head to head · open source
vscode vs sidex
vscode has 192,669 GitHub stars, 42,705 forks, 21,181 open issues and last shipped today. sidex has 2,954 stars, 238 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. vscode leads on adoption by 6,422% (192,669 vs 2,954 stars). vscode is written in TypeScript under MIT; sidex is written in TypeScript under MIT. vscode has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, sidex 8%. vscode was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (typescript), 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
| vscode | sidex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 193K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-08-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 43K | ⑂ 238 |
| 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 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 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 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 vscode or sidex more popular?
vscode has 192,669 GitHub stars and sidex has 2,954. vscode has the larger community by that measure.
Are vscode and sidex free?
Both are open source. vscode is licensed under MIT and sidex under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vscode and sidex?
vscode 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, vscode or sidex?
Choose vscode if you want the larger community (192,669 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose sidex if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.