Disclosure up front: Purplelink makes and sells ModernTex, one of the three editors compared here. TeXShop and TeXstudio cost nothing, and for many people either one is the better pick. I took the facts about them from each project's own website and manual, listed under Last checked, and left out anything I could not confirm there. The ModernTex facts are the ones on its product page.
The three, side by side
None of the three includes TeX itself. Each calls a TeX distribution such as MacTeX. "Synced PDF preview" means clicking in the source jumps to the matching spot in the PDF and back, which these editors do through SyncTeX.
| Editor | Price and licence | Runs on | TeX distribution | Synced PDF preview | Multi-file projects | Bibliography |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ModernTex | $19.99 once, after a free 7-day trial. Updates included. Refund if you email within 14 days. | macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel | Uses MacTeX or TinyTeX. Offers a one-click TinyTeX install if neither is found. | Yes, forward and inverse | Root file detection and a structured sidebar | BibTeX completion that searches by author, title or key. BibTeX or biblatex with Biber. |
| TeXShop | Free. GPL (version 2), source available. | macOS only. The current release is for Intel and Apple silicon, and its site lists High Sierra through Tahoe. | Separate. Installed with MacTeX, or get BasicTeX and TeXShop on their own. | Yes, both directions, with a command-click or the contextual menu | Yes. A root comment in each chapter file makes typesetting a chapter build the whole document. | A BibTeX item in the Typeset menu. Typesetting engines, including latexmk-based ones, can run BibTeX for you. |
| TeXstudio | Free. Open source, GPL (version 2). | macOS 13 or later (Intel and Apple silicon builds), Windows, Linux | Separate. It detects TeX Live and MiKTeX. | Yes, in the built-in viewer, forward and inverse | Automatic root detection, a root comment, or an explicit root setting. It loads included files. | Completion for references and bibliography entries. The compile command runs BibTeX when needed. |
What each one is built around
TeXShop
TeXShop is a Mac-only front end to TeX, written in Cocoa by Richard Koch with many contributors. It was first released on July 23, 2000, and it is free under the GPL. The MacTeX installer puts it in /Applications/TeX beside TeX Live Utility, BibDesk and LaTeXiT, so if you have installed MacTeX you already have it.
It keeps to the basics of writing LaTeX. Source and PDF preview can share one window or sit in two. SyncTeX takes you from a spot in the source to the matching spot in the PDF and back. For a thesis or book with chapter files, you put a root comment at the top of each chapter, and typesetting a chapter typesets the whole document. It also has a Macros menu, command completion on the Escape or Tab key, a BibTeX item in the Typeset menu, latexmk-based engines, and a manual of about two hundred pages in the Help menu. Its site says the current release runs on macOS 26, Tahoe, and the MacTeX page describes an extra build for Tahoe.
Choose it if you want a free editor made for the Mac, you have MacTeX already, or you have an older Mac: its site lists the current release for macOS 10.13 and later.
TeXstudio
TeXstudio is free and open source under the GPL, written in C++ with Qt, and runs on Windows, Linux, macOS and BSD. It began in 2009 as a fork of Texmaker. Its site lists a structure view, code folding, a spell checker, grammar checker and reference checker, assistants that generate code for images and tables, more than 1000 math symbols, completion that covers references and bibliography entries, and an integrated PDF viewer with SyncTeX syncing. The build system supports several compilers, latexmk and bibliography tools, and it notices when LaTeX needs another run.
Its manual describes three more things worth knowing. There is a Git panel (the site's news puts it in 4.9.6, July 2026). There is an optional AI chat assistant, which uses your own account with a provider such as Mistral AI or Claude, or a local model. And there is collaborative editing: a second person on another computer opens a shared folder with an access code and sees your cursor and changes as you type. That feature uses a separate program, teamtype, which the manual says is currently available on macOS and Linux.
On a Mac, the download is a zip file. The site notes that the project has no Apple Developer account, so macOS may warn about an unidentified developer, and it gives the workaround of opening the app from its context menu.
Choose it if you also work on Windows or Linux and want the same editor on each, or you want shared editing sessions, a Git panel and an AI assistant without paying for them.
ModernTex
ModernTex is the native macOS editor we make, built for journal articles, conference papers and dissertation chapters. It handles multi-file manuscripts with root file detection and a sidebar, keeps the PDF in sync in both directions, completes citations by searching your .bib by author, title or key, and explains compile errors in plain language. It adds submission-readiness checks (anonymization, page limits, required sections, packaging), an anonymized export for double-blind review, version snapshots with diffs, and visual editors for TikZ figures and tables that write the LaTeX for you. An optional Fix with AI proposes a repair for a build error and shows it as a diff first; it runs on Apple Intelligence or on your own Claude or OpenAI account.
What it does not do: real-time co-editing. Get Changes and Send Changes sync a project between your Macs or with a co-author, but two people cannot type in the same file at once. It runs only on macOS 14 or later, it is not on Windows, Linux or iPad, and it needs a TeX distribution. It was first released in September 2026, so it has far less of a track record than TeXShop or TeXstudio. Choose it if you write manuscripts on a Mac, mostly alone, and the submission-focused features are the ones you want. The trial is the full app for seven days with no account.
What each one costs
TeXShop and TeXstudio cost nothing. ModernTex is $19.99 once, with all updates included and no subscription. The trial is the full app for seven days, and if you buy it and it is not useful, email within 14 days of purchase and it is refunded.
All three compile a LaTeX project and show a synced PDF, so the money is not for the basics. It buys the manuscript-specific features described above. If those do not match how you work, you will not get $19.99 of use from them, and a free editor is the better choice.
Where they differ
- Operating systems and Macs. TeXstudio is the only one of the three on Windows and Linux. On older Macs, TeXShop's site lists its current release for macOS 10.13 and later, TeXstudio's current build needs macOS 13, and ModernTex needs macOS 14.
- Working with co-authors. TeXstudio offers collaborative editing through teamtype, as described above. ModernTex has no real-time co-editing. If several people edit one draft at the same time in a browser, that is Overleaf's job; the Overleaf guide covers how to use it alongside a local editor.
- AI. TeXstudio's assistant and ModernTex's Fix with AI are both optional, and both can use your own provider account. TeXstudio's can also use a local model, and ModernTex's can run on Apple Intelligence on your Mac. Check what each one sends before you use it on unpublished work.
- History and version control. TeXstudio has a Git panel and SVN support. ModernTex takes snapshots you can diff, which is separate from Git.
- Installing. TeXShop arrives with MacTeX. TeXstudio is a zip, with the unidentified-developer note above. ModernTex is a signed and notarized disk image.
Who should pick which
- You want the Mac default and a price of zero. TeXShop. If MacTeX is installed, it is already there.
- You also use Windows or Linux. TeXstudio. It is the only one of the three that runs on all of them, and it is free.
- You have a Mac older than macOS 14. TeXShop or TeXstudio. ModernTex will not run.
- You want live shared editing without a browser. TeXstudio, within the limits of its teamtype requirement on macOS and Linux. ModernTex does not offer it.
- You write papers alone on a Mac and want submission checks, an anonymized export, snapshots, or visual TikZ and table editors. ModernTex, $19.99 once. Use the free trial on a real manuscript first.
- You are not sure. Start with TeXShop or TeXstudio. They cost nothing, and you can add ModernTex later.
Trying more than one
A LaTeX project is a folder of ordinary files, so opening it in a second editor costs nothing but time. The setting most likely to differ is the root file. TeXShop and TeXstudio both read a root-file comment at the top of chapter files, and ModernTex detects the root file itself. Compile once in the new editor and compare the page count and reference list with your last PDF. For a longer look at fourteen Mac editors, including Texifier, Octree and VS Code, see the best LaTeX editors for Mac.
Last checked
October 7, 2026. The TeXShop and TeXstudio facts above were checked against these pages on that date. Versions and requirements change, so check the project's own site before you rely on a detail.
- TeXShop: home page (licence, release, supported systems), About TeXShop, Obtaining, Tahoe, and the changes page (sync, root comment, BibTeX, latexmk engines, completion).
- MacTeX: home page and GUI applications (TeXShop installed with MacTeX, and the Tahoe build).
- TeXstudio: home page (licence, platforms, macOS requirement, features, news) and its manual: getting started, PDF viewer, compiling, editing, advanced features and background (root documents, collaboration).
- ModernTex: the product page.
If something here is out of date or wrong, write to ben@purplelink.llc and I will fix it.