VSCodium is a community-maintained build of the exact same source code behind Microsoft's Visual Studio Code, but with Microsoft's telemetry, branding, and proprietary licensing stripped out. It currently sits around #19 in real-world editor usage share (roughly 6.2%), used mostly by developers and organizations that want VS Code's editing experience without sending usage data back to Microsoft.
📌 Quick facts
Type: Editor
Made by: Community-maintained (VSCodium open-source project)
License: Free and open-source (MIT)
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Primary use case: General-purpose code editing without Microsoft telemetry or proprietary bits
Key features
- Built from the identical source code as VS Code — same editor core, same performance, same UI
- Strips Microsoft's telemetry pings, branding, and proprietary licensing terms
- Uses the Open VSX Registry instead of Microsoft's official Marketplace for extensions (most popular extensions are mirrored there)
- Fully reproducible, auditable open-source build pipeline
- Same keyboard shortcuts, settings, and workflow as VS Code — configs are largely interchangeable
- No bundled proprietary Microsoft add-ons (like built-in Copilot integration) unless you install them yourself
Getting started
VSCodium is distributed as a free download for all three major desktop platforms, or via common package managers:
# Windows (winget)
winget install VSCodium.VSCodium
# Windows (Chocolatey)
choco install vscodium
# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install --cask vscodium
# Linux — see vscodium.com for distro-specific repos (apt, dnf, snap, AUR)
🎯 Best for: developers and organizations who like VS Code's editing experience but want a telemetry-free, fully open-source build — especially privacy-conscious users, government/regulated environments, or teams whose policies restrict proprietary software.