Comparison

IntelliJ IDEA vs Visual Studio Code

On the evidence we track, Visual Studio Code leads this comparison with a composite score of 61/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
IntelliJ IDEA53
Visual Studio Code61
Score
Vioscale score
IntelliJ IDEA53 / 100medium · 53%updating
Visual Studio Code61 / 100medium · 67%updating
Pricing
Free tier
IntelliJ IDEA
Visual Studio Code
Model
IntelliJ IDEAcommercial
Visual Studio Codecommercial
Price level
IntelliJ IDEA
Visual Studio Codefree
Transparent
IntelliJ IDEA
Visual Studio Code
Integrations
Count
IntelliJ IDEA9
Visual Studio Code7
Reliability
Status page
IntelliJ IDEA
Visual Studio Code
Adoption
Dependent repos
IntelliJ IDEA890
Visual Studio Code1
Github stars
IntelliJ IDEA20,488
Visual Studio Code189,621
Activity
Commits last 30d
IntelliJ IDEA100
Visual Studio Code100
Release
Cadence days
IntelliJ IDEA1
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

Capabilities

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

Core
Type
IntelliJ IDEAFull IDE
Visual Studio CodeFull IDE
Language scope
IntelliJ IDEA-
Visual Studio CodePolyglot
Deployment
Deployment
IntelliJ IDEADesktop
Visual Studio CodeBoth
Platform support
OS support
IntelliJ IDEA-
Visual Studio CodeWindows, macOS, Linux
Base platform
IntelliJ IDEAOriginal
Visual Studio CodeOriginal
Extensibility
Extensibility
IntelliJ IDEAPlugins
Visual Studio CodeExtension marketplace
DX
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
AI
Built-in AI
IntelliJ IDEANative
Visual Studio CodeNative
Licensing
Openness
IntelliJ IDEAOpen-core
Visual Studio CodeOpen-core
Pricing
Pricing model
IntelliJ IDEA-
Visual Studio CodeFree

What each one is

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

IntelliJ IDEA

An IDE that accelerates software development through smart code editing, debugging, and analysis tools, enhanced with native AI capabilities for code completion and suggestions.

Independently observed

Visual Studio Code

Leader

A multi-platform code editor combining traditional editing, debugging, and terminal capabilities with built-in AI agents that research, modify code, run commands, and iterate toward task completion.

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

Pricing not documented yet.

Visual Studio Code

Leader
FreeFree tier

Free

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

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
Self-hosted
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

9 total - 8 not shared
  • Claude
  • GPT
  • Gemini
  • Grok
  • Cursor
  • Junie
  • Claude Agent
  • Codex
Independently observed

Visual Studio Code

Leader
7 total - 6 not shared
  • GitHub
  • GitHub Actions
  • Azure Pipelines
  • GitLab CI
  • Azure DevOps
  • MCP servers
Independently observed

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