# Theia vs Visual Studio

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Theia

| Attribute | Theia | Visual Studio |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 62.6 (64% (medium)) | 50.4 (55% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 94 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 324 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 21,710 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A development tool combining open-source principles with artificial intelligence features, available for cloud and desktop use. It emphasizes user privacy, supports many programming languages, and works with thousands of existing development tools. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.","source":"https://theia-ide.org","question":"What is Theia?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Theia is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the EPL-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://theia-ide.org","question":"Is Theia free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Theia. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://theia-ide.org","question":"What platforms does Theia support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Theia can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://theia-ide.org","question":"Can Theia be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 9 integrations for Theia, including Python, Java, C++, Go, YAML, ESLint, NPM and GitHub Pull Requests, plus 1 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://theia-ide.org","question":"What does Theia integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Theia is published under the EPL-2.0 licence, a copyleft licence, so check its terms before embedding it in a closed-source product. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia","question":"Is Theia open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"Comprehensive integrated development environment for .NET and C++ development with AI-powered assistance, integrated debugging, testing, and CI/CD integration. Available as Visual Studio IDE for Windows and macOS, plus Visual Studio Code for cross-platform web development. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"What is Visual Studio?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Visual Studio offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $45 per user per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"Is Visual Studio free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Visual Studio supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"What platforms does Visual Studio support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Visual Studio can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"Can Visual Studio be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Theia IDE is an extensible, multi-language development environment for both cloud and desktop deployment. It combines integrated AI assistance with privacy-preserving architecture where users maintain full control over their code, data, and AI model choices. | An integrated development environment providing tools for coding, debugging, testing, and deploying software across multiple programming languages and platforms, with support for cloud services, version control, and AI-assisted development. |
| features.capabilities | `{"type":"full_ide","lsp_dap":true,"builtin_ai":"native","deployment":"both","os_support":"Cross-platform (browser and desktop via Electron)","open_source":"oss","base_platform":"original","extensibility":"marketplace","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"polyglot","code_intelligence":"lsp_grade"}` | `{"type":"full_ide","builtin_ai":"native","deployment":"desktop","os_support":"Windows, macOS, Linux","remote_dev":true,"open_source":"closed","base_platform":"original","extensibility":"marketplace","language_scope":"polyglot","git_integration":true,"code_intelligence":"ide_grade","integrated_debugger":true}` |
| integrations.count | 3,000 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Python"},{"name":"Java"},{"name":"C++"},{"name":"JavaScript"},{"name":"Go"},{"name":"YAML"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"ESLint"},{"name":"NPM"},{"name":"GitHub Pull Requests"},{"name":"GitLens"},{"name":"GitHub","native":true,"category":"vcs","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"GitHub Copilot","native":true,"category":"ai","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"OpenAI","category":"ai","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Anthropic","category":"ai","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Google","category":"ai","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Ollama","category":"ai","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Mistral","category":"ai","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"HuggingFace","category":"ai","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Claude Code","native":true,"category":"ai","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"VS Code Extensions","category":"ide_extensions","direction":"inbound"}]` | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"GitHub Actions","native":true,"category":"ci_cd","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Application Insights","native":true,"category":"monitoring","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Team Foundation Server","native":true,"category":"version_control","direction":"bidirectional"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | - |
| license.spdx | EPL-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"free","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://theia-ide.org","retrievedAt":"2026-10-14T21:35:08.250Z"}` | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Community","summary":"Free","features":["Full IDE capabilities for .NET and C++ development"],"description":"Best comprehensive IDE for .NET and C++ developers on Windows","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Professional standard","summary":"$99.99/user/mo (paid annually), renews at $66.59/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Professional","Azure DevOps (Basic plan)","$50 Azure credit per month","Basic dev/test software","Training and support"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":99.99,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise standard","summary":"$499.92/user/mo (paid annually), renews at $214.09/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Enterprise","Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan)","$150 Azure credit per month","Premium dev/test software","Extended training and support","Power BI Pro"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":499.92,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Professional monthly","summary":"$45/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Professional","Azure DevOps (Basic plan)"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":45,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise monthly","summary":"$250/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Enterprise","Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan)"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free Community edition; subscriptions from $45/user/mo to $499.92/user/mo","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T20:23:24.983Z","startingPrice":{"amount":45,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | free | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.cadence_days | 12 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/next","date":"2026-10-14T00:38:12Z","type":"prerelease","version":"next"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.74.2","date":"2026-09-30T13:06:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.74.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.76.0","date":"2026-09-24T14:38:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.76.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.75.0","date":"2026-08-27T14:59:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.75.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.74.1","date":"2026-08-06T15:44:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.74.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.74.0","date":"2026-07-31T11:53:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.74.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.73.1","date":"2026-07-01T12:46:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.73.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.73.0","date":"2026-06-25T13:02:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.73.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.72.3","date":"2026-06-10T08:44:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.72.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.72.2","date":"2026-06-05T14:19:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.72.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.72.1","date":"2026-05-29T12:04:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.72.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.72.0","date":"2026-05-28T14:14:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.72.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.71.2","date":"2026-05-27T15:57:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.71.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.71.1","date":"2026-05-11T09:28:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.71.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.71.0","date":"2026-04-30T12:29:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.71.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.70.2","date":"2026-04-10T09:50:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.70.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.70.1","date":"2026-04-08T10:03:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.70.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.70.0","date":"2026-03-26T14:55:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.70.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.69.0","date":"2026-02-26T15:25:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.69.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/releases/tag/v1.68.2","date":"2026-02-05T15:18:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.68.2"}]` | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5 | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40theia%2Fmarkers&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (IDEs & Code Editors)

| Capability | Theia | Visual Studio |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Type | Full IDE | Full IDE |
| Language scope | Polyglot | Polyglot |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Both | Desktop |
| **Platform support** |  |  |
| OS support | Cross-platform (browser and desktop via Electron) | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Base platform | Original | Original |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Extensibility | Extension marketplace | Extension marketplace |
| **DX** |  |  |
| LSP / DAP support | ✓ | - |
| Remote / dev-containers | - | ✓ |
| Integrated debugger / profiler | - | ✓ |
| Code intelligence depth | LSP-grade | IDE-grade |
| Built-in git integration | - | ✓ |
| **AI** |  |  |
| Built-in AI | Native | Native |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Openness | Open-source | Closed |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Pricing model | Free | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:17:37.762Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*