> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.v3code.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How V3Code compares

> What V3Code does differently — local intelligence, real memory, your own keys, and a browser that can rebuild the web.

Most AI editors are a chat box bolted onto VS Code. V3Code is built around the parts that actually make an agent good at *your* codebase: local structural intelligence, memory that survives, and tools that go past autocomplete. The editor itself is **free**.

## The short version

|                             | Typical AI editor                         | V3Code                                                                              |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Where your code lives**   | Often uploaded to the cloud to be indexed | **Indexed locally on your machine**; nothing uploaded                               |
| **How the agent sees code** | Text + grep, then guesses                 | **Context Bridge** — LSP-backed symbols, callers, call graphs, types                |
| **Across sessions**         | Starts cold, you re-explain               | **Remembers** — pull-on-demand memory that never loses anything                     |
| **Models**                  | Usually one provider's models             | **BYOK + hosted + an auto router** that escalates when needed                       |
| **Browser**                 | None, or basic click/screenshot           | **Playwright-grade browser** that can inspect, clone pixel-perfect, and drive flows |
| **Design**                  | —                                         | **Discover + web builder** — hundreds of designs any agent can build                |
| **Theming**                 | Install a theme extension                 | **Built-in color picker**, no extension                                             |
| **Price of the editor**     | Subscription to use it                    | **Free** — you pay only for hosted extras                                           |

## What actually makes the difference

**Your code stays yours.** V3Code indexes locally and is BYOK-friendly. Ask "what breaks if I change this?" and it answers from a local structural map — see [Context Bridge](/editor/context-bridge) and the [semantic index](/editor/semantic-index).

**It remembers.** Close it, come back, and the agent still knows your project — without stuffing the context window. See [Memory](/editor/memory).

**It reaches past the editor.** A [browser](/studio/browser) the agent drives like a developer, a [design platform](/studio/web-builder) to build from, and the ability to expose all of V3Code's tools to [any other agent over MCP](/connect/other-agents).

**You're not locked to one model.** Bring your own keys, or let the [auto router](/models/overview) pick and escalate — tuned to keep prompt caching intact so it stays cheap.

## On pricing

The editor is free. Paid plans add the hosted pieces — the auto router and cloud indexing — with more coming over time. And if your local index ever breaks, cloud indexing kicks in **free** so you're never stuck. See [Plans](/models/plans-and-trials).