Visual Studio
Comprehensive development environment for writing, testing, and deploying applications with integrated debugging and cloud support
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Also known as
- visual-studio
Available worldwide · Popular in: US
What is Visual Studio?
An integrated development environment providing tools for coding, debugging, testing, and deploying software across multiple programming languages and platforms, with support for cloud services, version control, and AI-assisted development.
Visual Studio pricing
Plans, per-tier features and add-ons, dated and linked to live pricing. Pricing changes often; always verify at source before you rely on it.
Free Community edition; subscriptions from $45/user/mo to $499.92/user/mo
Community
FreeBest comprehensive IDE for .NET and C++ developers on Windows
- Full IDE capabilities for .NET and C++ development
Professional standard
- Visual Studio Professional
- Azure DevOps (Basic plan)
- $50 Azure credit per month
- Basic dev/test software
- Training and support
Enterprise standard
- Visual Studio Enterprise
- Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan)
- $150 Azure credit per month
- Premium dev/test software
- Extended training and support
- Power BI Pro
Professional monthly
- Visual Studio Professional
- Azure DevOps (Basic plan)
Enterprise monthly
- Visual Studio Enterprise
- Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan)
What Visual Studio does
The capabilities that matter for ides & code editors, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.
- Type
- Full IDE
- Language scope
- Polyglot
- Deployment
- Desktop
- OS support
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Base platform
- Original
- Extensibility
- Extension marketplace
- LSP / DAP support
- -
- Remote / dev-containers
- ✓
- Integrated debugger / profiler
- ✓
- Code intelligence depth
- IDE-grade
- Built-in git integration
- ✓
- Built-in AI
- Native
- Openness
- Closed
- Pricing model
- -
Platform & deployment
Independently observed- Windows
- Self-hosted
Integrations (5)
Independently observed- GitHub Actions⇄•
- Application Insights←•
- Team Foundation Server⇄•
- GitHub
- Azure
Visual Studio FAQ
Common questions about Visual Studio, answered from independent, dated evidence.
What is Visual Studio?
Comprehensive integrated development environment for .NET and C++ development with AI-powered assistance, integrated debugging, testing, and CI/CD integration. Available as Visual Studio IDE for Windows and macOS, plus Visual Studio Code for cross-platform web development. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.
Is Visual Studio free?
Visual Studio offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $45 per user per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.
What platforms does Visual Studio support?
Visual Studio supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.
Can Visual Studio be self-hosted?
Yes. Visual Studio can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.
Visual Studio alternatives
Other ides & code editors we track, ranked by the same independent score.
- GitHub CodespacesCloud-based development environment that integrates with GitHub for faster setup and secure codingmedium · 72%
- ReplitBuild functional applications from text prompts using AI agents, with no coding requiredmedium · 73%
- TheiaAn open-source IDE framework for cloud and desktop development with integrated AI capabilitiesmedium · 64%
- Visual Studio CodeOpen-source code editor with native AI agents and comprehensive development capabilitiesmedium · 62%
- VimA highly configurable text editor designed for efficient text creation and editinglow · 28%
- NeovimAn extensible, modern terminal editor that builds on Vim's foundationlow · 47%
Compare Visual Studio
Side by side against other ides & code editors, attribute by attribute, with a source on every value.
The vioscaleAI score: one lens on the evidence
Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for Visual Studio, not the verdict.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Contribution | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price level | 80 | 0.05 | 4.2 | ✓ |
| Pricing transparency | 45 | 0.08 | 3.8 | ✓ |
| Reliability | 50 | 0.06 | 3.2 | ✓ |
| Capabilities | 58 | 0.04 | 2.3 | ✓ |
| Integrations | 22 | 0.05 | 1.1 | ✓ |
| Security posture | 0 | 0.06 | 0.0 | - |
Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.
All data & sourcesshow ↓
Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.
Content
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Faq | 4 items | mediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 60% |
Features
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Capabilities | Type: full_ide · Builtin ai: native · Deployment: desktop · Os support: Windows, macOS, Linux · Remote dev: Yes · Open source: closed | mediumsource · 2026-10-06 · 60% |
Integrations
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | mediumsource · 2026-10-06 · 60% |
Market
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | PrimaryMarkets: … · AvailabilityScope: global · AvailableCountries: … · NotAvailableCountries: … | mediumsource · 2026-10-06 · 50% |
Pricing
Reliability
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Status page | Yes | mediumsource · 2026-08-03 · 60% |
Is Visual Studio the right choice for you?
Tell us the job, the constraints and what you weigh most, and we will rank Visual Studio against the rest of the ides & code editors we index, using the same dated evidence weighted your way.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Is this your product?
This profile was built from public sources without asking you. You can take the badge below and use it anywhere, and you can claim the profile to correct anything we got wrong. Both are free, and neither moves Visual Studio up or down: nobody can buy rank here, including you.
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