Froala is a Powerful WYSIWYG Editor: Froala Vs. Summernote

Most web designers and developers today use a “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) editor as a standard tool. These editors are widely used to create text and material that appears precisely as it would when published or printed. Their simple interface and ease of use make them an indispensable tool for website designers and developers.

If you are on the lookout for a WYSIWYG editor, you have a variety of options to choose from. Instead of spending time researching and trying out different editors, you can directly look at the reviews at G2.com to find the best editor. As shown in the grid below, Froala has been named a leader in WYSIWYG editors and it is called a Powerful HTML Editor because of its superiority in terms of its features, functionality, ease of access for developers and designers, and complete documentation, examples, and excellent support.  It also rates with the highest satisfaction score and market presence.

In this blog, we compare two WYSIWYG editors, i.e., Froala and an open-source platform called Summernote. We’ll show why Froala is the leader with 155 reviews on G2, as compared to Summernote with only 41 reviews.

What Are The Costs and Subscription Plans?

The table below shows the various subscription plans and corresponding prices offered by Froala. The yearly costs are very reasonable for a variety of services. There is also a perpetual license option for every plan making it very attractive for long-term users.

Froala
Plans	$ per year	Perpetual license per product
Free trial	0
Basic	199	499
Pro	899	1,299
Enterprise	1,999	2,999
Enterprise +	Custom	Custom

This is our overall rating for the two editors in terms of subscription plans and costs.

Feature	Froala	Summernote
Subscription plans and costs

Summernote, being an open-source platform, is available free of cost. However, a user is dependent on the open-source community for support and updates. With Froala, a user has access to the latest updates and technical support all year round.

How Do The Editor Features Compare?

All WYSIWYG editors are expected to have a set of features along with standard word processing capabilities. The table below compares Froala and Summernote in terms of various editor features.

Features	Froala	Summernote
Basic text editing (bold, italic, superscript subscript etc.)	✔	✔
Alignment and indents	✔	✔
Tables	✔	✔
Embed media (images + videos)	✔	✔
Markdown support	✔	x
Integrate 3rd party plugins in editor	✔ font awesome, spell or grammar check, math editor, etc.)	✔ (work in progress)
Drag and drop	✔	✔
Undo-redo	✔	✔

Now that markdown is becoming more and more popular for content creators, it is a desirable editor feature. Froala makes it easy to integrate 3rd party plugins in its editor, which is also a big plus. With Summernote, this is a work in progress.

This is how we rate the two editors in terms of editor features:

Feature	Froala	Summernote
Editor features

 

How Do The Features For Developers And Designers Compare?

The table below lists some features specifically for developers and web designers:

Feature	Froala	Summernote
APIs support for integrating the editor in an app	✔	✔
Free online HTML editor	✔	✔
Try out code via JSFiddle	✔	x
Free interactive design blocks	✔ (170+ Bootstrap based)	✔ (Work in progress. Limited plugins available)
Themes and templates	✔	✔
Page preview	✔	✔

Froala offers APIs for integrating the editor into an app, a free online HTML editor along with 170+ boostrap based design blocks. With Summernote, there are only a limited number of custom Summernote plugins available at awesome-summernote on Github.

This is our overall rating in terms of features for developers and designers:

Feature	Froala	Summernote
Features for developers and designers

 

How Do Documentation And Support Compare?

The table below makes a comparison in terms of documentation and support.

Feature	Froala	Summernote
Online Documentation	✔	✔
Online demos and examples	✔	✔
Free updates with license	✔	Updates depend upon work from community members
Dedicated support for customization	✔	x

While Summernote provides good examples and descriptions of its APIs on its website, a user may have to rely on the open-source community for help, customization, and removing bugs. Conversely, Froala provides an impressive 60+ examples and 7 create-element guides. It also has dedicated teams responsible for providing updates, fixing issues, and long-term support for customizing the editor for a user’s requirements.

This is how we rate the two editors in terms of documentation and support.

Feature	Froala	Summernote
Documentation and support

 

Why Is Froala The Better Editor?

Here is a summary table of ratings with respect to various features.

Feature	Froala	Summernote
Subscription plans and cost
Editor features
Features for editors and designers
Documentation and support

Froala, being the leader in G2 is the superior choice in terms of editor features, functionality, features for developers and designers, and documentation and support. With its rich text editing capabilities, well-structured, developer-friendly APIs, blazing fast speed, and customizable editor, Froala also comes with excellent documentation and support.

Don’t wait and start working with the powerful Froala WYSIWYG editor today!