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CodePen VS vscode.dev

Compare CodePen VS vscode.dev and see what are their differences

CodePen logo CodePen

A front end web development playground.

vscode.dev logo vscode.dev

Now when you go to https://vscode.dev, you'll be presented with a lightweight version of VS Code running fully in the browser.
  • CodePen Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • vscode.dev Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-03

CodePen features and specs

  • Real-time Collaboration
    Developers can collaborate with others in real-time, making it easy to work on projects with teammates or seek help from the community.
  • Immediate Visual Feedback
    CodePen allows you to see the results of your code as you write it, which is highly beneficial for learning and debugging.
  • Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
    CodePen provides a comfortable and feature-rich online IDE environment with syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and more.
  • Community-Driven
    Users can share their work with the CodePen community, receive feedback, and explore a wide range of projects created by others.
  • Extensive Resources
    CodePen offers a wealth of examples and templates for various web development tasks, making it a useful resource for learning and inspiration.
  • Cross-Device Accessibility
    Being an online platform, CodePen can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, making it convenient for developers on the move.

Possible disadvantages of CodePen

  • Limited Offline Functionality
    Since CodePen is primarily an online tool, it requires an internet connection for most of its features to work, limiting its usefulness in offline environments.
  • Performance Constraints
    Complex or resource-intensive projects may not perform as well on CodePen as they would in a full-fledged local development environment.
  • Subscription Costs
    While many features are free, advanced functionalities and additional storage options require a paid subscription, which may not be ideal for all users.
  • Limited Backend Capabilities
    CodePen is primarily designed for front-end development, so it offers limited support for backend technologies, making it less suitable for full-stack or server-side development.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies and libraries can be cumbersome compared to local development environments which have better tools for this purpose, like npm.
  • Security Concerns
    Sharing projects with the public can expose your code and assets to unauthorized use, posing potential intellectual property and security risks.

vscode.dev features and specs

  • Accessibility
    You can access VSCode.dev from any device with a web browser, making it highly convenient for on-the-go editing.
  • No Installation Required
    Users can start coding immediately without any need to install software, simplifying the setup process.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    VSCode.dev works across different operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux), offering flexibility.
  • Regular Updates
    The web version receives updates in sync with the desktop version, ensuring you have access to the latest features and improvements.
  • Extension Support
    Many extensions available in the desktop version are also accessible in VSCode.dev, enhancing functionality.

Possible disadvantages of vscode.dev

  • Limited Offline Support
    Unlike the desktop app, VSCode.dev requires an internet connection, which could be a drawback in areas with poor connectivity.
  • Performance Constraints
    Running in a browser may result in decreased performance compared to the desktop version, especially for resource-intensive tasks.
  • Lower Customizability
    The web version may have some limitations in customization options compared to the full-featured desktop app.
  • Security Concerns
    Storing code and editing in a browser might raise security and privacy concerns for some users, particularly when dealing with sensitive information.
  • Dependency on Browser
    The experience can vary depending on the browser used, and it might not be fully optimized for all browsers.

CodePen videos

What Is Codepen?

More videos:

  • Review - Learn to use CodePen from a co-founder of CodePen
  • Review - Using CodePen For Inspiration & Learning

vscode.dev videos

VSCode.Dev (VS Code in the Browser) - A Few Reasons You Might Care

More videos:

  • Review - VSCode In The BROWSER!? | vscode.dev | VS Code Online
  • Review - vscode.dev - VS Code In The Browser!!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CodePen and vscode.dev)
Text Editors
72 72%
28% 28
Programming
100 100%
0% 0
Open Source
0 0%
100% 100
Software Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare CodePen and vscode.dev

CodePen Reviews

Best Forums for Developers to Join in 2025
Codepen is a social network for developers to show off their work, ask and answer questions, and exchange ideas. It's like a Reddit for coding and design, with a large community of talented web developers.
Source: www.notchup.com
Top 10 Developer Communities You Should Explore
Codepen is a social development environment that allows developers to showcase their work and experiment with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a collaborative space. Codepen’s focus on visual and interactive development makes it an excellent community for front-end developers and designers.
Source: www.qodo.ai
8 Best Replit Alternatives & Competitors in 2022 (Free & Paid) - Software Discover
Codepen is a social development environment for front-end designers and developers. Build and deploy a website, show off your work, build test cases to learn.
Best Online Code Editors For Web Developers
Probably the most popular online code editor. CodePen is fast, easy to use, and allows a web developer to write and share HTML/CSS/JS code online.
Source: techarge.in
Top 25 websites for coding challenge and competition [Updated for 2021]
CodePen is a cool online IDE that allows you to write code in your browser and see the result just as you build it. CodePen challenges is a place for leveling up your skills by building things. Each week, new challenges appear for you to tackle, and the best “Pens” get picked.

vscode.dev Reviews

We have no reviews of vscode.dev yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CodePen should be more popular than vscode.dev. It has been mentiond 502 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

CodePen mentions (502)

View more

vscode.dev mentions (271)

  • Who Needs Software for Development Anyway?
    The GitHub code editor (immediately accessible by changing the ".com" to ".dev" in your browser URL, in case you didn't know) is miles, leagues ahead of what AWS has to offer. It has a full, working version of vscode.dev, which is pretty much the same as github.dev those days, I hear. It will allow you to install supported extensions, do some code completion, run your tests - and even has a shell! You can't... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Show HN: I'm tired of sharing code using PasteBin and Slack, so I made this
    Vscode itself can run in the browser (https://vscode.dev/), and presumably so could the extension - so a full live-demo ought to be possible. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Dear AWS, how do I build & develop purely on AWS right now?
    As an alternative for Cloud9, you can use vscode.dev, which runs VS Code in the browser or other alternatives that are more integrated and personalized like gitpod.io or Github Codespaces. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Coding on iPad using VSCode, Caddy, and code-server
    Is it ergonomic to code on a tablet without bci? https://vscode.dev can connect to a remote vscode instance in a container e.g. Over Remote Tunnels ; but browsers trap so many keyboard shortcuts. Which container with code-server to run to connect to from vscode client? You can specify a development container that contains code-server with devcontainer.json. vscode, Codespaces and these tools support... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Show HN: Defrag the Game
    Microsoft has an elaborate VS Code demo app that uses this API. Click "Open Folder" to see the API in action): https://vscode.dev. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CodePen and vscode.dev, you can also consider the following products

JSFiddle - Test your JavaScript, CSS, HTML or CoffeeScript online with JSFiddle code editor.

GitHub Codespaces - GItHub Codespaces is a hosted remote coding environment by GitHub based on Visual Studio Codespaces integrated directly for GitHub.

CodeSandbox - Online playground for React

replit - Code, create, andlearn together. Use our free, collaborative, in-browser IDE to code in 50+ languages — without spending a second on setup.

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

StackBlitz - Online VS Code Editor for Angular and React