Why do many developers still dislike popular WYSIWYG editors in 2025? From poor responsiveness to limited customization, here’s what to avoid. And what to use instead.
🖥️ A Brief History of WYSIWYG Editors
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors have been around since at least the 1970s. Until then, the visual presentation of written text was restricted to basic typeface fonts from ready-made font families.
The emergence of computer graphics made it logical for editors to choose What You See Is What You Get when users are creating and editing texts. The first WYSIWYG editor was developed by Xerox and called Bravo in 1974, according to the New York Times.
The expression was coined from a question made by the wife of one of the company's developers when she saw the program running: “You mean, what I see is what I get?”
Significant advances in the concepts of the interconnection between humans and machines characterized that moment in the history of computing (1970-1980). Many new developments allowed new theoretical definitions in an environment where specialists sought new frontiers.
A newsletter widely read among programmers in the late 1980s popularized the term WYSIWYG .
The Oxford Dictionary defines WYSIWYG as a computing-related adjective denoting the representation of text on the screen in the exact form corresponding to how it will appear in print.
Popularity Has Not Reversed Defects
In these 50 years of existence, WYSIWYG editors have become the standard for editing text in web development. The increasing use of JavaScript with HTML and CSS makes this an obvious solution for inputting text.
However, despite knowing that this predominance exists, there are some things that I hate about the most popular WYSIWYG editors.
First thing: many developers lose control over the design of their pages with these editors. What you should see is not always what you see. The industry should deliver the best control of the results.
Another thing that happens is that managing the content as a whole is a bit difficult. When the user tries to insert some content, the result can mess up the appearance of the text and even the application as a whole.
Creators sometimes face complaints like: “My client can’t see the creative art”.
We can also negatively highlight the responsiveness of WYSIWYG editors. The application may look good when browsing on a notebook, but completely disastrous if viewed on a mobile device. Responsibility works almost by trial and error.
Some editors like CKEditor charge extra for functions that should be basic. This is something that annoys me because this pricing policy should be more logical. I find this defect in many tools for developers.
In 2022, I used it in a Vue project and faced these issues. In short, a good editor is very difficult to build.
Frustrations with WYSIWYG Editors
- Loss of Design Control.
- Responsiveness Issues.
- Unpredictable Content Management
- Expensive for Basic Features
- Poor Customization Options
How to Avoid This Kind of Thing
On the other hand, we can find several solutions that do not have this problem. We can find WYSIWYG HTML editors that are very versatile and easy to add to applications. One popular example is Froala.
One of the characteristics of these solutions is the clean design that avoids responsiveness issues. They ensure that the user sees what they need to see.
In general, this type of tool offers easy integration with frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue, allowing for a reduction in errors.
I also believe that editors should have customized toolbars. This allows developers to have greater control over the content.
Searching through Reddit forums, I found that the most common complaints about editors are for older models. The most modern tools almost solve these basic problems.
Thus, there are still many things that annoy me about the most popular editors. But choosing a good tool can be the helping hand that the creator needs.
Developer Tips
- Always test on mobile early in your design process.
- Customize your toolbar to remove unused features and improve UX.
- Use headless editors when you want full control over layout and styling.
📊 WYSIWYG Editor Comparison (2025)
| Editor | Clean Code | Mobile Friendly | Framework Support | Pricing | Best For |
| Froala | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | React, Vue, Angular | Free + Paid | Design-Focused |
| Tiptap | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | React, Vue, Angular | Free + Paid | Structured Content |
| TinyMCE | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | React, Vue | Free + Paid | Classic Text Editing |
| CKEditor | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | React, Angular | Paid | Enterprise Features |
| Quill | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | Vanilla JS | Free | Simple Implementations |
🛠️ How to Choose the Right Editor
When selecting a WYSIWYG editor, consider:
- 🔍 Does it output clean, semantic code?
- 📱 Is it truly responsive on mobile devices?
- 🔧 Does it integrate easily with your frontend framework?
- 💰 Are essential features available without expensive upgrades?
- 🎨 Can you customize the user interface to match your needs?
What’s your experience with WYSIWYG editors? Share your thoughts below!
Disclaimer: This article reflects personal experience as a computer engineer, with no commercial ties to the companies mentioned.
Text by Daniel Correia, a computer engineer specializing in front-end components.
