Free C++ Builder Alternatives
The best free alternative to C++ Builder is Microsoft Visual Studio. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Code::Blocks or CodeLite. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 10 alternatives to C++ Builder and 12 is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to C++ Builder are Bloodshed Dev-C++, B4X, React Studio and Orwell Dev-C++.
C++ Builder alternatives are mainly IDEs but may also be Code Editors or Android Development Tools. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of C++ Builder.
- Free Personal • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Online
- .NET Framework
Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs for Microsoft Windows, as well as web sites, web applications and web services.
Microsoft Visual Studio vs C++ Builder opinions
It's a lot better organized from my personal perspective. The fact that you can rely on something as robust as the .Net framework helps a lot in developing all kinds of applications. Embarcadero's (formerly Borland's) debugger might be getting better, but it's still not as good as the debugger of VS has been for years now.
Although I love VS, it is a set of IDE that comes with compilers, frameworks, etc. This is no RAD.
It does not have a native GUI designer like C++ Builder. Yes you can use .NET framework but that is not native.
MS VS is not RAD, doesn't have visual components like Borland product, anyway cannot be compared to BCB or being called alternative. It is just something different and I'm not sure, but I'm convinced those alternatives should be free.
- Free • Open Source
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
Code::Blocks is a free C++ IDE built to meet the most demanding needs of its users. It is designed to be very extensible and fully configurable.
CodeLite is an open-source, cross platform IDE for the C/C++/PHP and Node.js programming languages. CodeLite is known to work on various OSs including:
Bloodshed Dev-C++ is a full-featured Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for the C/C++ programming language. It uses Mingw port of GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) as it's compiler. Dev-C++ can also be used in combination with Cygwin or any other GCC based compiler.
Discontinued
No longer developed. Last version, 5 Beta 9.2 (4.9.9.2), released on February 21th 2005, is still downloadable, but a maintained version of Dev-C++ with updated code is
Orwell Dev-C++No screenshots yet
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Windows
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Cross platform development tools for native iOS, Android, desktop and server applications.
React Studio lets you create components either visually or in code, then use them interchangeably in your designs.
Orwell Dev-C++ is a Portable (IDE) Integrated Development Environment and Compiler for the C++ programming language.
Discontinued
The latest version is from April 2015. Project inactive for a while, see https://sourceforge.net/p/orwelldevcpp/forums/general/thread/ce51da27/
Microsoft Small Basic puts the fun back into computer programming. With a friendly development environment that is very easy to master, it eases both kids and adults into the world of programming.
The C++ IDE for professional developers.
An extensible, cross platform IDE written in C# for Embedded C/C++, .NET Core, Avalonia and Typescript.
