CotEditor
6.9#37 in text editorsFree planFree planmacOS
VisitCotEditor vs Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code
8.2#3 in text editorsFree planFree planWebLinuxmacOSWindows
VisitWhat both publish
| Fact | CotEditor | Visual Studio Code |
|---|---|---|
| Column editing | Yes | Yes |
| Extension support | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Large-file handling | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-cursor editing | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy | The project says it does not collect, use, save, or access personal data recorded in CotEditor, and app settings are stored only on the device. | VS Code collects telemetry, which users can disable with the telemetry.telemetryLevel setting; extensions may collect separate telemetry. |
| Supported platforms | macOS | web,windows,macos,linux |
CotEditor plans
- FreeFree
Visual Studio Code plans
- Visual Studio CodeFree
Pick CotEditor if…
CotEditor suits Mac users editing code, notes, Markdown, web content, or other plain text. It is intended for everyday macOS editing, including users who need multilingual text handling or scripting.
Pick Visual Studio Code if…
VS Code suits developers who want a free editor for desktop or browser coding, with built-in tools and a large extension library. It also fits users who want to combine AI agent workflows with direct coding, provided they have a GitHub account to start building with agents.