This is not a fair comparison though, since you are relying on having some probable non-free software running on the server, while Emacs is able to give you rem

This is not a fair comparison though, since you are relying on having some probable non-free software running on the server, while Emacs is able to give you remote editing and keeps your server clean. You would have to compare what VSCode does to running Emacs server side and connecting with Emacs client to the server. Then it would be a fair comparison.