ZenFree AI Chat
For ALL LLM.
A powerful AI agent living inside VS Code. For developers who need great AI but don’t want to pay for it.
Read your whole codebase.
No subscription. No lock-in. Requires VS Code ^1.84.0. Latest release: see GitHub.
Everything a paid AI tool does. Without the bill.
Zen connects straight to the AI providers you choose and works as an agent across your whole codebase.
Multi-provider AI
Use an API key or a free web account. Switch model or account at any time, right in the chat.
- ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Qwen, GitHub Copilot, DeepSeek
- Ollama for local models
- Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
Account pool
Store many accounts and keep sessions running.
- Usage tracking and limits
- Auto-rotation, import/export
Permission modes
Choose how much autonomy the agent gets.
- Full Access, Approval, Read Only
Checkpoint & revert
Every AI edit is saved first and can be undone in one click.
Database access
Let the AI query MySQL, PostgreSQL and MongoDB.
Built around your workflow
Small things that keep output consistent and sessions organised.
- Skills marketplace to extend the AI
- Project rules: custom instructions per project
- Fast, balanced, thorough and autopilot modes, in any response language
- Conversation history saved locally per project
- Dashboard with token, request, model and account stats
A real agent, not just a chatbot
It reads and edits files, runs terminal commands, works with Git and checks for errors after editing.
Up and running in four steps
Install
Open Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X), search Zen and click Install.
Open Zen
Find it in the Activity Bar.
Connect
Enter an API key, or log in to an AI website and let Zen use that session.
Ask
Type “Fix the bug in handleSubmit” and watch it work.
Prefer the terminal? A command-line version, ZenCLI, is also available.
Who it’s for
Students
Love coding with AI, no budget for paid plans.
Indie devs
Try many models without subscriptions.
Privacy-minded
No data collection and readable source code.
Tinkerers
Fork it and build your own AI coding tool.
How Zen is different
The interface feels familiar. The difference is what it’s built for.
| Zen | Typical paid AI tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Monthly subscription |
| Models | Any provider | Often one company |
| Accounts | Pool, rotate, track limits | Single plan |
| Servers & telemetry | None | Vendor servers |
| Source | MIT, fork freely | Usually closed |
Private by design
Zen is a pure client. Requests go straight from your machine to the provider you choose.
- All conversations and data stay on your machine
- No intermediate Zen server, nothing collected
- Public source on GitHub under MIT
- Web-account sessions may be subject to each provider’s terms of service. Please review them.
Get Zen
Free for everyone. No subscription. No lock-in.
code --install-extension khanhromvn-zen-x.y.z.vsix
Questions
Is Zen really free?
Yes. The extension is free and open source (MIT), and it can use free AI web accounts with high usage limits.
Where does my data go?
Nowhere but your machine and your chosen provider. Zen has no server and collects nothing.
Can the agent break my code?
Every edit gets an automatic checkpoint, with one-click diff and revert. You also pick how much autonomy it has.
Which AI providers work?
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Qwen, GitHub Copilot, DeepSeek, Ollama and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.