Visual Studio Code vs Programming Helper vs Cursor vs Zed

Which one fits you in 2026? Traffic, pricing, input → output, tasks and community side by side.

Your tool
Visual Studio Code
vs
Competitor 1
Programming Helper
Competitor 2
Cursor
Competitor 3
Zed
Compare
4 tools · best value per row highlighted
Your tool Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com
Visual Studio Code is a free, open source code editor that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and now includes built-in AI agents.
Remove
Competitor Programming Helper
programming-helper.com
Most AI chatbots force you to craft perfect prompts—then tweak whatever comes back
Make main Remove
Competitor Cursor
cursor.sh
Code editor that actually understands your codebase
Make main Remove
Competitor Zed
zed.dev
Speed meets intelligence
Make main Remove
Traffic estimated monthly website traffic
Monthly visits
—
4.6Kvisits/mo
4.5Mvisits/mo
1.2Mvisits/mo
MoM change
—
▼ 17.6%
▲ 7.8%
▼ 18.1%
6-month growth
—
+40.4%
-1.8%
+26.6%
Global rank web
—
#3,812,090
#15,584
#47,672
Avg. last 3 months
—
5K
4.4M
1.5M
Bounce rate lower is better
—
48%
57%
42%
Pages / visit
—
1.3
2.4
2.8
Visit duration
—
16s
1m 36s
1m 56s
Traffic sources
—
—
● Referral 80% · ● Mail 13%
● Direct 80% · ● Referral 18%
Visual Studio CodeProgramming HelperCursorZed
01.2M2.3M3.5M4.6MProgramming Helper · 2.7KProgramming Helper · 3.7KProgramming Helper · 3.2KProgramming Helper · 2.7KProgramming Helper · 3.3KProgramming Helper · 4.1KProgramming Helper · 13.8KProgramming Helper · 4.8KProgramming Helper · 5.6KProgramming Helper · 4.6KCursor · 3.8MCursor · 4.2MCursor · 4.3MCursor · 4MCursor · 4.6MCursor · 4.4MCursor · 4.6MCursor · 4.5MCursor · 4.2MCursor · 4.5MZed · 1.1MZed · 966.1KZed · 1.1MZed · 936.1KZed · 1.4MZed · 1.4MZed · 1.8MZed · 1.4MZed · 1.2M1K10K100K1M10MProgramming Helper · 2.7KProgramming Helper · 3.7KProgramming Helper · 3.2KProgramming Helper · 2.7KProgramming Helper · 3.3KProgramming Helper · 4.1KProgramming Helper · 13.8KProgramming Helper · 4.8KProgramming Helper · 5.6KProgramming Helper · 4.6KCursor · 3.8MCursor · 4.2MCursor · 4.3MCursor · 4MCursor · 4.6MCursor · 4.4MCursor · 4.6MCursor · 4.5MCursor · 4.2MCursor · 4.5MZed · 1.1MZed · 966.1KZed · 1.1MZed · 936.1KZed · 1.4MZed · 1.4MZed · 1.8MZed · 1.4MZed · 1.2MNov '25DecJan '26FebMarAprMayJunJulAug
Pricing
Model
Free
Freemium
Freemium
Freemium
Starting price
Free
$20per month · free tier available
$20per month · free tier available
Free tier
Free tier
Free trial
–
–
–
API access
–
–
–
Plans
—
—
Plan $20.0 $20/moEnterprise $0/mo
Personal FreePro $10/moBusiness $30/mo
Capabilities input → output
Input
CodeText
CodeText
CodeText
CodeText
Output
Code
CodeText
Code
Code
Skill level
Advanced
Intermediate
Advanced
Advanced
Categories
Development & CodeAI Coding Assistant
Development & CodeAI Coding AssistantSQL Query Builder
Development & CodeAI Code ReviewAI Coding Assistant
Development & CodeAI Coding Assistant
Tasks what each tool can do · 1 shared · core   partial
Tasks covered
4
6
7
5
Coding
Debugging
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–
Development
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–
Code autocompletion
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–
–
Coding in VS Code
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–
–
Regex
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–
–
SQL queries
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–
–
Vs code
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–
–
Code explanations
–
–
–
Code reviews
–
–
–
Code testing
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–
–
Developer tools
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–
–
Refactoring
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–
–
Code documentation
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–
–
Git commands
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–
–
SQL
–
–
–
Terminal commands management
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–
–
Community on aitoolstime
Rating
no ratings yet
no ratings yet
no ratings yet
no ratings yet
Upvotes
▲ 0
▲ 0
▲ 1
▲ 0
Saves
0
0
0
0
Reviews
0
0
0
0
Prompts
0
0
3
0
Verified listing
–
–
–
–

Traffic figures are third-party estimates for the tool's own domain; tools sharing a domain with a bigger product are not counted. Pricing is captured from each tool's site and may lag.