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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

Visual Studio Code

Microsoft's free, open-source-based code editor with thousands of extensions.

Visit Visual Studio Code4.8

  • Rating

    4.8 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Intermediate

  • Works on

    Windows, macOS, Linux

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What is Visual Studio Code?

Visual Studio Code is a free code editor from Microsoft, built on open source, for Windows, macOS and Linux, and in the browser at vscode.dev. It supports HTML, CSS, JavaScript and almost every other language, with an extension marketplace that adds live previews, formatters and frameworks, plus built-in AI agent features.

Pros: what Visual Studio Code does well

  • Free on every desktop OS and in the browser
  • Huge extension marketplace
  • Excellent HTML, CSS and JavaScript support

Cons: where it falls short

  • No visual drag-and-drop design view
  • Extensions take some setup

Who Visual Studio Code is for

Anyone who writes website code by hand.

Who can skip it

People who want to build sites visually without code.

What people use Visual Studio Code for

  • Writing and debugging code in almost any programming language
  • Editing Markdown, config files and notes with a fast, searchable editor
  • Working with Git: viewing changes, committing and resolving merge conflicts
  • Coding with AI help through GitHub Copilot and other extensions

How to get started

  1. 1Download VS Code from code.visualstudio.com for Windows, macOS or Linux.
  2. 2Open a folder with File > Open Folder to work on a whole project.
  3. 3Install the extensions for your language from the Extensions view.
  4. 4Open the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P (Cmd+Shift+P on a Mac) to find any command.

Visual Studio Code pricing

VS Code is free for private and commercial use. It is Microsoft's build of the MIT-licensed Code - OSS project, with some Microsoft assets added. GitHub Copilot has a free plan with a monthly allowance, and paid Copilot plans give more. See current prices on Visual Studio Code's site

Checked 2026-11-01. Prices change, so double-check before you pay.

Visual Studio Code FAQ: quick answers

Is VS Code free for commercial use?
Yes. Microsoft says VS Code is free for private or commercial use under its product licence.
Is VS Code open source?
It is built on the open source Code - OSS project, which is MIT-licensed, but the VS Code download itself includes some Microsoft proprietary parts.
Can I use GitHub Copilot in VS Code for free?
Yes. People without a work Copilot plan can use the GitHub Copilot free plan, which has a monthly allowance of suggestions and AI credits.

Visual Studio Code alternatives

Not sold on Visual Studio Code? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Workflows resources

Zed

Focus: pair programming, ai coding and open source. Shares code editor with Visual Studio Code. Freemium (Visual Studio Code: Free). Rated 4.6 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFree planmacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Phoenix Code

Focus: web design, live preview and open source. Shares code editor and dreamweaver alternative with Visual Studio Code. Freemium (Visual Studio Code: Free). Rated 4.4 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFree planWeb, Windows
4.4Visit

Upscayl

Focus: image upscaling, ai and electron. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Same 4.8 rating.

Desktop AppFreeLinux, macOS
4.8Visit

Warp

Focus: terminal, developer tools and AI. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Freemium (Visual Studio Code: Free). Rated 4.7 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFree planmacOS, Linux
4.7Visit

brag

Focus: launch video, cli and open source. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Rated 4.6 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit

ComfyUI

Focus: ai image generator, stable diffusion and local ai. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Rated 4.6 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

Free alternatives to Visual Studio Code

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

gptme

Focus: ai agents, llm agent and cli. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Rated 4.6 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Wake

Focus: ai agents, sessions and rust. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Rated 4.6 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

AgentsDock

Focus: ai agents, ide and agentic. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Rated 4.5 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

agtx

Focus: coding agents, claude code and codex. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Rated 4.5 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.5Visit

Cline for Desktop

Focus: coding agent, ai and open source. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Rated 4.5 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

Pi Desktop

Focus: ai coding, desktop and electron. Also in AI Productivity and Workflows, like Visual Studio Code. Rated 4.5 (Visual Studio Code: 4.8).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit
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