Visual Studio Code vs Zed vs Programming Helper vs Windsurf

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

Your tool
Visual Studio Code
vs
Competitor 1
Zed
Competitor 2
Programming Helper
Competitor 3
Windsurf
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.
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Competitor Zed
zed.dev
Speed meets intelligence
Make main 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 Windsurf
windsurf.com
Windsurf, which now appears on the web as Devin Desktop, is a desktop code editor that doubles as a control room for coding agents.
Make main Remove
Traffic estimated monthly website traffic
Monthly visits
—
1.2Mvisits/mo
4.6Kvisits/mo
29.6Kvisits/mo
MoM change
—
▼ 18.1%
▼ 17.6%
▲ 7.8%
6-month growth
—
+26.6%
+40.4%
+122.1%
Global rank web
—
#47,672
#3,812,090
#1,172,623
Avg. last 3 months
—
1.5M
5K
26.9K
Bounce rate lower is better
—
42%
48%
50%
Pages / visit
—
2.8
1.3
1.3
Visit duration
—
1m 56s
16s
13s
Traffic sources
—
● Direct 80% · ● Referral 18%
—
—
Visual Studio CodeZedProgramming HelperWindsurf
0462K923.9K1.4M1.8MZed · 1.1MZed · 966.1KZed · 1.1MZed · 936.1KZed · 1.4MZed · 1.4MZed · 1.8MZed · 1.4MZed · 1.2MProgramming 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 · 4.6KWindsurf · 16KWindsurf · 24.3KWindsurf · 15.7KWindsurf · 13.3KWindsurf · 25.4KWindsurf · 29.3KWindsurf · 23.6KWindsurf · 27.5KWindsurf · 29.6K1K10K100K1M10MZed · 1.1MZed · 966.1KZed · 1.1MZed · 936.1KZed · 1.4MZed · 1.4MZed · 1.8MZed · 1.4MZed · 1.2MProgramming 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 · 4.6KWindsurf · 16KWindsurf · 24.3KWindsurf · 15.7KWindsurf · 13.3KWindsurf · 25.4KWindsurf · 29.3KWindsurf · 23.6KWindsurf · 27.5KWindsurf · 29.6KNov '25DecJan '26FebMarAprMayJunJulAug
Pricing
Model
Free
Freemium
Freemium
Freemium
Starting price
Free
Free tier
$20per month · free tier available
$20per month · free tier available
Free tier
Free trial
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–
–
API access
–
–
–
Plans
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Personal FreePro $10/moBusiness $30/mo
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Free FreePro $20/moMax $200/moTeams $80/mo
Capabilities input → output
Input
CodeText
CodeText
CodeText
CodeText
Output
Code
Code
CodeText
Code
Skill level
Advanced
Advanced
Intermediate
Advanced
Categories
Development & CodeAI Coding Assistant
Development & CodeAI Coding Assistant
Development & CodeAI Coding AssistantSQL Query Builder
Development & CodeProductivity & OfficeAI AgentAI Coding Assistant
Tasks what each tool can do · 1 shared · core   partial
Tasks covered
4
5
6
6
Coding
Debugging
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–
Agent management
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–
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Agents
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–
–
Code autocompletion
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–
–
Coding in VS Code
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–
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Regex
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–
–
SQL queries
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–
–
Vs code
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–
–
Code explanations
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–
–
Code testing
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–
–
Developer tools
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–
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Development
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–
–
Code reviews
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–
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Git commands
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–
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GitHub pull requests
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–
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SQL
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–
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Community on aitoolstime
Rating
no ratings yet
no ratings yet
no ratings yet
no ratings yet
Upvotes
▲ 0
▲ 0
▲ 0
▲ 1
Saves
0
0
0
0
Reviews
0
0
0
0
Prompts
0
0
0
0
Verified listing
–
–
–
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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.