Tiny Technology RTE Trends Reveal New Priorities in the Industry

Tiny Technologies announced the release of its annual industry trends report. The 2025 State of Rich Text Editors report highlights key trends to help technologists make informed decisions for their applications. 

Three key themes stood out in this year's report:

AI takes the lead: RTEs must include AI as an active collaborator.
Security first: It’s the #1 requirement for choosing an RTE.
Use case evolution: RTEs are gaining traction in apps beyond content management. 
 
Now in its fifth year, the free-to-download report brings together deep insights based on the company's survey of developers, software engineering leaders, and others working in technology today. Conducted in the second quarter of 2025, the survey sample size included 534 technical professionals who develop or manage RTEs in their applications across a wide range of environments, and includes representatives from single developer projects to enterprise teams. 

Key survey findings include: 

AI evolved in just a year from a future possibility to a baseline expectation with 20% of respondents asking for AI to serve as a full collaborator and 42% noting AI collaboration as the most crucial RTE advancement for the next five years. They want AI as a partner in the creative process, with brainstorming, writing and ideating built directly into the RTE. One respondent noted, “We're integrating with AI-driven workflows, and the ability for users to collaborate live on AI-generated drafts is becoming more and more of a requirement."

Security topped the list of non-negotiable capabilities for a modern RTE, cited by 75% of respondents, followed closely by 75% citing performance and 68% noting customizability. Priorities shift as companies scale, with small teams valuing speed and ease of use, mid-sized companies wanting customization and security, and enterprise users seeking security and performance.

CMS's primacy is fading, with respondents noting CMS platforms accounted for 44% of RTE use cases in the 2024 report compared to just 31% in 2025. Core CMS functions are unbundling into purpose-built platforms, as DMS solutions saw the biggest jump in usage, moving from 8% of use cases to 13%. This reflects a modular approach to content creation instead of a single CMS. As use cases expand to more specific workflows, technologists need a flexible RTE that can adapt quickly without being slowed by development.

"RTE expectations are shifting, away from simple text editing to intelligent and flexible tools,” said Wiktor Walc, chief technology officer at TinyMCE. “Choosing an RTE is not just a technical decision; it is a strategic choice that can define the success of an application. The survey results support modern RTEs putting developers first by providing AI-powered capabilities that unlock creativity and drive application success.”