VS Code AlternativesOnly apps from the EU

The best alternative to Visual Studio Code is Notepad++, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Visual Studio Code and many of them are so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting alternatives to Visual Studio Code are Vim, Kate, Geany and IntelliJ IDEA.

filter to find the best alternatives

Visual Studio Code alternatives are mainly Code Editors, but if you're looking for Text Editors or IDEs you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Online, Android, Windows, iPad, Linux, Chrome OS and Open Source. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Visual Studio Code.
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Alternatives
Get a badge for your siteVisual Studio Code alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Notepad++ icon
     5020 likes

    Notepad++ is a free, open-source code editor supporting several languages, offering features like syntax highlighting, plugin support, dark mode, portability, privacy, and efficient resource usage, making it highly customizable and suitable for various programming needs.

    271 Notepad++ alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    12
  2. Vim icon
     1370 likes

    Vim, or "Vi IMproved", is an advanced text editor that provides a myriad of features including syntax highlighting, word completion, and a vast amount of contributed content. This tool comes with a GUI version known as GVim. Vim's top features include being lightweight, keyboard-focused, and customizable. It supports a wide range of operating systems such as Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD, Haiku, AmigaOS, OpenSolaris, and MorphOS. Vim is recognized as an open-source software and is available for free.

    In comparison to Visual Studio Code, Vim presents itself as a viable alternative. Both being Text Editor & Code Editors, they share some similar features such as customizability. However, Vim stands out with its lightweight design and keyboard-focused operation. Vim has received positive comments as an alternative to Visual Studio Code, with users noting it as 'the lightest alternative with the most features', praising its readiness to work as soon as it is opened, and its massive amount of extendable, open-source plugins.

    235 Vim alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    • AmigaOS
    • OpenSolaris
    • MorphOS
    • NL flagNetherlands
    • European Union flagEU
    Vim screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    6
  3. Kate icon
     335 likes

    Kate is a product of the Kate project, which primarily develops two key products: KatePart and Kate. KatePart is an advanced editor component, utilized in a myriad of KDE applications that require a text editing component. On the other hand, Kate is a MDI text editor application. It is a native application that comes with a variety of themes and supports syntax highlighting. Kate has been well-received by users and has garnered numerous positive reviews. It is compatible with multiple platforms including Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD, and KDE.

    As a popular open source and free alternative to Visual Studio Code, Kate offers certain advantages. Unlike Visual Studio Code which is an Electron app, Kate is a compiled C++ application, which results in a more performant operation. This difference is often noted by users who prefer Kate over Visual Studio Code. Additionally, users have pointed out that while Kate may not be suitable for larger projects as of yet, it is an excellent choice for smaller ones due to its syntax highlighting and other features. It's important to note that while both Kate and Visual Studio Code serve as Text Editor, Code Editor & IDE, Visual Studio Code is known for its extensibility through plugins/extensions, customization options, and autocompletion feature.

    165 Kate alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    5
  4. Geany icon
     583 likes

    Geany is a powerful, stable and lightweight programmer's text editor that provides tons of useful features without bogging down your workflow.

    171 Geany alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flatpak
    • Haiku
    Good alternative?
     
  5. IntelliJ IDEA icon
     451 likes

    IntelliJ IDEA is the JetBrains IDE for pro development in Java and Kotlin. Built for your comfort, it unlocks productivity, ensures quality code, supports cutting-edge tech, and protects your privacy.

    68 IntelliJ IDEA alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    2
  6. PyCharm icon
     304 likes

    Cross-platform IDE for Python and Django with refactoring capabilities, code completion, VCS integration, deployment, issue tracking, remote debugging, and Community Edition, though lacking database support and web technologies.

    58 PyCharm alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    2
  7. Gram icon
     12 likes

    Gram is a powerful and modern source code editor. It features solid performance and is highly configurable, yet comes with batteries included out of the box. Gram supports many popular programming languages and file formats, and can use Zed extensions to support additional...

    64 Gram alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Gentoo
    • Homebrew
    • Windows
    Good alternative?
     
  8. WebStorm icon
     136 likes

    JetBrains WebStorm is a commercial IDE for JavaScript, CSS & HTML built on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA platform.

    58 WebStorm alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    2
  9. CodeEdit icon
     14 likes

    CodeEdit is a code editor built by the community, for the community, written entirely and unapologetically for macOS. Features include syntax highlighting, code completion, project find and replace, snippets, terminal, task running, debugging, git integration, code review...

    36 CodeEdit alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  10. CLion icon
     56 likes

    The intelligent cross-platform C/C++ IDE. CLion is a new IDE that helps you be more productive while developing apps with C and C++ for Windows, Linux and OS X. Take advantage of proven JetBrains expertise in code quality, efficient code navigation, smart code completion...

    18 CLion alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
    Good alternative?
     
  11. KDevelop icon
     81 likes

    A cross-platform IDE for C, C++, Python, QML/JavaScript and PHP.

    51 KDevelop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Snapcraft
    Good alternative?
     
  12. PSPad icon
     203 likes

    PSPad is a freeware programmers editor in 8 languages for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Some features are highlighted syntax, ftp, projects and so on. Code explorer for Pascal, C/C++, INI, HTML, XML, PHP and more in development, internal web browser with APACHE support.

    185 PSPad alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Good alternative?
     
12 of 47 Visual Studio Code alternatives