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Xcode

Apple's free IDE for building apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, TV and Vision Pro.

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About Xcode

Xcode is Apple's own IDE and the required toolchain for building apps for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS. It bundles the Swift and Clang compilers, SwiftUI previews, Interface Builder, simulators for Apple devices, Instruments for profiling, the Swift Testing framework and the tools to sign apps and send them to TestFlight and the App Store. Recent versions add coding intelligence: you can chat with and delegate work to models and agents from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI, or plug in any agent that speaks the Agent Client Protocol. Xcode is free from the Mac App Store and needs only a free Apple Account to run apps on your own devices; publishing to the App Store requires a paid Apple Developer Program membership. It runs only on macOS. Many developers find its editor less flexible than VS Code or JetBrains tools and some keep a second editor open, but anything that ships on Apple platforms passes through Xcode at some point.

Best for: Anyone building apps for Apple platforms.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Free, with every Apple SDK, simulator and profiler included
  • SwiftUI previews and Instruments are hard to match elsewhere
  • Supports coding models and agents from several providers

Why people leave

  • Runs only on macOS
  • Large downloads and frequent big updates
  • Editor is less customisable than general-purpose editors

Top Xcode alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1Visual Studio Code logo
    Visual Studio Code

    Free and flexible, with Swift extension support for editing outside Xcode.

    83.8
  2. 2Cursor logo
    Cursor

    Some iOS developers edit in this AI-first editor and build with Xcode alongside.

    69.3
  3. 3Android Studio logo
    Android Studio

    The official IDE for the Android side of a mobile app.

    59.6
  4. 4Nova logo
    Nova

    A native Mac editor for web and scripting work, now with Swift support built in.

    57.2
  5. 5CLion logo
    CLion

    Cross-platform C and C++ IDE for low-level code that doesn't need Apple SDKs.

    55.3

Why people left Xcode

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

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Xcode, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

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Xcode: common questions

Is Xcode free?

Yes, Xcode is free to use.

Is Xcode open source?

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

What platforms does Xcode run on?

Xcode is available for macOS.

What are the best alternatives to Xcode?

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

See all 5 Xcode alternatives