head to head · open source
vscode vs NvChad
vscode has 194,494 GitHub stars, 44,389 forks, 21,181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NvChad has 28,529 stars, 2,212 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. vscode leads on adoption by 582% (194,494 vs 28,529 stars). vscode is written in TypeScript under MIT; NvChad is written in Lua under GPL-3.0. vscode has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, NvChad 8%. 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 | NvChad | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 194K | ★ 29K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 44K | ⑂ 2.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vscode if
- You weight community size — 194K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick NvChad if
- You want the NvChad feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and NvChad fits your workflow better
About vscode
Visual Studio Code Open Source ("Code OSS") The Repository This repository (" Code OSS ") is where we (Microsoft) develop the Visual Studio Code product together with the community. Not only do we work on code and issues here, but we also publish our roadmap, monthly iteration plans, and our endgame plans. This source code is available to everyone under the standard MIT license. Visual Studio Code Visual Studio Code is a distribution of the Code OSS repository with Microsoft specific customizations released under a traditional Microsoft product license. Visual Studio Code combines the simplicity of a code editor…
read the full vscode overview →
About NvChad
NvChad Home • Install • Contribute • Support • Features Showcase What is it? NvChad is a neovim config written in lua aiming to provide a base configuration with very beautiful UI and blazing fast startuptime (around 0.02 secs 0.07 secs). We tweak UI plugins such as telescope, nvim tree etc well to provide an aesthetic UI experience. Lazy loading is done 93% of the time meaning that plugins will not be loaded by default, they will be loaded only when required also at specific commands, events etc. This lowers the startuptime and it was like 0.07 secs tested on an old pentium machine 1.4ghz + 4gb ram & HDD…
read the full NvChad overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vscode or NvChad more popular?
vscode has 194,494 GitHub stars and NvChad has 28,529. vscode has the larger community by that measure.
Are vscode and NvChad free?
Both are open source. vscode is licensed under MIT and NvChad under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vscode and NvChad?
vscode is written in TypeScript and NvChad in Lua. 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 NvChad?
Choose vscode if you want the larger community (194,494 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose NvChad if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.