head to head · open source
vscode vs vscodium
vscode has 194,494 GitHub stars, 44,389 forks, 21,181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vscodium has 33,919 stars, 1,918 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. vscode leads on adoption by 473% (194,494 vs 33,919 stars). vscode is written in TypeScript under MIT; vscodium is written in Shell under MIT. vscode has attracted 23% 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 | ★ 194K | ★ 34K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 44K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| 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 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 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 vscodium
VSCodium Free/Libre Open Source Software Binaries of Visual Studio Code This is not a fork. This is a repository of scripts to automatically build Microsoft's vscode repository into freely licensed binaries with a community driven default configuration. Table of Contents Download/Install Install with Brew Install with Windows Package Manager (WinGet) Install with Chocolatey Install with Scoop Install with snap Install with Package Manager Install on Arch Linux Flatpak Option Build Why Does This Exist More Info Supported Platforms Previously Supported Platforms Download/Install :tada: :tada: Download latest…
read the full vscodium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vscode or vscodium more popular?
vscode has 194,494 GitHub stars and vscodium has 33,919. 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 (194,494 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose vscodium if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.