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Code editors · 14 alternatives

Instead of Visual Studio Code, try one of these 14.

Every alternative is lined up against Visual Studio Code on what people actually switch for: price, open source, self-hosting, offline use and platforms. Visual Studio Code sits in the first row, so you can see what you give up.

Show onlySorted by likes · 14 of 14
Alternative
Price
Open source
Self-host
Offline
Platforms
Visual Studio CodeWhat you have now
The most popular code editor, with a huge extension marketplace.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Sublime Text#1
Blazingly fast, minimalist text editor for code.
PricePaid
$99 license
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Cursor#2
AI-first code editor built on VS Code.
PriceFreemium
pro $20/mo
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Mac · Win · Linux
Vim#3
Modal text editor that never leaves your terminal.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Neovim#4
Modern, extensible rewrite of Vim.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
VSCodium#5Our pick
VS Code without Microsoft telemetry or branding.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Atom#6
Extensible, hackable editor built on Electron.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Zed#7
GPU-accelerated collaborative code editor in Rust.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Mac · Linux · Win
Notepad++#8
Lightweight Windows text editor with plugins.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win
Windsurf#9
AI code editor with agents that edit across files.
PriceFreemium
pro $15/mo
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Mac · Win · Linux
GNU Emacs#10
Extensible self-documenting editor with a Lisp-based plugin system.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux · Android
Kate#11
KDE's feature-rich editor with split views and sessions.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Replit#12
Cloud IDE for coding, hosting, and collaborating in the browser.
PriceFreemium
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflinePartial
Platforms
Web · Win · Mac · iOS · Android
Helix#13
Rust-based modal editor with built-in language server support.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Lapce#14
Lightning-fast Rust editor with a modern plugin system.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux

How to read this. “Yes” means fully supported by the maker. “Partial” means it works with caveats. Likes reflect community popularity; vendors can’t pay for them or for placement. Our pick, marked in lime, is the option we would point most people leaving Visual Studio Code to first. How we compare.

Visual Studio Code alternatives at a glance

Visual Studio Code is a free code editors app. We compared 14 alternatives: 10 are open source, 10 are completely free, 0 can be self-hosted and 13 work fully offline. The most popular is Sublime Text, with 1.9k likes, while our pick is VSCodium.

Most liked overallSublime Text

Blazingly fast, minimalist text editor for code.

Paid · Works offline
Best free optionVim

Modal text editor that never leaves your terminal.

Free · Open source · Works offline
Best open-source optionNeovim

Modern, extensible rewrite of Vim.

Free · Open source · Works offline
Best for offline useCursor

AI-first code editor built on VS Code.

Freemium · Works offline

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