According to The How-To Geek, the core difference between Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code and the alternative VSCodium isn’t in the editing experience but in the build and licensing. Microsoft releases the VS Code source code under the permissive MIT license, but the binary downloaded from its official site is a proprietary build under a more restrictive license. This proprietary version includes a custom configuration that adds Microsoft branding, telemetry for usage data and crash reports, and links to the official extension marketplace. VSCodium is a community project that builds directly from the MIT-licensed source code but strips out the proprietary Microsoft configurations and telemetry. The result is a binary that is fully open-source, but one that is legally blocked from accessing Microsoft’s official Extension Marketplace, forcing users to rely on the open-source Open VSX Registry instead.
The Licensing Trapdoor
Here’s the thing that trips everyone up: the source is open, but the product isn’t. Microsoft’s move is actually pretty clever. They get all the goodwill and community contributions from being “open source,” while the thing 99% of people actually install—the pre-compiled binary—locks you into their ecosystem. That proprietary license means you can’t legally reverse-engineer it or redistribute it. So while you own your code, you’re using a tool that Microsoft ultimately controls. VSCodium exists solely to close that gap. It takes the same open-source code and builds it clean, ensuring the final application matches the freedom of its source. For developers in environments with strict compliance rules, like certain government or research institutions, this isn’t just philosophical—it’s a legal necessity.
Privacy Is the Default
This is the biggest practical day-to-day difference for many. Official VS Code has telemetry on by default. It starts collecting data the moment you open it. You can turn it off, sure, but the hooks to Microsoft’s servers are still baked into that proprietary product.json file. The connection is just dormant. VSCodium, by contrast, is built without those hooks entirely. The telemetry endpoints are scrubbed. So you’re not just opting out; you’re using a tool that was never designed to phone home in the first place. In an era where data collection is the norm, that’s a powerful statement. But you have to ask yourself: do you care enough about that data to potentially sacrifice some convenience?
The Extension Ecosystem Tax
And this is where the rubber meets the road. The convenience of VS Code is utterly dominated by its seamless access to the Microsoft Extension Marketplace. Everything is there, and it just works. VSCodium can’t touch it due to licensing, so it defaults to the Open VSX Registry. Now, Open VSX is great for most common extensions—linters, themes, language support. But it’s not a perfect mirror. Where you really feel the pinch is with Microsoft’s own premium or deeply integrated tools. Want the official C# Dev Kit, GitHub Copilot, or the slick Remote Development extensions? You’re out of luck on VSCodium. These often have licenses that explicitly forbid use in third-party builds. So you’re forced to find alternatives or clunky workarounds. For a developer working on a .NET stack with Azure, this is a non-starter. For a Python or JavaScript dev using open-source tools? You might never notice.
So Which One Is For You?
Look, choosing VS Code isn’t “selling out.” It’s choosing the path of least resistance with first-party support and total ecosystem access. It’s the pragmatic choice for getting work done, especially in corporate or Microsoft-adjacent environments. Picking VSCodium is a principled stand for software freedom, privacy, and a fully open-source toolchain. It’s the choice for the purist, the privacy-conscious, and the compliance-required. There’s no right answer, only a right answer for *you*. Basically, do you value perfect ideological purity, or perfect convenience? Most of us, if we’re honest, will take the convenience. And that’s exactly why VS Code continues to dominate.
