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Cybersecurity · head to head

Semperis vs Visual Studio Code

Semperis logo

Semperis

Cybersecurity

Identity threat detection and Active Directory forest recovery for AD, Entra ID and Okta, from a privately held US vendor.

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Visual Studio Code logo

Visual Studio Code

Developer Tools

Code editing. Redefined.

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Visual Studio Code has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Semperis scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.; Visual Studio Code requires extension installation for language-specific features and tooling
  • They diverge on capability: Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Visual Studio Code covers IntelliSense.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Semperis and Visual Studio Code actually diverge.

Attributes where Semperis and Visual Studio Code differ
AttributeSemperisVisual Studio Code
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWindows, macOS, Linux, Web (via GitHub Codespaces)
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
FoundedUnknown2015

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 Semperis

  • Active Directory Forest Recovery
  • Malware-free restore
  • Replication-stream monitoring
  • Automated rollback
  • Attack indicator scoring
  • Entra ID and Okta coverage
  • Purple Knight
  • Forest Druid

Only in Visual Studio Code

  • IntelliSense
  • Debugging
  • Built-in Git
  • Extensions
  • Integrated terminal
  • Syntax highlighting
  • Code refactoring
  • Snippets

What people use each for

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

Semperis

  • An organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild Active Directory after a destructive attacknot Visual Studio Code
  • Post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's footholdnot Visual Studio Code
  • Continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs missnot Visual Studio Code
  • Hybrid estates where AD, Entra ID and Okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the threenot Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code

  • Code editingnot Semperis
  • Web developmentnot Semperis
  • Debuggingnot Semperis
  • Version controlnot Semperis
  • Remote developmentnot Semperis

Where each one falls short

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

Semperis

  • Scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
  • The licence buys tooling, not a proven runbook: forest recovery is only worth what your last rehearsal demonstrated, and a plan that has never been executed end to end in a lab is an untested assumption regardless of what was purchased.
  • It overlaps with backup and directory management products from Quest, Veeam, Commvault and others, so the buyer must argue internally why a dedicated product is needed alongside a backup contract that already claims to protect Active Directory.
  • Running Directory Services Protector well requires someone who understands AD internals, replication metadata and Tier 0 attack paths, and without that person the alerts on privileged changes are either ignored or auto-reverted in ways that break legitimate administration.
  • Licensing is driven by identity object counts, so directories carrying years of stale user accounts and service principals pay for objects that should have been deleted, and the cleanup project that would reduce the bill is the one nobody has time for.

Visual Studio Code

  • Requires extension installation for language-specific features and tooling
  • Performance can degrade with very large codebases (100,000+ files)
  • Git integration is basic; requires extensions for advanced version control workflows

Pricing, plan by plan

Semperis

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Semperis review.

Visual Studio Code

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Visual Studio Code review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Semperis if

  • You need active directory forest recovery.
  • You also want malware-free restore.
Semperis review

Choose Visual Studio Code if

  • You need intellisense.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web (via GitHub Codespaces).
  • You also want debugging.
Visual Studio Code review

Questions people ask

Is Semperis or Visual Studio Code better?
Neither clearly leads. Semperis starts at On request and Visual Studio Code at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Semperis or Visual Studio Code?
Visual Studio Code has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Semperis and Free for Visual Studio Code.
Does Semperis or Visual Studio Code run on more platforms?
Semperis runs on Web. Visual Studio Code runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web (via GitHub Codespaces).
Can I use Visual Studio Code for free?
Yes. Visual Studio Code has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Semperis starts at On request.
What is Semperis best used for?
Semperis is most often used for an organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild active directory after a destructive attack, post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's foothold, continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs miss, hybrid estates where ad, entra id and okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the three. Of those, an organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild active directory after a destructive attack and post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's foothold are not what Visual Studio Code is typically brought in for.
What can Semperis do that Visual Studio Code cannot?
Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Malware-free restore, Replication-stream monitoring, Automated rollback. Visual Studio Code covers IntelliSense, Debugging, Built-in Git, Extensions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Semperis: Does this replace my backups?

No. It replaces the Active Directory recovery procedure specifically. You still need backups for everything else, and the point of Semperis is that a generic system-state backup of a domain controller is a poor way to recover a forest because it restores the operating system along with whatever compromised it.

Visual Studio Code: Is Visual Studio Code free?

Yes. Visual Studio Code is completely free to use under the MIT license. There are no subscription fees or paid tiers.

Source
Semperis: Is it useful if we are cloud-only on Entra ID?

Partly. Directory Services Protector covers Entra ID and Okta for change tracking and posture, but the forest recovery product, which is the strongest reason to buy, applies to on-premises Active Directory. A genuinely cloud-only organisation should weigh it against Microsoft's own tooling.

Visual Studio Code: Can I use VS Code for remote development?

Yes. The Remote Development extension pack allows development on remote machines via SSH, in containers, or in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) while using the full VS Code feature set.

Source
Semperis: Are Purple Knight and Forest Druid really free?

Yes, both are free downloads with no licence requirement, and they are widely used by organisations that are not Semperis customers. They are also, transparently, the top of the sales funnel.

Visual Studio Code: How many extensions are available?

The VS Code Marketplace contains thousands of extensions from Microsoft and the community for language support, debuggers, themes, formatters, and productivity tools.

Source
Semperis: How long does forest recovery actually take?

The honest answer is whatever your rehearsal took. The vendor's case is hours instead of days, and automation genuinely removes most manual steps, but the number that matters for your board is the one from a test in your own environment.

Visual Studio Code: Does VS Code support debugging?

Yes. VS Code includes built-in debugging for JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js, and supports debugging for Python, C++, C#, Java, Ruby, Go, PHP, and other languages via extensions.

Source
Semperis: Does it require agents on domain controllers?

It collects directory changes from the AD replication stream, which is what lets it see changes that bypass the security log. Deployment details vary by product and version, so confirm the exact architecture against your domain controller change-control rules.

Visual Studio Code: What operating systems does VS Code support?

VS Code runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux with identical features and keybindings across all platforms.

Source
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