iTerm2 vs Visual Studio Code
The ultimate side-by-side head-to-head analysis for 2026.
Short answer
- Price: both start at Free.
- How to start: both are free.
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. We do not publish a quality score, because we do not have one we can stand behind. They cannot tell you which tool fits your workflow — the sections below are there for that. How we score tools.
iTerm2
Visual Studio Code
Category
Developer Tools
Developer Tools
Base Price
Free
Free
Public API
No
Yes
Mobile app
No
No
Open source / self-hostable
Yes
Yes
SSO (SAML)
No
No
Choose iTerm2 if:
Mac users who spend real time in a terminal.
Choose Visual Studio Code if:
Almost any developer, from first project to large codebase.
iTerm2: pros & cons
- Free and mature
- Split panes and session restore
- Deeply configurable
- macOS only
- Configuration surface is large
- Interface is functional rather than modern
Visual Studio Code: pros & cons
- Free with no paid tier to upsell you
- Extension for practically every language and tool
- Remote and container development built in
- Heavy on memory once extensions pile up
- Extension quality is inconsistent
- Telemetry in the Microsoft build concerns some teams
Our verdict on iTerm2
The long-standing default on macOS, and still free. Newer terminals win on polish, not capability.
Our verdict on Visual Studio Code
The safe default. If it feels slow, the cause is usually your extensions rather than the editor.