Visual Studio Code

Overview

Visual Studio Code was released by Microsoft in 2015, built on Electron and the same open source “Code - OSS” codebase that Microsoft publishes on GitHub under the MIT license. It grew quickly into the most widely used code editor, driven largely by its extension ecosystem, built-in Git integration, and integrated debugging support across a huge range of languages and frameworks.

The Microsoft-branded VS Code binary that most people download, however, is not the same as the open source “Code - OSS” repository. Microsoft’s official build adds Microsoft branding, telemetry and usage data collection, and — critically — ships under a proprietary product license that restricts access to the official Visual Studio Marketplace to Microsoft’s own builds. Third-party builds of the identical open source code, like VSCodium, cannot legally use the Microsoft marketplace or telemetry endpoints as a result.

Is VS Code Open Source?

Not exactly. The underlying “Code - OSS” source code that Microsoft publishes on GitHub is MIT-licensed and genuinely open source, but the official Visual Studio Code product — the branded build most people install — ships under a separate, proprietary Microsoft license that adds telemetry and restricts marketplace access to Microsoft’s own builds. If you want the same editor experience without Microsoft’s telemetry, branding, or marketplace restrictions, VSCodium builds the identical open source code without any of that. Neovim, Zed, and Pulsar are independent open source editors that offer different but comparable workflows.

Key Features

• Extension marketplace — A vast library of extensions for language support, linting, themes, and tooling
• Integrated debugging — Built-in debuggers for many languages, with breakpoints and variable inspection
• Built-in Git support — Source control view, diffing, and staging without a separate Git client
• IntelliSense — Context-aware code completion and parameter hints across supported languages
• Remote development — Editing code running on WSL, containers, or remote SSH hosts from a local window
• Integrated terminal — A full terminal panel inside the editor window

Use Cases

• General-purpose software development — Writing and debugging code across nearly any language or framework
• Remote and containerized development — Editing code that lives on a remote server, WSL instance, or dev container
• Notebook-based data science — Running and editing Jupyter notebooks directly inside the editor

Who It’s For

VS Code suits developers who want a fast, extensible editor with strong out-of-the-box language support and don’t mind Microsoft’s telemetry or a proprietary marketplace license. Its closed licensing and data collection are the main reasons some developers move to fully open source builds or editors instead.