head to head · open source
vscodium vs windsurf.vim
vscodium has 33,445 GitHub stars, 1,875 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. windsurf.vim has 5,141 stars, 195 forks, 135 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. vscodium leads on adoption by 551% (33,445 vs 5,141 stars). vscodium is written in Shell under MIT; windsurf.vim is written in Vim Script under MIT. vscodium has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, windsurf.vim 4%. vscodium was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (editor, ide), 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
| vscodium | windsurf.vim | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 5.1K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Shell | Vim Script |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-03-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 195 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vscodium if
- You weight community size — 33K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick windsurf.vim if
- You want the windsurf.vim feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Vim Script
- You evaluated both and windsurf.vim fits your workflow better
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 →
About windsurf.vim
windsurf.vim is the free, MIT licensed Vim Script plugin that brings Windsurf's AI code completion into Vim and Neovim, and it is aimed at developers who want Copilot style suggestions inside their terminal editor rather than in a separate IDE.
read the full windsurf.vim overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vscodium or windsurf.vim more popular?
vscodium has 33,445 GitHub stars and windsurf.vim has 5,141. vscodium has the larger community by that measure.
Are vscodium and windsurf.vim free?
Both are open source. vscodium is licensed under MIT and windsurf.vim under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vscodium and windsurf.vim?
vscodium is written in Shell and windsurf.vim in Vim Script. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, vscodium or windsurf.vim?
Choose vscodium if you want the larger community (33,445 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose windsurf.vim if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.