Kate as a Linux alternative to Visual Studio Code

Updated October 22, 2026

Our verdict

Kate can serve as a viable replacement for Visual Studio Code for users who prefer a traditional desktop editor with KDE integration and don’t rely heavily on the massive VS Code extension marketplace. It covers the essential development workflow—syntax highlighting, terminal, Git, LSP‑based completion and debugging—so it works well for scripting, web development, and system programming. Power users who need deep IDE features, a large curated extension ecosystem, or tight integration with Microsoft‑centric tools may find VS Code more convenient, but Kate is a solid, fully open‑source alternative for most day‑to‑day coding tasks.

Feature parity78%

License: LGPL-2.1+
Price: Free
Latest version: 26.04.2 (June 4, 2026)
Rating: —

Install Kate Website ↗

Kate screenshot — Editing code with Kate

What works the same

Syntax highlighting for hundreds of languages
Integrated terminal inside the editor
Git version‑control integration
Language Server Protocol support for code completion and refactoring
Debugging via DAP (Debug Adapter Protocol)

What is different

VS Code has a far larger extension marketplace, especially for language‑specific tooling and cloud services
VS Code offers built‑in support for remote development containers and SSH workspaces, which Kate lacks
VS Code provides richer UI customisation through settings sync and marketplace themes, while Kate’s theming is more limited to KDE styles
Kate’s plugin ecosystem is smaller and primarily written in C++/JavaScript, whereas VS Code extensions are JavaScript/TypeScript based
VS Code includes integrated support for tasks like npm scripts, Docker, and Azure directly in the UI, which Kate does not provide out of the box

Opening your Visual Studio Code files

Kate can open any plain‑text file that VS Code can, including project folders, JSON, Markdown, and source files. VS Code stores workspace settings in JSON files (.code‑workspace) and extensions may add configuration files; Kate will treat those as regular text, so you can view or edit them, but it does not interpret VS Code‑specific settings or launch extensions. No special export is required—just open the files directly in Kate.

Switching from Visual Studio Code to Kate, step by step

Install Kate from your distribution’s package manager or Flathub
Open your existing project folder in Kate via File → Open Folder
If you use LSP, install the appropriate language server (e.g., pyright, tsserver) and enable it in Kate’s plugin settings
Configure the built‑in terminal to use your preferred shell and verify Git commands work
Optionally import any VS Code keybindings by recreating them in Kate’s shortcut editor

Key features of Kate

Syntax highlighting for 300+ languages
Multiple cursors and selections
LSP and DAP support for code intelligence and debugging
Built-in terminal and filesystem browser
Git integration and folder-wide search
Vi mode and customizable keyboard shortcuts
Project support with folder opening
Extensible via plugins and JavaScript scripting

How to install Kate on Linux

Flatpak (Flathub)flatpak install flathub org.kde.kate

Ubuntu / Mintsudo apt install kate

Debiansudo apt install kate

Fedorasudo dnf install kate

Arch / Manjarosudo pacman -S kate

openSUSEsudo zypper install kate

Frequently asked questions

Can Kate debug Python or Node.js code like VS Code?

Yes, Kate supports debugging through the DAP protocol. You need to install a compatible debug adapter (e.g., debugpy for Python or vscode-node-debug2 for Node) and configure it in Kate’s debugger plugin.

Does Kate have an extension marketplace comparable to VS Code’s?

No, Kate’s plugin system is smaller and not hosted on a centralized marketplace. Plugins are typically installed via your distro’s packages or manually from KDE’s repositories.

Will my VS Code settings (themes, shortcuts) carry over to Kate?

Kate does not import VS Code settings automatically. You’ll need to set themes and shortcuts manually in Kate’s configuration dialogs.