Froala vs. TinyMCE: Which Is the Best WYSIWYG Editor?

If you need to add a rich-text editing feature to your product, you’ve probably come across two major contenders: TinyMCE and Froala. You may wonder which solution is the best choice for your project.

To make the right decision, you need to compare many aspects, like key features, performance, customization options, and pricing. This article breaks down and compares everything important to choosing the best WYSIWYG editor based on your requirements.

Let’s dive in!

Key takeaways

• Froala and TinyMCE are among the top JavaScript WYSIWYG editors for rich-text editing. TinyMCE is a widely used open-source option, while Froala is known for its modern UI and lightweight performance.

• Key features: Both editors provide rich-text formatting, media embedding, and math equation support. Froala includes over 100 built-in features along with a plugin system for additional enhancements, while TinyMCE offers an extensive plugin ecosystem to extend its functionality.

• Customization & scalability: Both editors allow theme and toolbar customization. Froala’s toolbar is fully customizable, allowing developers to define custom buttons and group actions and adjust the layout based on screen size for a responsive editing experience. TinyMCE also offers configurable toolbars and themes, providing flexibility for different use cases.

• Integration & performance: Both integrate with React, Angular, and Vue. Froala provides server-side SDKs for backend support, while TinyMCE offers various hosting options. Froala is lighter, potentially offering faster load times.

• Pricing: TinyMCE has a free plan but limits editor loads on paid tiers. Froala follows a transparent pricing model with unlimited editor loads, making it cost-effective for high-usage scenarios.

Want to explore Froala? Try the free trial today!

Introduction to Froala and TinyMCE

When it comes to rich-text editing, TinyMCE is one of the most popular JavaScript WYSIWYG editors and Froala is a great TinyMCE alternative. Both of these editors offer a wide range of features to enhance text formatting, media embedding, and customization for web applications. But we need to compare and carefully see which option is the best fit for your project.

What is TinyMCE?

TinyMCE is an online open-source WYSIWYG editor under the General Public License (GNU). This WYSIWYG editor offers a free editor with basic features and advanced features that are included in the paid plans. Its features include basic and advanced formatting options, plugins for enhanced functionality, and cloud-based hosting options. It can convert HTML textarea fields or any other HTML element into editor instances.

TinyMCE is widely used in content management systems (CMS) and many other platforms that require rich-text editing.

What is Froala?

Froala is a modern, lightweight, and highly customizable WYSIWYG editor. It is known for its sleek design and powerful functionality. This JavaScript rich-text editor offers over 100 features, including inline editing, real-time collaboration, advanced media handling, and an intuitive user interface. 

This is one of the best TinyMCE alternatives to provide a better editing experience to your users. Froala is also recognized for its fast performance and responsive design. You can integrate this editor with frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue easily.

Both TinyMCE and Froala provide extensive rich-text editing capabilities. But the real question is: Which editor is the best choice for your product? To help you decide, let’s dive into their key features, design, scalability, integration options, and pricing.

Comparing key features

By all means, both editors have a long list of prominent features. For example, look at the Froala +100 feature list. Obviously, it would be impossible to include all of them in this post. Instead, we will focus on important features that benefit all users.

Without a doubt, both editors include all the basic features for rich content editing. For example, both of them handle images and tables flawlessly. Moreover, they both also support advanced functionalities like Math Equation insertion and editing.

With that in mind, we will focus instead on editor design, scalability, customization, and load time. We will also look at the ease of integration with your products.

Design and user experience

When evaluating WYSIWYG editors, user experience plays a crucial role in ensuring seamless content creation. Both Froala and TinyMCE offer well-structured interfaces, but they take different approaches to design and usability.

Interface and usability

TinyMCE provides a classic and familiar interface, making it easy for users accustomed to traditional text editors. It allows developers to customize toolbars and configure UI elements to fit specific application needs.

On the other hand, Froala takes a modern and minimalistic approach. Its flat design, SVG icons, and clean UI components, including dropdowns and pop-ups, create a visually appealing experience. What sets Froala apart is its Smart Toolbar, which categorizes actions into four groups. It prevents users from feeling overwhelmed by too many options while keeping essential features within reach.

Mobile-friendly experience

Mobile usability is another critical aspect of editor design. While both Froala and TinyMCE support mobile editing, Froala was the first WYSIWYG editor to introduce pop-up formatting controls that appear consistently on both mobile devices and desktops. This ensures a seamless user experience across all screen sizes.

Additionally, Froala is the first WYSIWYG HTML editor to offer image and video resizing on mobile devices, making content editing more flexible for users working on different platforms.

While both editors provide customizable and feature-rich interfaces, Froala stands out with its sleek design, structured toolbar, and enhanced mobile editing experience—making it a preferred choice for modern web applications.

Scalability and customization

When choosing a WYSIWYG editor, scalability and customization are crucial factors. Whether you’re building a small application or an enterprise-level solution, the ability to tailor the editor’s design, functionality, and integration to meet your needs can make a big difference. Both Froala and TinyMCE offer customization options, but they take different approaches to flexibility and ease of use.

Styling and theme customization

Both TinyMCE and Froala allow developers to modify themes, toolbars, and UI elements to align with their application’s branding. TinyMCE offers a range of built-in themes and supports extensive UI customizations through its configuration settings. Developers can adjust colors, fonts, and layouts to create a consistent look and feel.

Froala, however, goes a step further by offering responsive toolbar configurations for different screen sizes. Developers can set toolbarButtons, toolbarButtonsMD, toolbarButtonsSM, and toolbarButtonsXS to ensure the editor remains fully functional across large, medium, small, and extra-small screens. This makes Froala one of the most responsive editors on the market, ensuring an optimal experience across devices.

Functionality and API customization

Customization also extends to functional modifications, such as adding new features, integrating plugins, or modifying the editor’s behavior.

• TinyMCE provides a structured API with an extensive list of plugins that can be enabled or disabled based on user needs. However, its documentation is class-based, requiring developers to navigate through multiple sections to find relevant details on methods and properties.
• Froala, on the other hand, offers a simplified and well-organized API where all options, events, and methods are available on a single page. Additionally, Froala provides extensive live code examples, making it easier for developers to implement custom buttons, plugins, and integrations without spending extra time searching through documentation.

Which editor offers better customization?

Both editors allow a high degree of customization and scalability, but Froala stands out for its user-friendly approach. With responsive toolbars, a cleaner API structure, and real-time code examples, Froala makes it easier for developers to customize and scale their editing experience efficiently.

Integration with technologies

When selecting a WYSIWYG editor, seamless integration with your tech stack is essential. Whether you’re working with frontend frameworks or need backend support for file storage and server-side processing, both Froala and TinyMCE offer integration solutions—but they differ in their approach.

Frontend frameworks and compatibility

Both Froala and TinyMCE provide SDKs for popular frontend frameworks, including React, Angular, and Vue. This allows developers to integrate the editor into modern web applications with minimal setup.

• TinyMCE offers a robust set of APIs and plugins that allow developers to extend functionality within these frameworks. It also provides a cloud-based solution, making it easier to manage updates and configurations without manual installations.
• Froala, while also offering React, Angular, and Vue SDKs, is designed for a lightweight and modular approach. Developers can enable only the necessary features, ensuring faster load times and better performance.

Server-side support and backend integration

While both editors focus on frontend integration, Froala distinguishes itself with server-side SDK libraries that enhance backend interaction.

• TinyMCE requires developers to manually configure backend support for handling image uploads, file storage, and security protocols. While it offers documentation for server-side implementation, it doesn’t provide dedicated SDKs for backend tasks.
• Froala, on the other hand, offers server-side SDKs for Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, and more, simplifying the process of storing images, managing files, and computing Amazon S3 signatures. This makes backend integration much more efficient for developers who need a complete end-to-end solution.

Performance: Speed and Efficiency

Froala is lighter than TinyMCE, resulting in a smaller impact on page load speed. Additionally, Froala’s modular architecture enables you to include only the necessary JavaScript and stylesheet files for the plugins you intend to use, making it more efficient for your product page speed.

Cost analysis: Froala vs. TinyMCE

Taking a quick look at the TinyMCE pricing page, you find that the first plan is free, and the Essential plan is $79 per month. On the other hand, Froala’s first plan is $899 per year ($74.90 per month). Also when you dig deeper into the plan details, you will eventually say, “Froala looks 10x cheaper. Why is that?”

Let’s do some analysis and discover why Froala is much cheaper.

First, is your product eligible for the TinyMCE free plan?

Firstly, the TinyMCE free plan is not for every use case and is not suitable for every product. If you need any of the following, you can’t use the free plan:

• Need to use one of the premium features, which includes:
  • Markdown
  • Inline CSS
  • Export your content as a PDF
  • Spell Checker.
  • Accessibility Checker
  • Math Equations
  • … and more
• Need Professional support
• Want to sub-license TinyMCE under a different license than GPL2+; each user who receives TinyMCE from you has the same rights as you do
• Want to remove the “Powered by Tiny” branding
• Don’t want to state or share any changes you have made to TinyMCE
• Don’t want to include the copyright notices
• Don’t want to include the full text of the LGPL v2.1
• Want to use White Label, Commercial Agreement, Dual Deployment or Custom Licensing
• Want to use over 1000 editor loads per month when using the cloud hosting feature.

Why should I consider Froala if I’m eligible for a free TinyMCE plan?

No one wants to pay money when they have a free option, however, going the free route could cause you to miss out on better opportunities. Look at the Froala perpetual license, for example—it gives you the right to use the latest version of the editor plus all its plugins forever with affordable fees. It is cheaper than creating a similar editor from scratch. In addition, access to updates and professional support for a year makes it an incredible offer!

Plan	Professional	Enterprise
Perpetual License cost	$2,699	$5,999

Want to explore Froala’s pricing plans in detail? See the latest Froala pricing here.

This is your chance to get an intuitive and well-maintained editor with all of its advanced functionality. Moreover, Froala is a lightweight and fast editor with a clean, pluggable coding architecture – all for a one-time fixed cost.

You can consider buying Froala under a perpetual license as an investment in your product. It will be your editor with no limitations or mandatory brand text. You are free to customize it for your brand.

In addition, Froala supports new businesses by providing an Ignition discount. If you have fewer than 50 active monthly users, request a discount.

What about Froala vs. TinyMCE subscription plans?

Let’s start with a quick general comparison between Froala and TinMCE subscription plan features:

	TinyMCE				Froala
	Free (Cloud-hosted )	Essential	Professional	Enterprise	Professional	Enterprise
	$0	$79	$145	Custom	$74.90	$166.60
	–	per month	per month	–	per month	per month
editor loads per month	1000	5000	20000	Custom	Unlimited	Unlimited
Domains	1	1	1	Multiple domains	3	Unlimited
Products	1	1	1	Multiple	1	Unlimited
Hosting	Cloud-hosted	Cloud-hosted	Cloud-hosted	Cloud or Self-hosted	Cloud or Self-hosted	Cloud or Self-hosted
Redistribution/OEM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
SaaS / Subscription	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Is ALL Features/Plugin included	No	NO	NO	Yes	Yes	Yes

Based on the above table, here are some use cases:

1. You want to use the editor in multiple domains:
   1. In case you will use it on one product that is not SaaS or OEM, then you are eligible to choose the Froala Professional plan ($74.90 / month) or the TinyMCE Enterprise plan (Custom price – expected to be  $170+  / month)
   2. In case you will use your editor on multiple products or in SaaS or OEM products, then you can choose the Froala Enterprise plan ($166.60 / month) or the TinyMCE Enterprise plan (Custom price – expected to be  $170+  / month)You can see, in both cases, that Froala is a much cheaper choice with no limitation on editor loads.
2. You want to use the editor for one domain and one product that is not SaaS or OEM:
   Here, you can select the Free, Essential, or Professional plan from TinyMCE or the Professional plan from Froala. Before you say TinyMCE is cheaper in this case, you should first calculate the real TinyMCE plan prices. This is because TinyMCE doesn’t use transparent pricing models like Froala. For instance, the TinyMCE Essential plan limits its editor to 5,000 loads per month. In the event your usage fluctuates above the editor load limit for your plan, TinyMCE will charge your credit card $40 for each additional block of 1,000 editor loads at the end of the month. This means that if you expect, for example, 6,000 views per month on pages that use TinyMCE, you will end up paying $119 instead of $79 per month, which is $44.10 per month above the Froala Professional plan cost. Moreover, each time a user views or refreshes one of those pages, you will pay more. Let’s see this graph to demonstrate that Froala is the cost-efficient tool in most cases

See the Pen
Froala VS TinyMCE Additional Cost 2024 by Froala Marketing (@Froala_marketing)
on CodePen.

The above graph lists Froala and TinyMCE plans cost/month against different editor loads. It shows that the Froala Professional plan is more cost-effective than TinyMCE plans, except in the following cases:

1. 1. You will subscribe to the TinyMCE Free plan and will keep editor loads at 2,999 times or fewer.
   2. You will subscribe to the TinyMCE Essential plan and will keep editor loads at 5,999 times or fewer.

3. You want to use the editor for one domain and one product, that is SaaS or OEM:

In this case, you can select the Free, Essential, or Professional plan from TinyMCE or the Enterprise plan from Froala. Looking at the same above graph we can figure that the Froala Enterprise plan is more cost-effective than TinyMCE plans except in the following cases:

1. 1. You will subscribe to the TinyMCE Free plan and will keep editor loads at 5,999 times or fewer.
   2. You will subscribe to the TinyMCE Essential plan and will keep editor loads at 7,999 times or fewer.
   3. You will subscribe to the TinyMCE Professional plan and will keep editor loads at 20,999 times or fewer.

It’s worth noting that SaaS and OEM projects usually have a very large user base. Most likely, your editor will be loaded over 20,000 times. Moreover, Froala usually provides discounts (20%) on all plans for new clients.

Cost Savings

Whether you need an editor for a simple personal application, a blog, SaaS, an intranet, a mobile app or you want to use it on an enterprise scale, Froala provides significant cost savings. For an average use case (30,000 loads), Froala plans can save 217% or higher when compared with similar TinyMCE plans.

Calculate Your Cost Saving when using Froala instead of TinyMCE.

Why is Froala 10x cheaper?

It is because  Froala’s plans use transparent and all-inclusive pricing. With every Froala subscription plan, you also get unlimited editor loads. In contrast, TinyMCE limits editor loads and any excess load costs you more money. TinyMCE also doesn’t give you access to all plugins. All in all, Froala subscription plans pricing is much cheaper for all the features it provides:

✔  Unlimited active users 

Froala doesn’t restrict usage on the number of users or servers

✔  All features included

No hidden fees for additional plugins or features

✔  Unlimited editor loads

Use Froala as much as you want

✔  Perpetual licensing with free updates for one year 

Froala makes it easy for teams to collaborate with hassle-free licensing

Why isn’t the Froala editor an open-source WYSIWYG editor?

The Froala editor team once thought about making it an open-source WYSIWYG editor and offering commercial support, but we believe that people have some misconceptions about open-source products, such as:

• Open source is free.
• Open source is better maintained.
• Open source is all about the community.
• Open source lacks support.
• Open source is enterprise-grade.

We discussed these points in detail here. Eventually, we realized that growing a product based on the misconceptions people have that open source means free software is wrong.

Choosing the Right Editor for Your Needs

Froala has succeeded in becoming one of the top WYSIWYG editors. It is also clear that Froala is the G2’s Top WYSIWYG Editor For Three Years in a Row. It is unsurprising because Froala is a lightweight WYSIWYG editor with an incredibly clean design. Its intuitive interface also accommodates 100+ features without overwhelming users with a complex and complicated GUI. In addition, Froala has easy-to-follow documentation and easily integrates with your products. Simply put, your users will love it. Overall, Froala Editor is the best choice for your editing requirements, and with its affordable pricing plans, it is a “do more, pay less” editor.

Can I test Froala before I buy it?

We decided to make the entire product transparent for you, and offer you hands-on experience with our editor—test the Froala Editor yourself by downloading the free trial.

How can I migrate to Froala from TinyMCE?

Migration from TinyMCE to Froala is easy, it takes less than five minutes. Follow the step-by-step guide to migrate to the best WYSIWYG editor out there. You can certainly migrate to Froala now and choose to buy later.

Are you ready to buy the next-generation WYSIWYG HTML editor?

Choose the plan that’s right for you.

FAQs

What is the best WYSIWYG?

The best WYSIWYG editor depends on your needs, but Froala and TinyMCE are among the top choices.

• TinyMCE is a well-known open-source editor with a robust feature set, making it a great option for traditional rich-text editing.
• Froala is a modern, lightweight, and highly customizable editor with faster performance, a sleek UI, and server-side SDKs for seamless integration.

If you need a fast, feature-rich, and cost-effective editor with unlimited editor loads, Froala is an excellent choice.

How do Froala and TinyMCE compare in pricing??

TinyMCE offers a free plan with limited features, while paid plans charge extra based on editor loads. Froala, on the other hand, provides transparent pricing with unlimited editor loads, making it a more cost-effective option for growing businesses.

Can I integrate Froala and TinyMCE with my tech stack?

Yes! Both editors support React, Angular, and Vue. However, Froala offers server-side SDKs for Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, and more, making backend integration much easier.

What are the best TinyMCE alternatives?

If you’re looking for TinyMCE alternatives, Froala is one of the top choices. It offers a modern UI, faster performance, and a transparent pricing model with unlimited editor loads. Other alternatives include CKEditor and Quill, but Froala stands out with its lightweight design, powerful features, and easy integration with frontend and backend technologies.

Explore Froala as a TinyMCE alternative – Try it for free

Try Froala for free and see how it enhances your editing experience!  Explore Froala