---
title: "Visual Studio Code vs ZCode"
description: "Visual Studio Code and ZCode are both AI-native IDEs. Visual Studio Code runs local models, ZCode does not."
canonical_url: "https://whichcoding.tools/compare/vscode-vs-zcode"
---
# Visual Studio Code vs ZCode

> Visual Studio Code is an AI-native IDE by Microsoft. ZCode is an AI-native IDE by Z.ai. Every cell below is read from the directory data and points back to a vendor page.

## General

|  | Visual Studio Code | ZCode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Layer | AI-native IDE | AI-native IDE |
| Vendor | Microsoft | Z.ai |
| Website | [code.visualstudio.com](https://code.visualstudio.com) | [zcode.z.ai/en](https://zcode.z.ai/en) |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux, Web | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| License | MIT (Open source) | Apache-2.0 (Open source) |
| Status | active | active |

## Pricing

|  | Visual Studio Code | ZCode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | Free | Free |
| Top individual plan | Free | $168/mo |
| Team plan | — | $88/user/mo |
| Included usage | — | 10,000 credits/week (GLM Coding Plan Lite) |
| Beyond the plan | — | Rate limited |
| Part of a plan | — | — |

## Models

|  | Visual Studio Code | ZCode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Providers | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Moonshot | Zhipu, Anthropic, OpenAI, Moonshot, MiniMax, OpenRouter |
| Bring your own key | Partial BYOK | BYOK |
| Local models | Yes | No |

## Features

|  | Visual Studio Code | ZCode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Git worktrees | Yes | No |
| Parallel agents | Yes | No |
| Subagents | Yes | Yes |
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| Browser automation | Yes | Yes |
| Sandboxing | Yes | No |
| Remote execution | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile companion | No | Yes |
| Scheduled tasks | No | Yes |
| Diff review | Yes | No |
| Checkpoints | Yes | No |
| Plugins | Yes | Yes |
| Hooks | Yes | Yes |
| Tab completion | Yes | No |

## Works with

|  | Visual Studio Code | ZCode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Runs | GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Codex CLI | — |
| Runs inside | — | — |
| Pricing verified | 2026-08-23 | 2026-09-22 |

## Related

[Add more tools](https://whichcoding.tools/compare?tools=vscode,zcode), up to four at a time.

Data: CC BY 4.0. Credit whichcoding.tools and link to https://whichcoding.tools. Full terms in [LICENSE-DATA](https://github.com/benjamincanac/whichcodingtools/blob/main/LICENSE-DATA).

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