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Cybersecurity · head to head

Very Good Security vs Visual Studio Code

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
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: 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.; Visual Studio Code requires extension installation for language-specific features and tooling
  • They diverge on capability: Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, Visual Studio Code covers IntelliSense.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Very Good Security and Visual Studio Code actually diverge.

Attributes where Very Good Security and Visual Studio Code differ
AttributeVery Good SecurityVisual Studio Code
Starting price$1000/monthFree
Pricing modelPer monthUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APIWindows, 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 Very Good Security

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

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.

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 Visual Studio Code
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot Visual Studio Code
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot Visual Studio Code
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code

  • Code editingnot Very Good Security
  • Web developmentnot Very Good Security
  • Debuggingnot Very Good Security
  • Version controlnot Very Good Security
  • Remote developmentnot Very Good Security

Where each one falls short

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

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.

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

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

Visual Studio Code

Free

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security 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 Very Good Security or Visual Studio Code better?
Neither clearly leads. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month and Visual Studio Code at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Very Good Security or Visual Studio Code?
Visual Studio Code has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1000/month for Very Good Security and Free for Visual Studio Code.
Does Very Good Security or Visual Studio Code run on more platforms?
Very Good Security runs on Web, API. 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. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
What is Very Good Security best used for?
Very Good Security is most often used for 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 services, a merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoretical, a fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by construction, a card issuer that must display a full pan in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder data. Of those, 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 services and a merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoretical are not what Visual Studio Code is typically brought in for.
What can Very Good Security do that Visual Studio Code cannot?
Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality. Visual Studio Code covers IntelliSense, Debugging, Built-in Git, Extensions.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

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
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.

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
Very Good Security: What does it cost?

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

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
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.

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
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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