Visual Studio

Microsoft's full Windows IDE for .NET and C++, with a free Community edition.

Verified facts: 5 of 5
Alternatives ranked: 4
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Visual Studio

Visual Studio is Microsoft's full IDE for Windows, distinct from the lighter Visual Studio Code. It is the standard tool for C# and .NET desktop, web and cloud apps, Windows and C++ development with MSVC, and game development with DirectX, and it includes visual designers for WinForms, WPF and WinUI, a strong debugger and profiler, test tools and Git integration. GitHub Copilot is built in, including an agent mode, with a limited free Copilot tier. The Community edition is free for individual developers, open-source projects, classroom use and small non-enterprise organisations of up to five users; larger companies need Professional or Enterprise subscriptions, sold monthly or as yearly subscriptions with extra benefits like Azure credits. It runs only on Windows, since Visual Studio for Mac was retired in 2024. It is heavy to install and to run, but for Windows-focused .NET and C++ teams it remains the most complete option.

Best for: Windows developers building .NET, C++ or game projects who want every tool in one IDE.

What works

Most complete tooling for .NET and C++ on Windows
Free Community edition for individuals and small teams
Built-in GitHub Copilot with agent mode

Why people leave

Windows only
Large install and heavy resource use
Bigger companies must pay for Professional or Enterprise

Top Visual Studio alternatives

See all 4

1
JetBrains Rider
Cross-platform .NET IDE with strong refactoring, free for non-commercial use.
66.5
2
Visual Studio Code
Free and much lighter, with C# Dev Kit and C++ extensions on any OS.
64.8
3
Cursor
AI-first editor for developers who want agents doing more of the coding.
63.9
4
CLion
JetBrains' C and C++ IDE that works the same on Windows, macOS and Linux.
59.6

Why people left Visual Studio

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Visual Studio: common questions

Is Visual Studio free?

Visual Studio has a free plan and paid plans.

Is Visual Studio open source?

No, Visual Studio is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Visual Studio Code.

What platforms does Visual Studio run on?

Visual Studio is available for Windows.

What are the best alternatives to Visual Studio?

The highest-ranked Visual Studio alternatives right now are JetBrains Rider, Visual Studio Code and Cursor. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 4 Visual Studio alternatives

Visual Studio facts

5 of 5 verified

Free edition: Community; Checked Oct 25, 2026visualstudio.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab); “A fully-featured, extensible, free IDE for creating modern applications for Android, iOS, Windows, as well as web applications and cloud services.”
Community licence limits: Up to 5 users in non-enterprise orgs; Checked Oct 25, 2026visualstudio.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab); “For all other usage scenarios: In non-enterprise organizations, up to five users can use Visual Studio Community.”
Professional (monthly): $45 per user/month; Checked Oct 25, 2026visualstudio.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab); “Professional monthly Visual Studio Professional Azure DevOps (Basic plan) and more $45 user/mo”
Enterprise (monthly): $250 per user/month; Checked Oct 25, 2026visualstudio.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab); “See Volume licensing Buy now Renew *One-time annual payment Monthly Enterprise monthly Visual Studio Enterprise Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan) and more $250 user/mo”
Platform: Windows; Checked Oct 25, 2026visualstudio.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab); “comprehensive IDE for .NET and C++ developers on Windows.”