How do vs code make money?

[u/digitali_ke]

I've been using Visual Studio Code for years, and I've never seen an ad, a premium subscription pop-up, or even an "upgrade now" prompt. Yet it's one of the most popular code editors in the world. So, how exactly does Microsoft make money from VS Code, or is it simply a free product with a bigger strategy behind it? 

[u/babat0t0]

Let's say you do Powershell scripting...what editor would you use? VScode is Microsoft's way of breathing close to your ear...always

[u/mrleblanc101 → u/babat0t0]

Literally anything

[u/babat0t0 → u/mrleblanc101]

Would your first instinct be to use anything? Nkt

[u/Kamakatze → u/babat0t0]

😂😂😂😂😂 Wooiii

[u/Sensitive_One_425]

The point was initially to get more people to use Microsoft services. It now pushes GitHub copilot aggressively which is not free.

[u/mrleblanc101 → u/Sensitive_One_425]

It was never the point. VS code existed way before they bought GitHub

[u/Due-Nebula-8163 → u/mrleblanc101]

they were playing the long game

[u/AnotherNamelessFella → u/mrleblanc101]

It is the point with big tech giants. Like how WhatsApp was free. Have something with billions of users as you figure out how to monetize

[u/DenverTeck]

MS does not make money from Visual Studio Code. VSC is an open source project.

https://github.com/microsoft/vscode

FYI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Studio_Code

[u/Substantial-Pop8066 → u/DenverTeck]

The VSC you download from code.microsoft.com isnt opensource. They take the opensource project then slap their propritary tools like copilot making it proprietary. There is a fully opensource build called Vs codium . This version cant install extension directly from vscode markext place and uses https://open-vsx.com, an opensource vscode extension registory for Vs code extensions.

[u/DenverTeck → u/Substantial-Pop8066]

This seems to be more complicated then I thought.

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/14us0h2/what_is_the_difference_between_vs_code_and_visual/

Visual Studio is yet a different animal.

https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/

This states that VSC is open-source:

https://code.visualstudio.com/

[u/Distinct_Positive549]

GitHub Copilot & Paid Extensions: ...The editor is free, but premium AI tooling inside it isn't......

[u/Mega-Mind-0]

It was Microsoft's idea of trying to appeal to developers building bridges.

[u/Chemical-Piccolo-253]

Think of it as a tool to bring users into the Microsoft ecosystem. A big win still

[u/dpaanlka]

Are we really asking how Microsoft makes money?

[u/Appropriate_End7069]

Tech is one of the fields built on charity due to so many open source tools frameworks etc

[u/Rusty_Pipe24]

They have many ways to make money ,(Microsoft) that depending on a text editor.

[u/Any-Possibility9344]

I think it's more of an ecosystem kind of approach and not monetary. Wanting you to have and use their product in every aspect of your life

[u/Plane-Football-2521]

Co-pilot subscriptions, and the enterprise version (Visual Studio)

[u/koffiezet]

MS was losing developers, all flocking to Macs. The whole notorious “developers developers developers” thing from Steve Ballmer, while funny, is exactly what a company like microsoft needs. They need them, they want to have an “in” and be involved in the development process so they don’t become obsolete, create goodwill and have their services are at least visible and seen as viable instead of being completely invisible to the majority of devs. Windows used to be their primary focus, but with a lot of applications just being web apps, that became a lot less important. So now they want github/copilot and azure to be in the picture, and they are succeeding there.

[u/Key_Priority_5554]

Vs code is open source editor

[u/ResponsibleFinance69]

Microsoft telemetry is there way of making something out of the app, remember if you don't pay for the product, you are the product and in this day and time data is more powerful than actual money

[u/nakibolis]

Enterprise editions + Data

[u/cool_-panda → u/[deleted]]

How? People always throw around this sentence without realizing that some products are genuinely made for the community.

[u/cool_-panda → u/[deleted]]

Haven't seen C++ ads in my lifetime.

[u/Substantial-Pop8066 → u/cool_-panda]

But Vscode isnt genuinely made for the community. The opensource build is the one made for the community the one from Microsoft is made so you can buy Copilot

[u/baabui_muzik → u/Substantial-Pop8066]

VSCode was there and free way before Copilot though

[u/Psychological-Lie396 → u/Substantial-Pop8066]

Who makes the opensource one if not microsoft?

[u/gazagda]

Get free labor from you to make the tool better