# pygments vs vscode

| Attribute | pygments | vscode |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 74.3 (47% (low)) | 79.8 (19% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 82 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 70,561 | 1 |
| adoption.github_stars | 2,204 | 189,623 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 284,912,954 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Pygments is a syntax highlighting package written in Python. It applies color and formatting to source code to improve readability and visual presentation across different programming languages.","source":"https://pygments.org","question":"What is Pygments?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"Yes, Pygments is open source software with no licensing or subscription costs. Users can freely download and integrate it into their projects at no expense.","source":"https://pygments.org","question":"Is Pygments free to use?","confidence":1},{"answer":"Pygments is written in Python. This makes it naturally compatible with Python-based projects and development environments.","source":"https://pygments.org","question":"What programming language is Pygments written in?","confidence":1},{"answer":"Yes, open source projects like Pygments can generally be used in commercial contexts. The exact terms of use are governed by the project's open source license.","source":"https://pygments.org","question":"Can Pygments be used in commercial applications?","confidence":0.85},{"answer":"Yes, Pygments can be deployed in production systems and integrated into live applications. As a stable open source package, it is available for production use.","source":"https://pygments.org","question":"Is Pygments suitable for production environments?","confidence":0.85},{"answer":"Developers and projects requiring code syntax highlighting commonly use Pygments, including documentation generators, code editors, development utilities, and technical content platforms.","source":"https://pygments.org","question":"Who typically uses Pygments?","confidence":0.8},{"answer":"Pygments is a developer tool specifically designed to provide syntax highlighting functionality. It helps teams and individuals improve code readability through visual formatting.","source":"https://pygments.org","question":"What category of tool is Pygments?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"Visual Studio Code is a development tool designed for software developers. As a developer-tool, it provides capabilities for professional software development work.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"What is Visual Studio Code?","confidence":0.9},{"answer":"Yes. Visual Studio Code offers free access to its core software. The product uses an open-core model, which means optional premium features or add-ons may be available for purchase.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"Is Visual Studio Code free to use?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"Visual Studio Code uses an open-core pricing model, combining free base software with optional paid add-ons for additional features or functionality. There is no cost to use the core software.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"How does the pricing work?","confidence":1},{"answer":"The open-core model indicates that the base software is open source, allowing users to view and contribute to the underlying code.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"Is the source code open source?","confidence":0.9},{"answer":"As a developer tool, it is designed for software developers and development teams.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"Who is Visual Studio Code intended for?","confidence":0.85},{"answer":"The official website at https://code.visualstudio.com provides documentation, feature information, downloads, and additional resources.","source":"https://code.visualstudio.com","question":"Where can I find more details?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An open-source Python library that formats and visually distinguishes source code from multiple languages and text types for use in websites, forums, wikis, and software applications. | Visual Studio Code is an open-source editor that integrates AI agents directly into your development workflow. It supports multiple agents, Git version control, debugging, terminal commands, and thousands of community extensions for various programming languages. |
| integrations.count | - | 8 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Git"},{"name":"Azure Repos"},{"name":"MCP servers"},{"name":"Java"},{"name":"Python"},{"name":"Go"},{"name":"C++"}]` |
| language.primary | Python | TypeScript |
| license.spdx | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://pygments.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T11:03:45.955Z"}` | `{"type":"free","summary":"Completely free and open source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://code.visualstudio.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T11:05:40.706Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 108 | 6 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.21.0","date":"2026-08-17T08:04:06Z","type":"stable","version":"2.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.20.0","date":"2026-03-29T13:30:46Z","type":"stable","version":"2.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.19.2","date":"2025-06-21T13:39:59Z","type":"stable","version":"2.19.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.19.1","date":"2025-01-06T17:27:21Z","type":"stable","version":"2.19.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.19.0","date":"2025-01-05T14:12:38Z","type":"stable","version":"2.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.18.0","date":"2024-05-04T13:43:23Z","type":"stable","version":"2.18.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.17.2","date":"2023-11-21T20:44:20Z","type":"stable","version":"2.17.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.17.1","date":"2023-11-19T08:21:19Z","type":"stable","version":"2.17.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.17.0","date":"2023-11-18T13:41:26Z","type":"stable","version":"2.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.16.1","date":"2023-08-06T15:15:44Z","type":"stable","version":"2.16.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.16.0","date":"2023-08-06T12:46:20Z","type":"stable","version":"2.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.15.1","date":"2023-04-18T18:49:46Z","type":"stable","version":"2.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.15.0","date":"2023-04-10T12:53:31Z","type":"stable","version":"2.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.14.0","date":"2023-01-01T08:54:57Z","type":"stable","version":"2.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.13.0","date":"2022-08-15T16:07:38Z","type":"stable","version":"2.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.12.0","date":"2022-04-24T13:41:27Z","type":"stable","version":"2.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.11.2","date":"2022-01-06T11:16:52Z","type":"stable","version":"2.11.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.11.1","date":"2021-12-31T15:00:36Z","type":"stable","version":"2.11.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.11.0","date":"2021-12-30T13:56:31Z","type":"stable","version":"2.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pygments/pygments/releases/tag/2.10.0","date":"2021-08-15T10:57:14Z","type":"stable","version":"2.10.0"}]` | `[{"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"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.129.0","date":"2026-07-15T22:13:23Z","type":"stable","version":"1.129.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.128.1","date":"2026-07-14T20:48:10Z","type":"stable","version":"1.128.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.128.0","date":"2026-07-08T08:25:25Z","type":"stable","version":"1.128.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.127.0","date":"2026-07-01T09:32:59Z","type":"stable","version":"1.127.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.126.0","date":"2026-06-24T12:49:34Z","type":"stable","version":"1.126.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.125.0","date":"2026-06-17T14:59:29Z","type":"stable","version":"1.125.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.124.2","date":"2026-06-12T05:06:56Z","type":"stable","version":"1.124.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.124.0","date":"2026-06-10T13:39:34Z","type":"stable","version":"1.124.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.123.2","date":"2026-06-10T09:39:44Z","type":"stable","version":"1.123.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.123.1","date":"2026-06-10T09:38:39Z","type":"stable","version":"1.123.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.123.0","date":"2026-06-05T08:50:41Z","type":"stable","version":"1.123.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/releases/tag/1.122.1","date":"2026-05-29T12:53:58Z","type":"stable","version":"1.122.1"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.2 | 7.4 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":5,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=pygments&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40theia%2Fvscode-builtin-javascript&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:55:58.428Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*