Visual Studio Code vs Notepad++

Visual Studio Code: what it's good at

VS Code combines the speed of a text editor with the capability of an IDE: intelligent completion, integrated debugging, built-in Git support and an enormous extension marketplace covering essentially every language and framework.

• IntelliSense code completion
• Integrated debugger and terminal
• Built-in Git version control
• Vast extension marketplace

Notepad++: what it's good at

Notepad++ is the long-standing Windows replacement for Notepad, adding syntax highlighting for dozens of languages, multi-document tabs, powerful find-and-replace across files, and macro recording — while staying very fast.

• Syntax highlighting for many languages
• Find and replace across whole folders
• Macro recording and playback
• Extremely fast, small footprint

Which should you choose?

Both are free, so the honest answer is that you can install either and decide for yourself — that is the advantage of free software over a paid trial.

Both run on Windows. Only Visual Studio Code supports macOS, Linux. If open source matters to you, Notepad++ publishes its source code and Visual Studio Code does not.

We deliberately do not publish a star rating for either. We have no way to verify a rating that would be honest at scale, and an invented one would be worse than none — so we give you the facts and let you decide.

Frequently asked questions

Is Visual Studio Code better than Notepad++?

Neither is universally better. Visual Studio Code the most widely used code editor in the world, while Notepad++ fast, lightweight text and code editor for Windows. The right pick depends on your platform and workflow.

Are both really free?

Visual Studio Code is free and Notepad++ is open source. Both can be downloaded without paying.

Can I install both?

Yes. Since neither costs anything, installing both and comparing them on your own files is usually the fastest way to decide.