I'm a Neovim user but I have to agree with the recommendation. If you've wanted to check out vim/emacs but were nervous Helix is a good place to start.

I do wish there was at least the option to use vim keybindings in Helix though. The Helix keybindings are mostly the same but just different enough to be annoying if you're already used to vim.

Edit: typo

Someone else mentioned evil-helix if you really want those keybindings but, admittedly, I think the different keybindings (and more specifically the select then operate model) are a major point of why helix (and its inspiration, kakoune) exists.

I haven't used it, but I've seen people speak well about evil helix https://evil-helix.github.io/