Editor Comparison · Updated: Sep 26, 2026 · View as Markdown

Koi vs. VS Code

Performance ⋅ Privacy ⋅ Local AI ⋅ Extensibility ⋅ Pricing and ownership

	Koi	VS Code
Cross-platform	Mac-only.	Electron.
Telemetry or tracking	None.	Yes
Local AI	Yes	Yes
Typing latency	Very fast: 16.6 ms.	Slow: 171.9 ms.
Large file editing	Usable through 20M lines.	Degraded at 1M–5M lines, failed 10M.
Extensibility	Python scripting.	Plugins.
Open source	Proprietary software.	No, but source is available.
One-time purchase	One-time purchase with lifetime updates.	-

Performance

TL;DR

Koi measured about 10.4x faster than VS Code in typing latency.

At 5 million lines, Koi used 698 MB of memory and remained responsive. VS Code used 2.60 GB and did not pass the 10-million-line test.

Koi has substantially lower measured typing latency than VS Code. On a 753,821-line C file:

	Koi	VS Code
Typing latency, p95	16.6 ms	171.9 ms
Dual-pane latency, p95	16.4 ms	172.4 ms

The difference becomes larger with multi-million-line files.

	Koi	VS Code
1M lines	207.6 MB	1.60 GB
5M lines	698.3 MB	2.60 GB
10M lines	1.10 GB	-
20M lines	2.32 GB	-

Koi continued syntax highlighting and editing through the 20-million-line test.

At 5 million lines, VS Code used 2.60 GB total memory, compared with 698.3 MB for Koi, or about 3.7x more. VS Code also reached 207.0 ms p95 typing latency at this size. The 10-million-line file became practically unusable and did not meet the benchmark requirements.

See Benchmarks for the test methodology, memory usage, raw measurements, and results from other editors.

Privacy

Koi does not make network requests during normal use. There is no telemetry, no account, no automatic update check, and no background download of language servers or other tooling.

VS Code works without an account, but collects usage telemetry and crash and error reports by default. Telemetry can be disabled.

Other features access the network independently of telemetry. VS Code checks for product updates, accesses the Extension Marketplace, updates installed extensions, and uses online services for some built-in features.

These features can be configured individually, but VS Code does not have a single offline mode that disables all network activity.

	Koi	VS Code
Account required	No accounts.	Optional.
Telemetry	No telemetry.	Yes
Background downloads	No background downloads.	Yes
Network requests during normal use	None.	Yes
Offline mode	Not needed.	No
Privacy policy document	Koi's Privacy Policy	-

Local AI

Koi is designed around Ollama and local models from the start. Code completion can run continuously against a small local model, with no account or API key.

VS Code supports local models for chat and agents. Local models such as Ollama can be used without a GitHub account, Copilot plan, or internet connection.

The main difference is code completion.

	Koi	VS Code
Local AI chat	Yes	Yes
Local AI code completion	Yes	No
Local AI agents	No	Yes
Cloud AI	No	Yes

Koi can use a local model continuously for code completion and inline editing.

VS Code's local models can be used for chat, agents, and utility tasks. Its built-in AI inline suggestions still require GitHub Copilot and an internet connection.

VS Code also has a much larger cloud AI surface, with GitHub Copilot, multiple model providers, agents, semantic search, and external tools.

Extensibility

Koi exposes the editor directly to Python. A custom command can be as simple as:

@command("Word count")
def word_count():
    import re

    text = selected_text()
    count = len(re.findall(r"\b[\w'-]+\b", text))

    message(f"Word count: {count:,} words")

Save the script and run it. There is no extension package or compilation step.

VS Code uses an extension API and the Visual Studio Marketplace. Extensions can add languages, debuggers, linters, formatters, source control integrations, custom editors, AI tools, and other functionality.

Koi uses scripting for small changes to the editor itself.

VS Code uses extensions for a much broader range of functionality.

Pricing and ownership

Both editors can be used without a subscription.

In Koi, non-commercial use is free. A personal license is a one-time purchase and includes future updates for the lifetime of the product.

VS Code is free to use. Its source code is developed under MIT license, while Microsoft's Visual Studio Code distribution is released under the Microsoft Software License Terms. Some integrated services, including GitHub Copilot plans, are separately paid.

	Koi	VS Code
Free editor	Free for Non-commercial use.	Yes
One-time purchase	Yes	-
Paid cloud services	No	Yes
Source available	No	Yes
Pricing page	Koi's Pricing	-