Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

VS Code VS DockLock Pro

Compare VS Code VS DockLock Pro and see what are their differences

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VS Code logo VS Code

Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

DockLock Pro logo DockLock Pro

The worlds first app that stops your Mac Dock from jumping between screens without system hacks and gives you unmatched automation control over where and how your Dock appears
  • VS Code Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-10-09
  • DockLock Pro
    Image date //
    2025-12-11
  • DockLock Pro
    Image date //
    2025-12-11
  • DockLock Pro
    Image date //
    2025-12-11

DockLock Lite is the core app that finally stops the Mac Dock from jumping between screens. It locks the Dock to the display you choose, prevents accidental moves in multi display setups, and can hide the Dock on shared screens during meetings to avoid distractions and leaks. Lite automatically relocates the Dock after wake or screen changes and remembers your preferred screen for each display combination, for example built in display at home and external monitor at work. It runs as a lightweight, fully sandboxed menu bar app with a 7 day free trial and subscription model.

DockLock Plus includes everything in Lite and adds an automation layer for power users. On top of stable locking, Plus can make the Dock follow your mouse, your active window, or specific apps you select. Every action is scriptable through Apple Shortcuts, URL scheme, CLI, Raycast extension, menu bar controls and hotkeys, so you can tie Dock behavior to focus changes, workspaces, meeting apps or custom scripts. It also uses auto relocation and per setup memory, but is sold as a one time lifetime license instead of a subscription.

DockLock Pro builds on Lite and Plus and is designed to remove the remaining limits of Dock placement. Pro will let you put a horizontal Dock on any edge of any screen, move a vertical Dock to any display, center it, create partial docks and tune how much space the Dock reserves so windows can use more of the screen. Pro is still under active development and is distributed directly from the website instead of the Mac App Store. Customers who purchase DockLock Lite or DockLock Plus on the Mac App Store will receive a discount when upgrading to DockLock Pro once it is released.

In short, Lite fixes the jumping, Plus adds deep automation and scripting, Pro adds complete freedom of Dock positioning and layout.

VS Code

$ Details
Platforms
-
Release Date
-
Startup details
Country
United States

DockLock Pro

$ Details
paid Free Trial $2.0 / Monthly
Platforms
Mac Mac OSX MacOS
Release Date
2025 February
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Ihor July
Employees
1 - 9

VS Code features and specs

  • Cross-platform
    VS Code works on Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing a consistent development experience across different operating systems.
  • Extensibility
    A vast library of extensions allows users to add functionalities like debuggers, linters, and themes, making it highly customizable.
  • Integrated Git
    Built-in Git integration makes it easy to manage version control tasks directly within the editor.
  • Performance
    Lightweight compared to full-fledged IDEs, ensuring good performance even on systems with limited resources.
  • IntelliSense
    Advanced code completion and refactoring tools help improve coding efficiency and reduce errors.
  • Community Support
    A strong and active community provides extensive support, tutorials, and third-party extensions.
  • Debugging
    Robust debugging tools for various languages and frameworks are available out of the box.
  • Free and Open-Source
    VS Code is completely free to use and open-source, which is beneficial for both individual developers and organizations.

Possible disadvantages of VS Code

  • Limited IDE Features
    While extensible, it may lack some advanced features found in dedicated IDEs out of the box.
  • Extension Management
    Managing and configuring a large number of extensions can become cumbersome and sometimes lead to performance issues.
  • Learning Curve
    Although user-friendly, it has a steeper learning curve for beginners due to its numerous features and customization options.
  • Memory Usage
    Despite being lightweight, it can consume a significant amount of memory when multiple extensions are installed.
  • Update Frequency
    Frequent updates may sometimes introduce bugs or require users to adapt to new changes quickly.
  • Internet Dependency
    Some features and extensions may require an internet connection to function optimally.
  • Telemetry
    By default, VS Code collects usage data, which might be a concern for users sensitive about data privacy. However, this can be disabled.

DockLock Pro features and specs

  • Stop Mac Dock jumping screens
    Prevents the Dock from randomly moving to other monitors when the cursor touches their edges by continuously relocking it to your preferred layout and correcting unwanted jumps after wake or screen changes
  • Lock Mac Dock to selected displays
    Lets you choose exactly which displays are allowed to host the Dock using the Allow Dock on Display controls so the Dock can appear only on those screens and never on the others
  • Hide Dock during screen sharing or meetings
    For multi monitor setups you can exclude the shared screen from the allowed displays so the Dock automatically relocates to another monitor and stays off the presentation. For single screen setups DockLock Plus adds helper apps and automations that fully hide or restore the Dock when meetings start or end
  • Dock follows mouse
    Enables a dynamic mode where the Dock jumps and locks to whichever display the cursor enters giving a fluid multi display workflow while still preventing accidental jumps
  • Dock follows active window
    Moves the Dock to the display that currently holds the focused window so your primary apps always have the Dock on the same screen as their main window
  • Dock follows selected apps
    Adds a Follow Apps When Active mode where you define a list of apps and whenever one of them becomes active the Dock relocates to the display that contains that app window
  • Control Dock via Shortcuts URL scheme CLI Raycast menu bar and hotkeys
    Provides full automation and external control including App Intents for Apple Shortcuts and Siri a DockLockPlus URL scheme for scripting and launchers a command line interface an official Raycast extension rich menu bar commands and the ability to trigger actions from macOS hotkey based automations
  • Auto relocate Dock on wake and screen changes
    Monitors display configuration changes and Mac wake events and automatically relocates and relocks the Dock to your chosen display so it stays where you want it after sleep lid open reconnecting external monitors or resolution changes
  • Per location display profiles for Dock placement
    Remembers Dock placement for each unique display combination so you can keep the Dock on the internal screen in a home setup and have it automatically move to a specific external display at work or in other multi display configurations

Analysis of VS Code

Overall verdict

  • Yes, VS Code is generally considered a good choice for developers due to its flexibility, efficiency, and strong community support. It is lightweight, fast, and user-friendly, catering to both novice and experienced developers.

Why this product is good

  • VS Code, developed by Microsoft, is a widely popular and versatile code editor. It offers a robust extension ecosystem, which allows developers to customize their workflow and coding environment extensively. Additionally, VS Code supports numerous programming languages right out of the box and provides features like IntelliSense, debugging, Git integration, and a built-in terminal, making it a powerful tool for developers.

Recommended for

  • Web developers looking for a comprehensive yet lightweight coding environment.
  • Software developers who need an editor with extensive language support and customization options.
  • Beginner programmers who would benefit from a feature-rich editor that can grow with their skills.
  • Developers interested in an open-source tool with continuous updates and community-driven enhancements.

VS Code videos

My New Favorite Text Editor - Visual Studio Code

More videos:

  • Review - 7 reasons why I switched to Visual Studio Code from Sublime Text

DockLock Pro videos

DockLock Lite in action

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to VS Code and DockLock Pro)
Text Editors
100 100%
0% 0
Mac
0 0%
100% 100
IDE
100 100%
0% 0
Utilities
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing VS Code and DockLock Pro.

What makes your product unique?

DockLock Pro's answer:

DockLock Pro is the first project ever created specifically to control the Mac Dock location across multiple displays. Before it there simply was no tool focused on making the Dock stay exactly where you want it.

It is also the only app in the Mac App Store that can both stop the Dock from jumping between screens and automatically relocate it according to your preferences such as a fixed display or rules based movement.

Apple does not provide any public API or system setting to control the Dock in this way. DockLock Pro is built on deep reverse engineering and low level understanding of how the Dock works which allows it to achieve behavior that is normally impossible with standard system tools or regular apps.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

DockLock Pro's answer:

DockLock Pro is built around the original Mac Dock instead of trying to replace it. Competing tools create their own custom docks and then push you to hide or disable the real Dock by patching its configuration. That can interfere with normal system behavior and still cannot deliver exactly the same feel and integration that the native Dock has.

With DockLock Pro the Apple Dock keeps working exactly as Apple designed it. You get precise control over which display it uses and how it behaves without giving up native animations, context menus, stacks, drag and drop or Mission Control integration. You are not trading the real Dock for an imitation just to stop it from jumping.

Many replacement docks are not sandboxed and modify system files or settings to achieve their behavior. DockLock Lite and DockLock Plus are fully sandboxed Mac App Store apps that do not inject code or patch the system. DockLock Pro uses knowledge gained from deep reverse engineering of the Dock process yet still focuses narrowly on one task. Control where the real Dock appears across your displays with the smallest possible impact on the rest of the system.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

DockLock Pro's answer:

DockLock Pro is aimed at Mac users who rely on multi display setups and need precise, predictable Dock behavior every day. This includes developers, designers, editors, traders, IT and security professionals, and people who present or screen share regularly. They often use external monitors at home and at work, move between different display configurations, and are sensitive to workflow interruptions when the Dock jumps to the wrong screen. DockLock Pro targets those who want to keep the native Dock experience while gaining low level control, automation and stable placement that the system itself does not provide.

What's the story behind your product?

DockLock Pro's answer:

A DockLock Pro began on Feb 4 2025 when I discovered a way to control the Mac Dock without modifying the system and built a small internal prototype that stopped the Dock from jumping between screens. That proof of concept was never released, but it proved the idea was real and led to a public promise on r/MacOS to ship an app that stops the Dock from jumping anywhere. Since then the project has grown into DockLock Lite and Plus on the Mac App Store and DockLock Pro as the advanced version that fulfills the original vision. The entire product line is created and maintained by a completely independent solo developer with no team and no investors.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

DockLock Pro's answer:

DockLock Lite started as an internal prototype built with Qt SDK. After proving the idea worked I rewrote the entire project in pure Objective-C using native macOS frameworks. This removed the cross platform layer, significantly reduced CPU usage and allowed DockLock apps to support macOS versions starting from 10.10

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

DockLock Pro's answer:

A DockLock Pro does not publish a list of logo customers. The app is sold directly to individual professionals and small teams rather than through enterprise contracts, and I deliberately avoid tracking or profiling users. Based on support requests and feedback, most customers are power users with multi display setups such as developers, designers, video editors, engineers, traders and IT or security professionals, but I do not name or promote specific companies to keep customer privacy and independence of the project.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare VS Code and DockLock Pro

VS Code Reviews

  1. dksinden
    ยท Working at SpeechKit ยท

Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
Visual Studio Code, commonly known as VS Code, is a powerful and extensible code editor developed by Microsoft. With its rich ecosystem of extensions and features like IntelliSense, debugging, and Git integration, VS Code enhances your coding productivity.
Source: convesio.com
13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
Finally, the Visual Studio Code website has numerous tabs for you to learn about the software. The documentation page walks you through steps like the setup and working with different languages. Youโ€™re also able to check out some tips and tricks and learn all of the Visual Studio Code keyboard shortcuts. Along with a blog, updates page, extensions library and API...
Source: kinsta.com
Jupyter Notebook & 10 Alternatives: Data Notebook Review [2023]
Previously, VS Code was more suited to developers or engineers due to its lack of data analysis capabilities, but since 2020, the VS Code team has collaborated with the Jupyter team to create an integrated notebook within VS Code. The end result is a fantastic IDE workbook for data analysis.
Source: lakefs.io
The Best IDEs for Java Development: A Comparative Analysis
Overview: Although not a traditional IDE, VS Code has gained popularity as a lightweight code editor.
Source: dev.to
20 Best Diff Tools to Compare File Contents on Linux
Visual studio code is a code editor made by Microsoft. It supports several development operations like debugging, task running, and version control. It works on Linux, macOS and Windows operating systems.
Source: linuxopsys.com

DockLock Pro Reviews

We have no reviews of DockLock Pro yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VS Code seems to be a lot more popular than DockLock Pro. While we know about 1214 links to VS Code, we've tracked only 1 mention of DockLock Pro. 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.

VS Code mentions (1214)

  • How to Get Your First Tool Online
    The step up from there is an editor with a built-in agent like Cursor, Google Antigravity, Windsurf, or VS Code with a coding extension. These are code editors with an AI agent living inside them, and the difference is the responsible party for getting things from place to place. Instead of the software creator shuttling code between windows, the AI agent edits the project files directly and runs the GitHub and... - Source: dev.to / 12 days ago
  • Agentic Engineering: What Does AI Coding Really Cost?
    For IDE-heavy teams, BYOK (bring your own key) can be interesting, no matter whether you live in WebStorm or VS Code. On the JetBrains side, the JetBrains AI plans and Junie BYOK docs allow it, and most VS Code AI extensions offer the same idea: keep the IDE, connect provider keys, pay the provider. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Best Markdown Editors for Developers
    Option 1: Raw editing in IDE. You open the .md file in VS Code or whatever you use. Syntax highlighting shows you the structure. Maybe you toggle a preview pane. This works for quick edits but becomes painful for anything involving tables, diagrams, or complex formatting. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Document Generation for Developers: Security, Compliance, and Build-vs-Buy Decisions for the Template-Plus-Data Pipeline
    You'll need Python 3.8+ and pip for the quickstart, with venv recommended for isolation. Install the requests library for HTTP calls. VS Code with the Python extension works well as an editor, though PyCharm or Sublime Text work equally well. You'll also need a free Foxit developer account. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Notes + Local AI: Simpler Than You Think
    For viewing and navigating, Obsidian handles large markdown libraries well: graph view, tag search, template plugins. VSCode works too if you'd rather stay in your dev environment. Both read the same folder with no conversion needed. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
View more

DockLock Pro mentions (1)

  • Show HN: A tiny macOS app that stops your Dock from jumping between monitors
    I need to ask you to rename your project. "DockLock" is the name of my existing product, and using the same name for a similar macOS app creates clear confusion. https://docklockpro.com DockLock Lite was created in February 2025, and I have public evidence of prior use and release history. Your current presentation also implies invention of a solution that I had already created and shipped earlier. I am not... - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing VS Code and DockLock Pro, you can also consider the following products

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

Sidebar - The five best design links of the day, freshly redesigned

Vim - Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing

ActiveDock - Application Launcher, improved Dock for macOS, alternative to Apple Dock, uBar, HyperDock

Node.js - Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications

DockFix - Customize Your macOS Dock Like Never Before