---
title: "Code editors: Which brands are most popular in search?"
description: "Compare the code editors and IDEs developers use. Share of Search among Cursor, Visual Studio Code, JetBrains and Sublime Text, the code editors Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time."
canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/code-editors"
publisher: "Brandwave"
---

# Code editors: Which brands are most popular in search?

Compare the code editors and IDEs developers use. Share of Search among Cursor, Visual Studio Code, JetBrains and Sublime Text, the code editors Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time.

## Key facts

- **Competitive set**: Code editors
- **Market**: Global
- **Brands compared**: 4
- **Month measured**: Aug 2026
- **Highest Share of Search**: Cursor, 48.4%

## Which brand is most popular in search among code editors worldwide?

- In August 2026, Cursor was the most searched among code editors worldwide, with an estimated 2.9M branded searches and 48.4% estimated Share of Search within this set.
- Visual Studio Code is in 2nd place, 2.9 percentage points behind at 45.5% Share of Search.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Visual Studio Code’s estimated Share of Search among code editors worldwide increased from 43.3% to 45.5%.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, JetBrains’ estimated Share of Search among code editors worldwide decreased from 4.8% to 3.3%.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Sublime Text’s estimated Share of Search among code editors worldwide decreased from 3.9% to 2.7%.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Cursor’s estimated Share of Search among code editors worldwide peaked at 57.7% in June 2026 and was lowest at 48.1% in October 2025.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Visual Studio Code’s estimated Share of Search among code editors worldwide peaked at 45.5% in August 2026 and was lowest at 36.4% in March 2026.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, JetBrains’ estimated Share of Search among code editors worldwide peaked at 4.8% in October 2025 and was lowest at 2.7% in June 2026.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Sublime Text’s estimated Share of Search among code editors worldwide peaked at 3.9% in November 2025 and was lowest at 2.2% in June 2026.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Cursor held steady: its estimated Share of Search among code editors worldwide moved less than 0.5 percentage points.

## Compare search popularity between leading brands

- [Cursor vs Visual Studio Code: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/cursor-vs-vs-code): 48.4% against 45.5% Share of Search.
- [Cursor vs JetBrains: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/cursor-vs-jetbrains): 48.4% against 3.3% Share of Search.
- [Cursor vs Sublime Text: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/cursor-vs-sublime-text): 48.4% against 2.7% Share of Search.
- [Visual Studio Code vs JetBrains: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/jetbrains-vs-vs-code): 45.5% against 3.3% Share of Search.
- [Visual Studio Code vs Sublime Text: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/sublime-text-vs-vs-code): 45.5% against 2.7% Share of Search.
- [JetBrains vs Sublime Text: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/jetbrains-vs-sublime-text): 3.3% against 2.7% Share of Search.

## How did search popularity change for code editors worldwide in August 2026?

- Estimated monthly branded searches for JetBrains worldwide fell 33.2% over 11 measured months, from 301K to 201K in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Sublime Text worldwide fell 32.9% over 11 measured months, from 246K to 165K in August 2026.

## Share of Search ranking

| Rank | Brand | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | Change vs prior month | Owned by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Cursor | 48.4% | 2.9M | -0.7% | Anysphere |
| 2 | Visual Studio Code | 45.5% | 2.7M | 0.0% | Microsoft |
| 3 | JetBrains | 3.3% | 201K | 0.0% | JetBrains |
| 4 | Sublime Text | 2.7% | 165K | 0.0% | Sublime HQ |

## Historical estimated branded-search demand

| Month | Brand | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 2025 | Cursor | 3M | 48.1% | 1 |
| Oct 2025 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 43.3% | 2 |
| Oct 2025 | JetBrains | 301K | 4.8% | 3 |
| Oct 2025 | Sublime Text | 246K | 3.9% | 4 |
| Nov 2025 | Cursor | 3M | 48.4% | 1 |
| Nov 2025 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 43.8% | 2 |
| Nov 2025 | JetBrains | 246K | 3.9% | 3 |
| Nov 2025 | Sublime Text | 246K | 3.9% | 4 |
| Dec 2025 | Cursor | 2.8M | 51.5% | 1 |
| Dec 2025 | Visual Studio Code | 2.2M | 40.5% | 2 |
| Dec 2025 | JetBrains | 246K | 4.4% | 3 |
| Dec 2025 | Sublime Text | 201K | 3.6% | 4 |
| Jan 2026 | Cursor | 3.5M | 51.8% | 1 |
| Jan 2026 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 40.9% | 2 |
| Jan 2026 | JetBrains | 246K | 3.7% | 3 |
| Jan 2026 | Sublime Text | 246K | 3.7% | 4 |
| Feb 2026 | Cursor | 3.5M | 51.9% | 1 |
| Feb 2026 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 40.8% | 2 |
| Feb 2026 | JetBrains | 246K | 3.7% | 3 |
| Feb 2026 | Sublime Text | 246K | 3.7% | 4 |
| Mar 2026 | Cursor | 4.2M | 56.4% | 1 |
| Mar 2026 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 36.4% | 2 |
| Mar 2026 | JetBrains | 301K | 4% | 3 |
| Mar 2026 | Sublime Text | 246K | 3.3% | 4 |
| Apr 2026 | Cursor | 4.2M | 57.1% | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 36.9% | 2 |
| Apr 2026 | JetBrains | 246K | 3.3% | 3 |
| Apr 2026 | Sublime Text | 201K | 2.7% | 4 |
| May 2026 | Cursor | 3.6M | 53% | 1 |
| May 2026 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 40.4% | 2 |
| May 2026 | JetBrains | 246K | 3.6% | 3 |
| May 2026 | Sublime Text | 201K | 3% | 4 |
| Jun 2026 | Cursor | 4.2M | 57.7% | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 37.3% | 2 |
| Jun 2026 | JetBrains | 201K | 2.7% | 3 |
| Jun 2026 | Sublime Text | 165K | 2.2% | 4 |
| Jul 2026 | Cursor | 2.9M | 48.6% | 1 |
| Jul 2026 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 45.4% | 2 |
| Jul 2026 | JetBrains | 201K | 3.3% | 3 |
| Jul 2026 | Sublime Text | 165K | 2.7% | 4 |
| Aug 2026 | Cursor | 2.9M | 48.4% | 1 |
| Aug 2026 | Visual Studio Code | 2.7M | 45.5% | 2 |
| Aug 2026 | JetBrains | 201K | 3.3% | 3 |
| Aug 2026 | Sublime Text | 165K | 2.7% | 4 |
| Sep 2026 | Cursor | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | JetBrains | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Sublime Text | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Visual Studio Code | — | — | — |

## What is being compared

- **Cursor**: Measured on the search terms “anysphere cursor”, “Cursor”, “cursor agent”, “cursor ai”, “cursor ai agent”, “cursor ai app”, “cursor ai code editor”, “cursor ai coding”, “cursor ai coding assistant”, “cursor ai coding tool”, “cursor ai download”, “cursor ai editor”, “cursor ai for students”, “cursor ai free”, “cursor ai ide”, “cursor ai pricing”, “cursor ai pro”, “cursor ai student”, “cursor app”, “cursor bugbot”, “cursor cli”, “cursor code”, “cursor code editor”, “cursor coding”, “cursor com”, “cursor composer”, “cursor download”, “cursor editor”, “cursor for students”, “cursor ide”, “cursor price”, “cursor pricing”, “cursor pro”, “cursor sh”, “cursor vscode”, “cursor.com”, “cursor.sh” and “download cursor ai”, summed into one figure.
- **JetBrains**: Measured on the search term “jetbrains”.
- **Sublime Text**: Measured on the search term “sublime text”.
- **Visual Studio Code**: Measured on the search term “visual studio code”.

- [Cursor](/demand/global-en/brands/cursor)
- [JetBrains](/demand/global-en/brands/jetbrains)
- [Sublime Text](/demand/global-en/brands/sublime-text)
- [Visual Studio Code](/demand/global-en/brands/vs-code)

## Methodology

- [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which brand is most popular in search among code editors worldwide?

In August 2026, Cursor was the most searched among code editors worldwide, with an estimated 2.9M branded searches and 48.4% estimated Share of Search within this set. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms.

## Cite this page

Brandwave. "Code editors: Which brands are most popular in search?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/code-editors

This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/code-editors. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.