Kate
7.3#20 in text editorsFree planFree planLinuxmacOSWindows
VisitKate vs Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code
8.2#3 in text editorsFree planFree planWebLinuxmacOSWindows
VisitWhat both publish
| Fact | Kate | Visual Studio Code |
|---|---|---|
| Column editing | Yes | Yes |
| Extension support | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-cursor editing | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy | KDE says its software generally does not transfer information from users’ devices except after explicit user action; any telemetry is opt-in and disabled by default. | VS Code collects telemetry, which users can disable with the telemetry.telemetryLevel setting; extensions may collect separate telemetry. |
| Product | Kate is a text editor for viewing and editing text files. | Visual Studio Code is a code editor with AI assisted development features. |
| Supported platforms | Linux,BSD,Windows,macOS | web,windows,macos,linux |
Kate plans
- KateFree
Visual Studio Code plans
- Visual Studio CodeFree
Pick Kate if…
Kate suits people who want a free desktop editor for text, code, and multiple open documents. Its programming features and Linux, macOS, and Windows support may also suit developers working across those platforms.
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.