Comparison

IntelliJ IDEA vs Visual Studio Code

On the evidence we track, Visual Studio Code leads this comparison with a composite score of 58/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

IntelliJ IDEA full profile →Visual Studio Code full profile →

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IntelliJ IDEA52

★Visual Studio Code58

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	IntelliJ IDEA	Visual Studio CodeLeader
vioscaleAI score	52 / 100medium · 72%	58 / 100medium · 62%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	freemium	free
Price levelpricing.price_level	low	free
Transparentpricing.transparent	-	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	9	6
Security
Certificationssecurity.certifications	SOC 2 Type II	-
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	-
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	4.4	7.4
Soc2security.soc2	✓	-
Trust centersecurity.trust_center	https://www.jetbrains.com/company/commitment/compliance-highlights/	https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/agents/run/security
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=com.intellij%3Aannotations&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40typefox%2Fmonaco-editor-core&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	890	72
Github starsadoption.github_stars	20,630	193,646
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	2	6
Historyrelease.history	20 items	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	-	MIT
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Java	TypeScript
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	-	Available worldwide
Content
Faqcontent.faq	4 items	6 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

IntelliJ IDEA52 / 100medium · 72%

Visual Studio Code58 / 100medium · 62%

Pricing

Free tier

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code✓

Model

IntelliJ IDEAfreemium

Visual Studio Codefree

Price level

IntelliJ IDEAlow

Visual Studio Codefree

Transparent

IntelliJ IDEA–

Visual Studio Code✓

Integrations

Count

IntelliJ IDEA9

Visual Studio Code6

Security

Certifications

IntelliJ IDEASOC 2 Type II

Visual Studio Code–

Disclosure policy

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code✓

Gdpr

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code–

Scorecard

IntelliJ IDEA4.4

Visual Studio Code7.4

Soc2

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code–

Trust center

IntelliJ IDEAhttps://www.jetbrains.com/company/commitment/compliance-highlights/

Visual Studio Codehttps://code.visualstudio.com/docs/agents/run/security

Vulnerabilities

IntelliJ IDEACount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=com.intellij%3Aannotations&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Visual Studio CodeCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40typefox%2Fmonaco-editor-core&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

IntelliJ IDEA890

Visual Studio Code72

Github stars

IntelliJ IDEA20,630

Visual Studio Code193,646

Activity

Commits last 30d

IntelliJ IDEA100

Visual Studio Code100

Release

Cadence days

IntelliJ IDEA2

Visual Studio Code6

History

IntelliJ IDEA20 items

Visual Studio Code20 items

License

Spdx

IntelliJ IDEA–

Visual Studio CodeMIT

Language

Primary

IntelliJ IDEAJava

Visual Studio CodeTypeScript

Market

Availability

IntelliJ IDEA–

Visual Studio CodeAvailable worldwide

Content

Faq

IntelliJ IDEA4 items

Visual Studio Code6 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for ides & code editors. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for IDEs & Code Editors
Capability	IntelliJ IDEA	Visual Studio Code
Core
Type	Full IDE	Full IDE
Language scope	Polyglot	Polyglot
Deployment
Deployment	Desktop	Both
Platform support
OS support	Windows, macOS	Windows, macOS, Linux
Base platform	Original	Original
Extensibility
Extensibility	Plugins	Extension marketplace
DX
LSP / DAP support	-	✓
Remote / dev-containers	✓	✓
Integrated debugger / profiler	✓	✓
Code intelligence depth	IDE-grade	IDE-grade
Built-in git integration	-	✓
AI
Built-in AI	Native	Native
Licensing
Openness	Open-core	Open-core
Pricing
Pricing model	Per-seat subscription	Free

Core

Type

IntelliJ IDEAFull IDE

Visual Studio CodeFull IDE

Language scope

IntelliJ IDEAPolyglot

Visual Studio CodePolyglot

Deployment

IntelliJ IDEADesktop

Visual Studio CodeBoth

Platform support

OS support

IntelliJ IDEAWindows, macOS

Visual Studio CodeWindows, macOS, Linux

Base platform

IntelliJ IDEAOriginal

Visual Studio CodeOriginal

Extensibility

IntelliJ IDEAPlugins

Visual Studio CodeExtension marketplace

LSP / DAP support

IntelliJ IDEA-

Visual Studio Code✓

Remote / dev-containers

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code✓

Integrated debugger / profiler

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code✓

Code intelligence depth

IntelliJ IDEAIDE-grade

Visual Studio CodeIDE-grade

Built-in git integration

IntelliJ IDEA-

Visual Studio Code✓

Built-in AI

IntelliJ IDEANative

Visual Studio CodeNative

Licensing

Openness

IntelliJ IDEAOpen-core

Visual Studio CodeOpen-core

Pricing

Pricing model

IntelliJ IDEAPer-seat subscription

Visual Studio CodeFree

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

IntelliJ IDEA

Professional integrated development environment for Java and Kotlin with built-in AI assistance for code generation and validation. Includes integrated debugging, testing, database tools, and application profiling in a unified interface.

Independently observed

Visual Studio Code

Leader

Visual Studio Code is a free, open-source editor available on desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux) and web platforms, supporting dozens of programming languages through its extension marketplace. It features integrated source control, debugging, and AI-powered agent capabilities to automate coding tasks and development workflows.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

IntelliJ IDEA

SubscriptionFree tier30-day trial

as of 2026-09-14verify ↗

Visual Studio Code

Leader

FreeFree tier

Free and open source

as of 2026-10-15verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	IntelliJ IDEA	Visual Studio Code
WebPlatforms	✗	✓
macOSPlatforms	✓	✓
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✗	✓
CLIPlatforms	✗	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	-	✓

Platforms

Web

IntelliJ IDEA✗

Visual Studio Code✓

macOS

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code✓

Windows

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Visual Studio Code✓

Linux

IntelliJ IDEA✗

Visual Studio Code✓

CLI

IntelliJ IDEA✗

Visual Studio Code✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

IntelliJ IDEA–

Visual Studio Code✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (1)

GitHub Copilot

IntelliJ IDEA

10 total - 9 not shared

Claude
GPT
Gemini
Grok
Cursor
Junie
Claude Agent
Codex
Spring Framework

Independently observed

Visual Studio Code

Leader

8 total - 7 not shared

GitHub
GitHub Actions
Azure Pipelines
GitLab CI
Azure DevOps
MCP servers
Git

Independently observed

Still deciding?

IntelliJ IDEA or Visual Studio Code: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.