Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Using VS Code and GitHub Gists as a Web Development Playground

In order to make it easier to visually explore HTML/JS/CSS, directly in @code, GistPad (https://t.co/C4vZgHmZhi) now allows you to create "Web playgrounds" that are fully editable mini web apps, that provide a live preview, and are persisted as GitHub Gists 🚀

This tool enables web developers to use VS Code and GitHub Gists as an integrated development environment for building and testing web projects. It streamlines the workflow by combining code editing capabilities with… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Using VS Code and GitHub Gists as a Web Development Playground launched in 2019; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   A simple Go web server with logging, tracing, health check▲318

   GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

   2018 · gist.github.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   A VSCode Extension to edit HTML visually in real-time▲231

   Edit HTML files visually. Contribute to urin/vscode-web-visual-editor development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Board For GitHub▲293

   A webview based GitHub project app with native features

   2017 · justinfincher.github.io · its alternatives →

4. 4
   vscode.dev▲305

   Bringing VS Code to the browser

   2021 · vscode.dev · its alternatives →

5. 5
   CodeSwing – A CodePen-like interactive playground, built into VS Code▲159

   VS Code extension for building web applications ("swings") using a interactive and editor-integrated coding environment - lostintangent/codeswing

   2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   GitHub Student Developer Pack▲335

   The best developer tools, free for students.

   2014 · education.github.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   GistFS – Using VS Code and GitHub Gist as a Cloud-Based Scratchpad▲8

   📘 VS Code extension for managing and sharing code snippets, notes and interactive samples using GitHub Gists - lostintangent/gistpad

   2019 · github.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Turn your GitHub Gist into a live dashboard▲159

   :bar_chart: :clipboard: Dashboards using YAML or JSON files - GitHub - kantord/just-dashboard: :bar_chart: Dashboards using YAML or JSON files

   2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

9. 9
   My GitHub Readme Is Interactive▲237

   An experimental interactive README experience! Contribute to veggiedefender/typing development by creating an account on GitHub.

   2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    links.dev▲153

    Simplify your online presence with a link, managed in GitHub

    2022 · its alternatives →

11. 11
    GitHub Personal Website Generator▲271

    Generate a personal website based on GitHub contributions

    2019 · vscode.dev · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Visual Studio Code 1.0▲309

    Microsoft's cross-platform text editor for developers

    2016 · code.visualstudio.com · its alternatives →

13. 13
    Instantly create a GitHub repository to take screenshots of a web page▲214

    I built a GitHub repository template which automates the process of configuring a new repository to take web page screenshots using GitHub Actions. You can try this out at https://github.com/simonw/shot-scraper-template Use the https://github.com/simonw/shot-scraper-template/generate interface to create a new repository using that template, and paste the URL that you want to take screenshots of in as the "description" field. The new repository will then configure itself using GitHub Actions, take the screenshot and save it back to the repo!

    2022 · simonwillison.net · its alternatives →

14. 14
    GitKraken's DevEx Platform▲163

    Boost your Git workflows, wherever you code

    2024 · gitkraken.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    GitHub Desktop▲252

    The New Native

    2017 · desktop.github.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Gisto 2.0▲91

    Code snippet manager that runs on GitHub Gist

    2018 · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Gist Snip▲85

    Make your gists actually useful

    2022 · marketplace.visualstudio.com · its alternatives →

18. 18
    I'm working on an open-source self-hostable GitHub Gist▲62

    A self-hostable clone of GitHub Gist

    2022 · drift.maxleiter.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    A collection of front end Learning Resources▲58

    A curated collection of awesome resources for frontend developers: tutorials, tools, libraries, design assets, and more! 🚀 - requestly/awesome-frontend-resources

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    GitHub Codespaces▲4

    Your instant dev environment

    2020 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Git Hooting▲124

    00's called, they want their RSS feeds back. I was looking at my growing Github gist collection when a sudden urge to blog and make a name for myself "by not programming" struck. Part way into implementing my oh so special static website generator it occurred to me that, quite frankly, Github gists is a pretty decent publishing platform. I mean, it gives you reasonably extended markdown with previews, heck I could even write in org-mode, has comments, follower - followee relationship, extended search with filters, check out locally and push your edits. Did someone say "edit button"? Thus the…

    2023 · git.ht · its alternatives →

22. 22
    ArachStudio ▲80

    Live-edit your GitHub components directly in the browser

    Jul 2026 · arachstudio01.vercel.app · its alternatives →

23. 23
    OpenVSCode Server▲143

    VS Code in the browser for everyone

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Code Outline for Github▲70

    Easier browsing of code on Github

    2020 · chromewebstore.google.com · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →