Espresso vs Visual Studio Code
Espresso
espressoapp.com
Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.comSide by side
| Figure | Espresso | Visual Studio Code |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $119/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Text Editors | 8.0 (#44) | 9.0 (#3) |
| Spec score · Code editors | 8.0 (#26) | 9.0 (#2) |
| Extensions | Espresso has a plug-in API for actions, syntaxes, formatting, and other extensions, and its plug-in documentation covers JavaScript, XML, CSS, and regular expressions. | The Visual Studio Marketplace lists more than 80,000 extensions. |
| Extension support | The listed plug-ins and syntax themes are not officially supported; the maker directs feature requests to their authors. | Yes |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Languages | Built-in language support includes HTML, (S)CSS, LESS, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, PHP, Ruby, Python, Apache, and XML. | JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, and HTML support are included, and extensions add support for other languages. |
| Privacy | Espresso runs on the user's computer, has no built-in cloud features, and keeps project data on the computer and servers the user connects to. | VS Code collects telemetry, which users can disable with the telemetry.telemetryLevel setting; extensions may collect separate telemetry. |
| Product | Espresso is a web editor for Mac for writing, coding, designing, building, and publishing websites. | Visual Studio Code is a code editor with AI assisted development features. |
| Remote development | Yes | Remote Development supports opening folders in a container on a remote machine. |
Plans
In their own words
Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is an open-source code editor with AI-assisted development features for macOS, Linux, Windows, and the web. It offers inline AI suggestions and intelligent completions, and its agent workflows can plan tasks, change code, run commands, and iterate. Users can switch between agent work and direct coding in the same editor. Agent workflows work with Copilot and third-party providers, and users can supply their own model key. The editor includes JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, and HTML support; extensions add support for other languages. Its Marketplace lists more than 80,000 extensions. Built-in tools include Git source control, an integrated terminal, code running and debugging, build tasks, and local history. It connects to GitHub Codespaces and remote development environments, while Settings Sync and profiles help carry and organize customizations. The browser version has a limited execution environment. VS Code is free for private or commercial use at free. A GitHub account is required to start building with AI agents.