Developer Tools · pricing
Visual Studio Code pricing
No tier breakdown is published on the record we hold for Visual Studio Code. Below is what is on record, and how it compares with the developer tools tools listed alongside it.
As of 30 August 2026, Visual Studio Code pricing is free. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free
- Model
- Not recorded
- Tiers
- -
- Free tier
- Yes
What is on record
The Visual Studio Code catalogue entry carries no price, but no tier breakdown. The category comparison below is still useful, and the Visual Studio Code review carries the full feature record.
What the product covers
The full Visual Studio Code feature record, grouped as the catalogue groups it. This is the product as a whole; the record does not map every feature onto a specific tier.
Other
- IntelliSense
- Debugging
- Built-in Git
- Extensions
- Integrated terminal
- Syntax highlighting
- Code refactoring
- Snippets
Integrations
- GitHub
- Azure
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- WSL
- Remote Development
- Live Share
- Copilot
Security
- Open source
- Regular updates
- Secure extensions
Deployment
- Desktop deployment
- Cloud deployment
Platform
- Windows support
- Macos support
- Linux support
- Web support
Localization
- All programming languages via extensions language support
People bring Visual Studio Code in for code editing, web development, debugging, version control, remote development. If that is not the job you are buying for, the alternatives to Visual Studio Code are worth a look before you commit to a tier.
How that compares in Developer Tools
Too few developer tools tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual Studio Code (this page) | Free | - | - | |
| Deep Code | Free, then $5/month | freemium | - | vs Visual Studio Code |
| Jitsu | Free, then $99/month | Per month by event volume | - | vs Visual Studio Code |
| Tilt | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Visual Studio Code |
| Hookdeck | Free, then $39/month | Per month by delivered event count | - | vs Visual Studio Code |
| Ona (formerly Gitpod) | Free, then $20/month | Per month by compute unit | - | vs Visual Studio Code |
| Cloud Native Buildpacks | Free | Open source, no licence fee | - | vs Visual Studio Code |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the Visual Studio Code badges page.
Before you pay for Visual Studio Code
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: not published on the record we hold. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
Visual Studio Code runs on windows, macos, linux, web (via github codespaces), and is published by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, WA. The full record is on the Visual Studio Code review, and the rest of the category is under best developer tools tools.
Visual Studio Code pricing questions
- How much does Visual Studio Code cost?
- No price is published on the record we hold for Visual Studio Code. The vendor's own site is the only reliable source for the current figure.
- Does Visual Studio Code have a free plan?
- Yes, Visual Studio Code is recorded as free, so it can be used without paying.
- Which developer tools tools can I use without paying?
- 8 of the 8 developer tools tools listed alongside Visual Studio Code have a free tier: Deep Code, Jitsu, Tilt, Hookdeck, Ona (formerly Gitpod).
- What am I actually paying for with Visual Studio Code?
- The record lists 26 features across 6 areas: other, integrations, security, deployment, platform, localization. In practice it is brought in for code editing, web development, debugging.
- Does Visual Studio Code charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these Visual Studio Code prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare Visual Studio Code against before paying?
- The closest developer tools tools in this directory are Deep Code, Jitsu, Tilt, Hookdeck. Each has a side-by-side comparison with Visual Studio Code covering price, platforms and features.