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Developer Tools · head to head

Helix vs Very Good Security

Helix logo

Helix

Developer Tools

Post-modern modal text editor for the terminal, written in Rust

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Helix has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Helix no official GUI application yet, so it requires comfort with terminal workflows.; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • They diverge on capability: Helix covers Multiple Selections, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Helix and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where Helix and Very Good Security differ
AttributeHelixVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelopen-sourcePer month
Free tierYesNo
Platformslinux, mac, windowsWeb, API
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Helix

  • Multiple Selections
  • Tree-sitter Syntax Trees
  • Built-in LSP Support
  • Fuzzy File Finder
  • Project-wide Search

Only in Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Helix

  • Editing code over SSH or in tmux sessionsnot Very Good Security
  • Working with syntax-aware selection and navigationnot Very Good Security
  • Getting IDE-like completion and diagnostics without plugin setupnot Very Good Security
  • Lightweight, low-resource code editing on laptopsnot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot Helix
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot Helix
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot Helix
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot Helix

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Helix

  • No official GUI application yet, so it requires comfort with terminal workflows.
  • Plugin ecosystem is far smaller than Vim's or Neovim's, limiting customization.
  • Keybindings differ from both Vim and Kakoune, adding a learning curve for users of either.
  • Configuration is more limited than Neovim's Lua-based extensibility.

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

Helix

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Full editor, no paid tiers

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

Which should you pick?

Choose Helix if

  • You need multiple selections.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on linux, mac, windows.
  • You also want tree-sitter syntax trees.
Helix review

Choose Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is Helix or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. Helix starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Helix or Very Good Security?
Helix has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Helix and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does Helix or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
Helix runs on linux, mac, windows. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use Helix for free?
Yes. Helix has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
What is Helix best used for?
Helix is most often used for editing code over ssh or in tmux sessions, working with syntax-aware selection and navigation, getting ide-like completion and diagnostics without plugin setup, lightweight, low-resource code editing on laptops. Of those, editing code over ssh or in tmux sessions and working with syntax-aware selection and navigation are not what Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can Helix do that Very Good Security cannot?
Helix covers Multiple Selections, Tree-sitter Syntax Trees, Built-in LSP Support, Fuzzy File Finder. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Helix: Is Helix free to use?

Yes, Helix is free and open source, licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0), with no paid tiers or subscriptions.

Source
Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

Helix: How do I install Helix?

Install via your operating system's package manager, or download pre-built binaries from GitHub Releases; the nightly version requires building from source.

Source
Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

Helix: Does Helix support plugins?

Not yet. Helix currently has no plugin system, though the project intends to add one eventually; it instead ships with built-in LSP and tree-sitter support out of the box.

Source
Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Helix: How do I configure Helix?

Helix ships with sane modern defaults requiring much less config-file fiddling than Vim, though settings can still be customized in a config.toml file.

Source
Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

Helix: Where can I get help or support?

Support is community-driven via GitHub for code and issues, the Matrix chat for discussion, and OpenCollective for funding ongoing development.

Source
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