# IntelliJ IDEA vs Visual Studio Code

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Visual Studio Code

| Attribute | IntelliJ IDEA | Visual Studio Code |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 51.9 (72% (medium)) | 58.1 (62% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 890 | 72 |
| adoption.github_stars | 20,630 | 193,646 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"An IDE that accelerates software development through smart code editing, debugging, and analysis tools, enhanced with native AI capabilities for code completion and suggestions. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.","source":"https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/","question":"What is IntelliJ IDEA?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"IntelliJ IDEA supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/","question":"What platforms does IntelliJ IDEA support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 8 integrations for IntelliJ IDEA, including Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Junie and Codex. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/","question":"What does IntelliJ IDEA integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and GDPR for IntelliJ IDEA. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as IntelliJ IDEA not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/","question":"What security certifications does IntelliJ IDEA have?","confidence":0.48}]` | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"What is Visual Studio Code?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Visual Studio Code offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"Is Visual Studio Code free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Visual Studio Code supports the web, Windows, macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"What platforms does Visual Studio Code support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Visual Studio Code can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"Can Visual Studio Code be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for Visual Studio Code, including GitHub, Azure Pipelines, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps and MCP servers. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"What does Visual Studio Code integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Visual Studio Code is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode","question":"Is Visual Studio Code open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | - | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"type":"full_ide","builtin_ai":"native","deployment":"desktop","os_support":"Windows, macOS","remote_dev":true,"open_source":"open_core","base_platform":"original","extensibility":"plugins","pricing_model":"subscription","language_scope":"polyglot","code_intelligence":"ide_grade","integrated_debugger":true}` | `{"type":"full_ide","lsp_dap":true,"builtin_ai":"native","deployment":"both","os_support":"Windows, macOS, Linux","remote_dev":true,"open_source":"open_core","base_platform":"original","extensibility":"marketplace","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"polyglot","git_integration":true,"code_intelligence":"ide_grade","integrated_debugger":true}` |
| integrations.count | 9 | 6 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Claude"},{"name":"GPT"},{"name":"Gemini"},{"name":"Grok"},{"name":"GitHub Copilot"},{"name":"Cursor"},{"name":"Junie"},{"name":"Claude Agent"},{"name":"Codex"},{"name":"Spring Framework","native":true}]` | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitHub Actions"},{"name":"GitHub Copilot"},{"name":"Azure Pipelines"},{"name":"GitLab CI"},{"name":"Azure DevOps"},{"name":"MCP servers"},{"name":"Git","native":true,"category":"source_control","direction":"bidirectional"}]` |
| language.primary | Java | TypeScript |
| license.spdx | - | MIT |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"mac":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-14T13:22:10.181Z","freeTrialDays":30}` | `{"type":"free","summary":"Free and open source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://code.visualstudio.com","retrievedAt":"2026-10-15T20:21:51.031Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | free |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 2 | 6 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2026.2.3","date":"2026-09-18T15:43:23Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2026.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2026.2.3","date":"2026-09-16T09:31:48Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2026.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2026.2.2","date":"2026-09-07T15:24:11Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2026.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2026.2.2","date":"2026-09-02T15:41:49Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2026.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2026.2.1","date":"2026-08-12T07:24:12Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2026.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2026.1.5","date":"2026-08-13T11:27:43Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2026.1.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2026.1.5","date":"2026-08-12T14:41:47Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2026.1.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2026.2.1","date":"2026-08-10T11:37:47Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2026.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2025.2.6.3","date":"2026-07-28T18:32:49Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2025.2.6.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2026.2.0.1","date":"2026-07-27T19:34:39Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2026.2.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2025.3.6.1","date":"2026-07-28T18:00:12Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2025.3.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2025.3.6.1","date":"2026-07-29T07:38:33Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2025.3.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2026.2","date":"2026-07-20T17:13:34Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2026.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2026.2","date":"2026-07-16T13:32:03Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2026.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2026.1.4","date":"2026-07-03T13:04:15Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2026.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2026.1.4","date":"2026-07-02T11:28:47Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2026.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2026.1.3","date":"2026-06-22T12:12:40Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2026.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2026.1.3","date":"2026-06-04T10:57:17Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2026.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/pycharm/2025.3.6","date":"2026-06-04T09:43:41Z","type":"stable","version":"pycharm/2025.3.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/releases/tag/idea/2025.3.6","date":"2026-06-03T11:14:12Z","type":"stable","version":"idea/2025.3.6"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.142.0","date":"2026-10-14T19:46:12Z","type":"stable","version":"1.142.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.141.2","date":"2026-10-14T14:32:33Z","type":"stable","version":"1.141.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.141.1","date":"2026-10-13T21:53:53Z","type":"stable","version":"1.141.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.141.0","date":"2026-10-07T11:01:16Z","type":"stable","version":"1.141.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.140.0","date":"2026-09-30T22:00:22Z","type":"stable","version":"1.140.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.139.1","date":"2026-09-25T09:58:03Z","type":"stable","version":"1.139.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.139.0","date":"2026-09-23T10:32:34Z","type":"stable","version":"1.139.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.138.0","date":"2026-09-16T07:14:47Z","type":"stable","version":"1.138.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.137.0","date":"2026-09-09T15:32:58Z","type":"stable","version":"1.137.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.136.2","date":"2026-09-08T17:54:34Z","type":"stable","version":"1.136.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.136.1","date":"2026-09-03T15:25:32Z","type":"stable","version":"1.136.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.136.0","date":"2026-09-02T16:18:16Z","type":"stable","version":"1.136.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.135.0","date":"2026-08-26T16:52:46Z","type":"stable","version":"1.135.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.134.0","date":"2026-08-19T09:08:11Z","type":"stable","version":"1.134.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.133.0","date":"2026-08-12T09:41:17Z","type":"stable","version":"1.133.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.132.1","date":"2026-08-11T22:23:22Z","type":"stable","version":"1.132.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.132.0","date":"2026-08-05T09:49:29Z","type":"stable","version":"1.132.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.131.0","date":"2026-07-29T14:07:58Z","type":"stable","version":"1.131.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.130.0","date":"2026-07-22T17:39:17Z","type":"stable","version":"1.130.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.129.1","date":"2026-07-17T21:32:58Z","type":"stable","version":"1.129.1"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","level":"Type II","status":"active"}]` | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 4.4 | 7.4 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | https://www.jetbrains.com/company/commitment/compliance-highlights/ | https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/agents/run/security |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=com.intellij%3Aannotations&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40typefox%2Fmonaco-editor-core&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (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 |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T18:41:37.804Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*