head to head · open source
vscode vs Kilo
vscode has 192,700 GitHub stars, 42,805 forks, 21,181 open issues and last shipped today. Kilo has 27,369 stars, 3,178 forks, 586 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vscode leads on adoption by 604% (192,700 vs 27,369 stars). vscode is written in TypeScript under MIT; Kilo is written in TypeScript under MIT. vscode has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Kilo 12%. vscode was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| vscode | Kilo | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 193K | ★ 27K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 43K | ⑂ 3.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vscode if
- You weight community size — 193K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Kilo if
- You want the Kilo feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Kilo fits your workflow better
About vscode
Visual Studio Code is Microsoft's open source code editor — the Code OSS repository, written in TypeScript on Electron and released under the MIT license — and it serves two audiences: developers who want a lightweight editor covering the core edit build debug cycle on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and contributors who want to work directly on the editor, its roadmap, and its extensions.
read the full vscode overview →
About Kilo
Kilo is an open source AI coding agent platform that integrates into VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, the CLI, and cloud environments. It enables developers to build, ship, and iterate faster by acting as an autonomous or semi autonomous coding assistant across their entire workflow. Built in TypeScript and licensed under MIT, it supports 500+ models—including GPT 5.5, Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Sonnet 4.6, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview—without vendor lock in or markup.
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Frequently asked questions
Is vscode or Kilo more popular?
vscode has 192,700 GitHub stars and Kilo has 27,369. vscode has the larger community by that measure.
Are vscode and Kilo free?
Both are open source. vscode is licensed under MIT and Kilo under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vscode and Kilo?
vscode is written in TypeScript and Kilo 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, vscode or Kilo?
Choose vscode if you want the larger community (192,700 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Kilo if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.