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Visual Studio Marketplace: Cost, Link Type and Review

Visual Studio MarketplaceCore fields confirmedChecked

Checked facts

Type
Marketplace
Pricing
FreePricing source
Price
Free extension publishing pathPrice source
Free option
YesFree option source
Account needed
YesAccount needed source
Link rel
nofollowSampled listing
Review time
Not confirmed
Audience
Developers looking for extensions and integrations for Visual Studio family productsAudience source
Note
No payment step in the publishing flow. Sampled listing Homepage link is nofollow.

What the Visual Studio Marketplace is#

The Visual Studio Marketplace is Microsoft's site for extensions to the Visual Studio family of products. Its menu covers Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code and Azure DevOps. Every extension is published under a publisher, and Microsoft says anyone can create one.

Who it suits#

Its audience is developers looking for extensions and integrations for Visual Studio family products, so it fits developer tools built as extensions. Our guide on how to publish a VS Code extension covers the editor side.

How to submit#

These steps follow Microsoft's Azure DevOps publishing docs, which cover Azure DevOps extensions. VS Code extensions are packaged and published with the vsce tool instead (VS Code publishing guide).

  1. Sign in to the Visual Studio Marketplace Publishing Portal, create a publisher with an ID and display name, and review the Marketplace Publisher Agreement.
  2. Set the publisher ID in your extension's manifest and package it as a .vsix file with Microsoft's command line tool.
  3. In the management portal, pick your publisher, add a new extension and upload the .vsix file.
  4. After a quick validation it shows in your list, visible only to you. Microsoft also runs a virus scan and holds back public publishing until the scan is clear.
  5. When you are ready, set the public flag in the manifest. Public Azure DevOps listings must meet Microsoft's qualifications, and Microsoft might ask for a demo and review of your listing content.
  • Cost: Free. The documented publishing flow has no fee or payment step (publishing docs). You do need an account and a publisher.
  • Link type: nofollow. On a sampled listing checked on 2026-10-19, the Homepage link carried rel=noreferrer noopener nofollow.
  • Review time: Not confirmed.

The catch#

Microsoft's VS Code publishing guide says VS Code uses Azure DevOps for its Marketplace services, including authentication, and that global Personal Access Tokens in Azure DevOps are retired on December 1, 2026. The method it recommends instead uses Microsoft Entra ID with managed identities and an Azure Pipelines setup. For a solo maker that means some Azure configuration, so budget time for it. More places to list are on our launch sites page.

ZeroRaised lists products from makers with no institutional VC or accelerator equity. If that describes you, submit your product to ZeroRaised.

Guides that mention Visual Studio Marketplace