Visual Studio Code comparisons
Visual Studio Code is compared head-to-head with Neovim, GNU Emacs and Notepad++ and more: 7 head-to-heads in Text Editors, each with the specs and prices we checked.
Visual Studio Code head-to-head
- Visual Studio Code vs Neovim
- Visual Studio Code vs GNU Emacs
- Visual Studio Code vs Notepad++
- Visual Studio Code vs Kate
- Visual Studio Code vs Vim
- Visual Studio Code vs Zed
- Visual Studio Code vs BBEdit
Visual Studio Code vs each of them
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Supported platforms | Multi-cursor editing | Macro recording | Column editing | Large-file handling | Extension support | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visual Studio Code | Yes | Free | web, windows, macos, linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9.4 | |
| 2 | Neovim | Yes | Free | Linux, macOS, Windows, Android | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9.3 |
| 3 | GNU Emacs | Yes | Free | GNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, BSD, Haiku, Solaris, MS-DOS/FreeDOS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9.2 |
| 4 | Notepad++ | Yes | Free | Windows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9.1 |
| 5 | Kate | Yes | Free | Linux, BSD, Windows, macOS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9.0 | |
| 6 | Vim | Yes | Free | Windows, macOS, Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.9 | ||
| 7 | Zed | Yes | $10/mo | macOS, Windows, Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.8 | |
| 8 | BBEdit | Yes | $59.99 one-time | macOS | Yes | Yes | Yes | 8.7 |
Compare Visual Studio Code with any text editor
These are the matchups our editors wrote up. The compare tool pairs Visual Studio Code with any other product in Text Editors — and up to four at once — from the same checked specs.
Compare Visual Studio Code with any tool side by side →
Every text editors head-to-head →
Our full Visual Studio Code verdict, pricing and fact sheet →
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Compared by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
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