Brackets, and it is enhanced — you can preview phone, tablet, and desktop layouts and even edit directly on the rendered page (a Phoenix Pro feature).
Yes. Phoenix Code opens your existing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript projects directly — there is no migration step. Your files and folders work the same way they did in Brackets.
Yes. Phoenix Code is open source and developed in the open on GitHub by the brackets.io team, continuing the open-source tradition that made Brackets popular.
The Brackets workflow you know, rebuilt for today’s web. Free, open source, and ready on every platform.
