Visual Studio Code (vscode for short) is a Text editor by Microsoft.
Extensions
Open-source?
Technically yes but practically less so. VSCodium solves this.
Not the best kind of open-source
Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code editor is built on an open source core—its source code is published under an open source license on GitHub. However, the official binaries Microsoft distributes include proprietary tweaks (such as pointing to Microsoft’s extension marketplace) that aren’t part of the open source repository.
Because of Microsoft’s license terms, community builds and forks cannot access the official Visual Studio Code marketplace. This creates a functional divide: unofficial versions lack access to many extensions and updates that users of the official build take for granted.
On top of that, key extensions—most notably the popular Python extension—are closed source and include DRM-like checks that detect and refuse to run on non-official builds. As a result, while the core editor is open source, the broader Visual Studio Code ecosystem remains under tight Microsoft control.
Forks
There are a number of VSCode forks.
- Cursor
- Windsurf
