head to head · open source
code-server vs sidex
code-server has 79,356 GitHub stars, 6,856 forks, 152 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sidex has 2,954 stars, 238 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. code-server leads on adoption by 2,586% (79,356 vs 2,954 stars). code-server is written in TypeScript under MIT; sidex is written in TypeScript under MIT. code-server has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, sidex 8%. code-server was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ide, vscode), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| code-server | sidex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 238 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick code-server if
- You weight community size — 79K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick sidex if
- You want the sidex feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and sidex fits your workflow better
About code-server
code server is an MIT licensed TypeScript project from Coder that runs VS Code on a remote machine and serves the full editor in a browser, aimed at developers who want one consistent development environment reachable from any device.
read the full code-server overview →
About sidex
SideX is a port of Visual Studio Code that replaces Electron with Tauri — a Rust backend running against the operating system's native webview — for developers who want the VS Code workbench, editor, terminal and Git tooling without the bundled browser that normally comes with them.
read the full sidex overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is code-server or sidex more popular?
code-server has 79,356 GitHub stars and sidex has 2,954. code-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are code-server and sidex free?
Both are open source. code-server is licensed under MIT and sidex under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between code-server and sidex?
code-server is written in TypeScript and sidex in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, code-server or sidex?
Choose code-server if you want the larger community (79,356 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose sidex if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.