A Comparison Between Various Rich Text Editors for Flutter
Introduction
Rich text editors are essential tools for developers that are working with the Flutter framework. They enable users to format text and include multimedia elements such as images and links, without the need to write specific code to format these elements.
This insight aims to provide a comparison between some rich text editors for Flutter development, including Fleather, Super Editor, and Quill. By understanding the features of these editors, developers can choose the one that best suits their application requirements.
Fleather
Fleather is a modern rich text editor designed for Flutter applications with support for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, and the web making it a top option for Flutter developers that are looking to integrate rich text editing in their applications. Here are some of the key features that Fleather offers:
Basic Text Formatting: Support for options such as bold, italic, strikethrough, underline, lists, and code.
Embedded Resources: Allows users to integrate images and links as either block elements or inline elements in their applications.
Encode and Decode Markdown & HTML: Facilitates conversion of content between Markdown/HTML and the editor's document model, enabling editing and integration of web formats.
Fleather can be added to Flutter projects as a dependency by adding the following piece of code:
dependencies:
flutter:
sdk: flutter
fleather: ^1.14.1
Likewise, the Fleather project is actively updated and is also available on GitHub.
Super Editor
Super Editor is a rich text editor created by Superlist. It is an open-source project that emphasizes configurability, extensibility, and compatibility with any backend. Here are some of the key features of Super Editor:
Text Editing Capabilities: The edit supports text editing features (bold, italics, strikethrough, headers, paragraphs), ordered and unordered lists.
Embedded Resources: Allows users to integrate images and links as either block elements or inline elements in their applications.
Customization with Low-Level Tools: For specific applications that require deeper customization, Super Editor also provides lower-level tools which ensure that you can fine-tune the editor’s functionality and appearance to match your application’s design requirements.
Example Implementations: Super Editor comes equipped with sample implementations that can help developers quickly understand the package to use it in their own applications.
Super Editor can be added as a dependency to flutter projects using the following code:
dependencies:
flutter:
sdk: flutter
super_editor: ^0.2.6
Super Editor is still in its early development stage with more features being implemented on GitHub.
Quill
Quill is an open source rich text editor for Flutter. It enables users and developers to interact with formatted text in real-time. Here are some of the key features that Quill offers:
Customizability: Quill provides a highly customizable interface, enabling developers to play around with the editor’s look and functionality to the design needs of their application.
Extensibility: The modular architecture allows Quill to be extended with custom formats, modules, and themes.
Embedded Resources: Allows users to integrate images and links as either block elements or inline elements in their applications.
Quill can be added to a flutter project by adding it as a dependency:
dependencies:
flutter:
sdk: flutter
flutter_quill: ^9.3.1
Comparison Between Fleather, Super Editor, and Quill
| Feature | Fleather | Super Editor | Quill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Android, iOS, Web, macOS, Linux, Windows | Mac OS, Web, Android, iOS (Windows, Linux unverified) | Android, iOS, Web, Desktop |
| Rich Text Editing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Embeds Support | Inline and block embeds | Images, Videos, and others as custom components | Images, Videos, Formulas (via extensions) |
| Markdown Support | Yes | No | Yes |
| Collaboration | Yes but not built in | No | - |
| Community Support | GitHub | Slack & GitHub | Slack & GitHub |
| Unique Features | Clean, minimalistic design | Highly configurable and composable | WYSIWYG editor, extensive formatting editor |
Conclusion
Fleather, Super Editor, and Quill are all excellent rich text editor options for Flutter developers. Each editor comes with its specific strengths and weaknesses along with the level of customizability. When selecting a rich text editor, flutter developers should carefully consider the requirements of their applications. All three editors are open source projects with continuous development which indicates that they will continue to evolve over time.
References
https://fleather-editor.github.io/
https://github.com/fleather-editor/fleather
https://pub.dev/packages/fleather
https://github.com/superlistapp/super_editor
https://pub.dev/packages/super_editor
https://editor.superlist.com/
https://github.com/singerdmx/flutter-quill
https://pub.dev/packages/flutter_quill
