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Visual Studio Code Logo

Source code editing for MacOS, Windows and Linux

Last updated: February 2025

Table of Contents

Visual Studio Code - 2025 Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

What is Visual Studio Code?

Visual Studio Code is a source code editor, which helps businesses build and debug web applications running on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Features include syntax highlighting, code refactoring and navigation, snippets, Emmet abbreviations, command-line interface (CLI), and text wrap.

The software lets developers edit codes using multi-cursor, shrink/expand selection, autosave, hot exit, and find and replace capabilities. With IntelliSense, users can receive suggestions about list members, function definitions, parameter info, or variable types while writing codes. The built-in debugging tool allows programmers to edit, compile, and debug loops, enable breakpoints to suspend the running code and view variables or behavior of memory, and log a message to the console using logpoint.

Visual Studio Code offers integration with GitHub, helping developers share source codes with team members, clone a repository, as well as view and manage pull requests. It provides refactoring operations, extract method and extract variable, which lets users improve code base through restructure, without modifying the runtime behavior.

Starting from

Free

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Visual Studio Code's key features

GetApp's analysis of 132 verified user reviews collected between May 2022 and August 2024 identified Visual Studio Code's most critical features and how it performs according to users.

Third-Party Integrations

Reviewers appreciate Visual Studio Code's Third-Party Integrations for their ability to extend functionality beyond the core editor. They highlight the extensive extension marketplace, which includes integrations with Git, Docker, Azure, AWS, and various testing frameworks. Users find these integrations helpful for customizing their development environment, supporting multiple programming languages, and automating tasks. They also mention the ease of installing and using these extensions, which enhance productivity and streamline workflows. Of the 84 Visual Studio Code users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Third-Party Integrations, 98% rated this feature as important or highly important.


Search/Filter

Users report that Visual Studio Code's Search/Filter capabilities are highly valued for swiftly navigating extensive codebases. They appreciate the ability to search and replace text across multiple files, use regular expressions, and filter search results. Reviewers indicate that the capability helps locate variables, methods, and macros quickly, saving time and improving productivity. They also mention the convenience of the command bar for fuzzy-searching files and symbols. Of the 62 Visual Studio Code users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Search/Filter, 92% rated this feature as important or highly important.


Version Control

Reviewers indicate that Visual Studio Code's Version Control capabilities, powered by Git, offer a seamless interface for managing changes, visualizing commit history, and resolving conflicts. They appreciate the built-in support for Git and the ability to integrate with other version control systems like SVN. Users find the Source Control view helpful for tracking file status and performing Git operations directly within the editor. They also mention the ease of pushing and pulling repositories and creating branches. Of the 86 Visual Studio Code users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Version Control, 90% rated this feature as important or highly important.


Code Review

Users report that Visual Studio Code's Code Review capabilities enhance collaboration and code quality. They highlight the integrated tools for commenting, inline suggestions, and version comparisons. Reviewers appreciate the ability to review code changes, detect errors, and maintain coding standards. They also mention the seamless integration with Git for managing pull requests and performing code reviews within the editor. The capability is valued for improving productivity and ensuring code reliability. Of the 69 Visual Studio Code users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Code Review, 88% rated this feature as important or highly important.


Bug Tracking

Reviewers feel that Visual Studio Code's Bug Tracking capabilities are highly beneficial for maintaining code quality and project management. They appreciate the built-in debugging support for various programming languages, which allows for stepping through code, viewing variables, and identifying issues. Users also mention the availability of extensions for tracking bugs and integrating with tools like Jira. They find the capability helpful for efficiently logging and resolving bugs directly within the coding environment. Of the 70 Visual Studio Code users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Bug Tracking, 86% rated this feature as important or highly important.


Custom Development

Users report that Visual Studio Code's Custom Development capabilities allow them to tailor the editor to their specific needs. They appreciate the flexibility to integrate extensions, customize themes, and configure settings. Reviewers highlight the ability to add support for new languages, debuggers, and services. They also mention the ease of creating custom keybindings, shortcuts, and automation scripts. The capability is valued for improving productivity and providing a personalized development environment. Of the 46 Visual Studio Code users who gave detailed accounts of their use of Custom Development, 83% rated this feature as important or highly important.


All Visual Studio Code features

Features rating:

Application Management
Change Management
API

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Visual Studio Code pricing

Starting from

Free

Pricing details
Subscription
Free trial
Free plan
Pricing range

User opinions about Visual Studio Code price and value

Value for money rating:

Of 73 reviews that provide robust commentary on Visual Studio Code's price and value, 95% mention it in a positive light.

Most users consider Visual Studio Code to offer excellent value for money, primarily because it is free and open-source. They appreciate that it provides a wide range of features and capabilities without any cost, making it a popular choice among developers. Reviewers indicate that the availability of numerous free extensions and plugins enhances its functionality, which is highly beneficial for both beginners and experienced developers. Users think that the cost savings are significant, especially for businesses that can utilize the free version for non-production tasks. They find that Visual Studio Code competes well with other more expensive IDEs, offering similar features without the associated costs.

Some reviewers feel that the free nature of the software means it lacks certain advanced features and integrations available in paid alternatives. They report that some plugins are fragmented or of low quality, and others can be quite expensive. Some users say that the lack of dedicated service and support is a drawback, which they attribute to the software being free. Despite these issues, most users still find Visual Studio Code to be a cost-effective solution for their development needs.

Check .

To see what individual users think of Visual Studio Code's cost and value, check out the review excerpts below.

Ah I like the market extension, it contains a lot of helpful packages and tools that every developer needs to optimize effort and time, and above all of that they are open source and free access.
I mostly use Visual Studio Code when developing applications in .net 6 and Angular and I must say it's one of the best free tools available on the market with this great capability and this vast number of features.
Since VS code IDE free version is also available online so businesses can save some cost with using this for those developer who are not working on production things.

Visual Studio Code integrations (60)

Integrations rated by users

We looked through 1,656 user reviews, to identify which products are mentioned as Visual Studio Code integrations, and what is the users perception.

GitHub logo
GitHub

Integration rating: 4.8 (109)

Have you ever thought about the time used to switch back and fort of the application to make just a few change? This can be an hassle! Humor me, as I introduce the "GitHub CLI" with the integrated terminal in VS Code allowing you to beat these time by 50%. The GitHub app extension in VS Code provides more flexible options ranging from pulling, staging, and pushing code directly to your GitHub repo.

It's really interesting, we don't want to go through git, directly from our machine to the github and an automatic push parameter or to the source code modification component, if we have the internet connection.

Source control is important to us, this plugin works well but more generally don't expect any help from Microsoft, they don't seem to like their small Partners

It is extremely important for code version control and for sharing the code so that other team members can have the latest updated code and also for CI/CD.

It allow to use Visual Studio Code as the primary code editor while being able to use collaboration features of Github, directly on the editor.

We deploy our code changes to GitHub so it is very reliable. Code makes it easier to integrate with GitHub as well which is a huge plus.

saves my progress on the cloud. Helps save data in case of disaster, must have while working with groups or a team of more than one.

Version control is the most frequent thing that you do when you develop your code. You can handle it from the window that you code

It is very important to integrate with GitHub for any collaborative work or version control. VS Code does it very easily.

GitHub is one of the (if not "the") most used version control system. It's a must-have if you are working in a company !

we can connect between them in one click, and do updates on github using a package from market extension named gitlens

It allows for collaboration with team members and lets them view your code session without using a separate software.

As we know on big project you can not work by yourself integration is one of important part special for freelancer.

It is important that both applications are integrated for the work done in the coding and data analysis processes.

Easy commits and makes version control part of the workflow, and doesn't feel tacked on, or a chore to accomplish.

Any moment we can make us of repositories for creating & running projects and saving in github remote servers

I can make commits and pushes directly from within the editor - no need to switch context and lose my focus.

I don't actually use VS Code to commit/push/pull but I use it to handle changes, merging, reverting changes

I can't imagine coding without Git and Github. The easy integration this service provides is perfect.

Working on code needs good integration with previous changes and changes made by other people.

SH

Samuel Hillary

IT Administrator

1/20
Git logo
Git

Integration rating: 5.0 (13)

The GUI that VSCode provides for common Git commands makes it even easier to work with it as a version control system.

Visual studio code are uses the git are good responsed and good work code are share to help easy git

For a developer, code and version control are atomic unit.i.e. they can never separate.

AvatarImg

Christian Klemp

Programmer Analyst

1/3
Docker logo
Docker

Integration rating: 4.6 (10)

Haven't used it a lot, but it seems like I can go into a docker container and edit a file on the fly? Crazy!

It allowed me to test the code with Docker and have functionality tests quickly.

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Anonymous Reviewer

Director, Internet Strategy

1/2
GitLab logo
GitLab

Integration rating: 4.9 (7)

Being able to run commands and push/pull code straight from Visual Studio Code saves me a lot of time each day.

Official plugins integrate and expose well the SCM for quick and easy use by developers.

AvatarImg

Matthew Skinner

Front end web designer & developer

1/2

Integration rating: 4.7 (3)

I use Microsoft Edge in tandem with other browsers, to check for design and development bugs.

This was required for browser based extension created using Javascript in Visual Studio code

AvatarImg

Martin Dimmock

Owner, Chief Developer

1/2
Bitbucket logo
Bitbucket

Integration rating: 4.1 (8)

if there was an error it'll also upload to bitbucket. So i dont be afraid to doing mistakes. It's cool

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Ali Sarigul

Engineer

Integration rating: 5.0 (4)

All out systems runs on Azure world wide on tons of deployments for clients.

AvatarImg

Tommy Wiberg

CTO, System designer Sokoni

Jira logo
Jira

Integration rating: 4.3 (4)

Allows good integration and task management but often fails in task relationships creation, furthermore selecting start of the work on task creates branch in currently opened project even if the ticket/task has its own project/component defined.

MK

Marcin Karwiński

Senior Technical Engineer

Angular logo
Angular

Integration rating: 5.0 (2)

Test local deployment is set through VSC and Front server is vital for the app

PP

Piotr Paterek

QA Automation Engineer

MongoDB logo
MongoDB

Integration rating: 5.0 (2)

MongoDB is a good database, simple, and robust, it allows you to do incredible things.

CV

Carlos Velez

Consultant / Contractor

Google Chrome logo
Google Chrome

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

We use Google Chrome while debugging and testing web codes to see the output of the code.

IK

Innocent Kawooya

Computer Programmer

Robo 3T logo
Robo 3T

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

I work with Visual Studio, MongoDB, and Robo 3T, it's like a team, work great together.

CV

Carlos Velez

Consultant / Contractor

SQLite logo
SQLite

Integration rating: 4.0 (1)

VS Code is available to integrate sql servers within it and use to write sql code

AvatarImg

Prashant Kumar

Software Engineer

Stripe logo
Stripe

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

For times when payment gateways are needed, having the Stripe API at hand is very useful.

AvatarImg

Martin Dimmock

Owner, Chief Developer

Jupiter logo
Jupiter

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

It is also a good software for programming because it can run diffrent block of code.

AvatarImg

Nitvik Gamit

Data Analyst Intern

Microsoft Teams logo
Microsoft Teams

Integration rating: 2.0 (1)

Plugins we have allowed automatic setting of status when working on highly important tickets so everyone in the team knows who is working on what. Plus when closing tickets in JIRA plugin this sends an update on Teams support channel.

MK

Marcin Karwiński

Senior Technical Engineer

Anaconda logo
Anaconda

Integration rating: 5.0 (2)

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

Copilot logo
Copilot

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

VCS logo
VCS

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

FileZilla logo
FileZilla

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

Arduino IDE logo
Arduino IDE

Integration rating: 4.0 (1)

Platform.io logo
Platform.io

Integration rating: 5.0 (1)

Slack logo
Slack

Integration rating: 3.0 (1)

Visual Studio Code support options

Typical customers

Freelancers
Small businesses
Mid size businesses
Large enterprises

Platforms supported

Web
Android
iPhone/iPad

Support options

Knowledge Base
FAQs/Forum
Email/Help Desk

Training options

Documentation
Videos

Visual Studio Code reviews

Overall rating

4.8

/5

1.6K

Positive reviews

99

%

Rating breakdown
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend9.31/10
Rating distribution

5

4

3

2

1

1.2K

350

13

1

1

Pros
Thanks to the use of extensions that give the best of themselves with regard to the highlight syntax and intellisense make it a rather complete developer product.
It has great integration with several languages, I like plugins and ease to install them. The integration with GitHub is great and you can use many things onVS Studio.
Even though VS code is relatively new, it provides some very solid features that help streamline the coding process in a variety of meaningful ways. The interface is clean and easy to use.
Cons
IT shows warnings and errors on the code. In that case we have to restart visual studio code.
It is very hard to disable telemetry and some of the extensions can make the app crash.
Sometimes compilers are facing difficult challenges when checking multi-language code, reporting errors and highlighting code where they shouldn't.

Visual Studio Code FAQs

Q. What type of pricing plans does Visual Studio Code offer?

Visual Studio Code has the following pricing plans:
Pricing model: Free

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Q. Who are the typical users of Visual Studio Code?

Visual Studio Code has the following typical customers:
Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, Public Administrations, Small Business


Q. What languages does Visual Studio Code support?

Visual Studio Code supports the following languages:
English


Q. Does Visual Studio Code offer an API?

Yes, Visual Studio Code has an API available for use.


Q. What other apps does Visual Studio Code integrate with?

Visual Studio Code integrates with the following applications:
GitHub


Q. What level of support does Visual Studio Code offer?

Visual Studio Code offers the following support options:
Knowledge Base, FAQs/Forum, Email/Help Desk

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