VS Code Extensions - Adding Paid Features

There's a lot of buzz around Visual Studio Code extensions these days, and for good reason. The ecosystem has some really cool and helpful tools that enhance developer workflows. I believe VS Code offers a compelling platform for developers to build and distribute their software, but there are a few major hurdles that need to be overcome.

My Story

A few years back, I was working on a project heavily reliant on SQL. Deploying SQL changes across dev, QA, and production environments became a major bottleneck. With features often requiring 10+ SQL changes, the manual deployment process was tedious and time-consuming. To solve this, I built a Mac app that streamlined deployments by allowing us to select the target environment and the relevant scripts to deploy. It was a hit within the team, but as a standalone app, it introduced new challenges; users had to configure connections, manage accounts, and I became the de facto support person for the app.

The Idea

Then came Azure Data Studio (a now-deprecated fork of VS Code), which our team quickly adopted. It occurred to me that I could rebuild my SQL deployment tool as a VS Code extension, which had significant benefits:

1. Cross-Platform: VS Code targets Mac, Windows, Linux, and the web. And by targeting VS Code I would automatically inherit those targets.
2. Built-in Infrastructure: VS Code handles much of the boilerplate: UI elements (progress indicators, notifications), and core functionalities like database connection management.
3. Developer Adoption: Developers already spend a significant amount of time in VS Code (and its forks like Cursor and Windsurf). Distributing my tool as an extension would greatly reduce the friction of adoption compared to getting users to download a separate app.
4. Shared extension ecosystem: As just mentioned, Cursor and Windsurf are forks of VS Code, which means they all share the same extension marketplace. Build for VS Code, and your extensions will automatically be available across these popular apps.

The Challenge

So why aren't more developers targeting VS Code with their software? There are several major factors in my view:

1. Lack of Monetization: Despite repeated requests from developers, Microsoft hasn't implemented support for paid VSCode extensions within the Marketplace. They even have a "pricing" label in the publishing process, but it's misleading because the only real options are Free and Free Trial.
2. User Expectations: The absence of official paid extension support has created an expectation of free extensions. This discourages developers who might otherwise invest more time and resources into building high-quality tools.
3. Unrecognized Potential: Many developers haven't considered VS Code as a viable platform for their tools. Developers building development-focused software could gain significant benefits by porting their work to VS Code (such as those mentioned earlier).

Like many indie developers, I'm driven by a desire to create useful tools. But maintaining software over the long term, especially when it becomes popular, can be draining without some form of sustainable income. My own goal has always been to build valuable tools and earn just enough to continue development and support. As a tool gains traction, I want to invest more in it: adding features, improving UX, and polishing the details.

Filling the Void

To make VS Code a more viable platform for developers – and to improve the overall quality of VS Code extensions – I created code-checkout. It makes it dead simple to add paid features to VS Code extensions. Code-checkout handles licensing, payments, analytics, and more, so developers can concentrate on building and refining their extensions, rather than managing complex server infrastructure.

My top priority during planning was to make it as simple to integrate as possible, and I believe that goal was achieved. It also has a straightforward pricing model (free to use, with a 10% transaction fee), so the platform doesn't make money unless the developers do.

My goal is to help developers get paid for their work, enabling them to create and maintain high-quality software for the VS Code ecosystem. I believe this will ultimately lead to a superior VS Code Extension Marketplace, which benefits everyone.

To get started integrating code-checkout, look at the code-checkout documentation. You can add paid features in 2 lines of code.

If you're thinking about building a VS Code extension, I hope this post convinces you to do it!

PS - I'm always looking for feedback and use-cases to improve code-checkout, so don't hesitate to reach out to me on X or LinkedIn with any suggestions or comments.