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SPECIFICTION
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Coterm vs Visual Studio

Coterm

coterm.cc

Visual Studio

visualstudio.microsoft.com

Side by side

FigureCotermVisual Studio
Price fromFreeFree
Free planYesYes
Free trial—Yes
Open sourceYes—
Windows—Yes
macOSYes—
iOSYes—
APIYesYes
Self-hostedYes—
Plans published318
Spec score · Pair Programming Software8.7 (#6)8.3 (#11)
What it doesCoterm is a native macOS terminal and browser workspace for pairing around AI coding-agent sessions.Visual Studio is an integrated development environment for creating, debugging, testing and deploying applications across web, cloud, desktop and mobile targets.

Plans

Coterm

  • CotermFree
  • FreeFree
  • Founders EditionPriced on request

Coterm pricing →

Visual Studio

  • CommunityPrice not published
  • Professional monthly$45 a month
  • Enterprise monthly$250 a month
  • Professional standard$99.99 a year
  • Enterprise standard$499.92 a year
  • IDE standalone$499, paid once
  • Visual Studio CommunityFree
  • Visual Studio CommunityFree
  • Visual Studio Professional monthly$45 a month
  • Visual Studio Professional monthly$45 a month

Visual Studio pricing →

In their own words

Coterm

Coterm is a native macOS workspace for two developers sharing a terminal, browser, and coding-agent session in real time. A live room lets both people join, follow terminal activity, see participants, and share previews. The shared workflow lists Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Aider, Amp, Cursor Agent, and other CLI agents. Coterm uses a Ghostty-based terminal with vertical tabs, a notification panel, and a socket control API. A CLI and Unix socket expose programmatic commands, while integration hooks can be configured for Claude Code, Amp, Cursor, Gemini, and Kiro CLI. The Mac app runs locally without a Coterm-hosted account service. Collaboration components can run in the user's Cloudflare account. Installation is available through DMG or Homebrew on macOS 14.0 or later, for Apple Silicon and Intel. An iOS companion is in beta. Coterm is free under GPL-3.0-or-later.

Visit coterm.cc

Visual Studio

Visual Studio is a Windows IDE for building web, cloud, desktop, and mobile apps, as well as services and games. It combines code editing, graphical designers, compilers, code completion, source control, and extensions. Listed development support covers Windows desktop, ASP.NET web work, Python, Node.js,.NET Core, Docker tools, and cross-platform C++ libraries. Debugging and testing tools include IntelliTrace, memory dump analysis, static code analysis, unit testing, code coverage, and IntelliTest. GitHub support lets users authenticate, create repositories, and push commits within the IDE. Visual Studio can create and manage Azure resources and deploy applications, and it supports Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions for CI/CD automation. GitHub Copilot provides code completion, chat, multi-file editing, debugging assistance, and test generation. Community is free, subject to limits for enterprise organizations. Professional monthly access costs $45 a month, and Enterprise monthly access costs $250 a month. A free trial is listed.

Visit visualstudio.microsoft.com