head to head · open source
vscode vs vscodium
vscode has 192,658 GitHub stars, 42,648 forks, 21,181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vscodium has 33,291 stars, 1,866 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. vscode leads on adoption by 479% (192,658 vs 33,291 stars). vscode is written in TypeScript under MIT; vscodium is written in Shell under MIT. vscode has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, vscodium 6%. vscode was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (editor), 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 | vscodium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 193K | ★ 33K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 43K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| 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 vscodium if
- You want the vscodium feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and vscodium 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 vscodium
VSCodium is a repository of scripts that automatically build Microsoft's vscode repository into freely licensed binaries with a community driven default configuration, made for developers who want the Visual Studio Code editing experience without Microsoft branding, telemetry, or licensing encumbrance.
read the full vscodium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vscode or vscodium more popular?
vscode has 192,658 GitHub stars and vscodium has 33,291. vscode has the larger community by that measure.
Are vscode and vscodium free?
Both are open source. vscode is licensed under MIT and vscodium under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vscode and vscodium?
vscode is written in TypeScript and vscodium in Shell. 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 vscodium?
Choose vscode if you want the larger community (192,658 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose vscodium if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.