VS Code
IDE / Editor · Extension-rich general development across all languages
At a glance
| Pricing | Free |
| Setup effort | Zero |
| Operating systems | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Released | 2015 |
| Open source | Yes |
| Interface | GUI |
| AI integration | AI via extension |
| Extensibility | Extensions |
| Collaboration | Live Share |
| Languages | All major, via LSP |
| Capabilities | Vim mode, Multi-cursor, Remote dev, SSH, WSL, Extensions, Live Share |
What VS Code does
Vim mode, Multi-cursor, Remote dev, SSH, WSL, Extensions, Live Share
Best for
Extension-rich general development across all languages
Works well with
LLM Provider / Model
Agent / Orchestration
Conflicts & caveats
- Cursor built-in only runs inside the Cursor editor — your IDE is VS Code.
- Windsurf Cascade only runs inside Windsurf — your IDE is VS Code.
- JetBrains AI Assistant only runs inside JetBrains IDEs — your IDE is VS Code.
- Zed Agent only runs inside the Zed editor — your IDE is VS Code.
- Cursor CLI works in any terminal but needs an active Cursor subscription — your IDE is VS Code, which is fine but the cost is tied to Cursor.
- @codebase indexing is a Cursor-only feature, but your IDE is VS Code.
- Cursor Background Agents are dispatched from Cursor (desktop or mobile) — your IDE is VS Code.
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