The Best Free Microsoft Visual Studio AlternativesTop IDEs & Code Editors like Microsoft Visual Studio

Alternatives list

1. 

   

   Visual Studio Code

    1406 likes

   Free and extensible code editor with built-in Git support, smart IntelliSense, integrated debugger, 30,000+ extensions, works offline, supports markdown and syntax highlighting for numerous languages.

   215 Visual Studio Code alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Proprietary (MIT)

   Application types

   • Code Editor
   • IDE

   Origin

   • United States

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • Online
   • Chrome OS
   • Snapcraft

   

   

   

   +2

   

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   Is Visual Studio Code a good alternative to Microsoft Visual Studio?

    

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   Visual Studio Code vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

    

   Top Positive Comment

   Ola Johansson

   May 29, 2019

   8

   It's maybe not as capable as the real VS. But it's still a great environment and with a couple of extensions it can do a lot of things VS can.

   Top Negative Comment

   Some Random Guy

   Apr 28, 2025

   3

   VSCode is a code editor, Visual Studio is a full-fledged IDE. Sure, it's a good program, but not a good alternative.

   alfonsomozkoh

   Negative comment•Aug 5, 2020

   0

   Visual studio Code is not a IDE (Integrated Development Environment), it's a text and code editor. So it's more an alternative to Sublime text or Atom.

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

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   3 of 13 comments

   

   

   • Visual Studio Code is Free and ProprietaryMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
   • Visual Studio Code is CustomizableMicrosoft Visual Studio is not according to our users
2. 

   

   Eclipse

    1151 likes

   Eclipse is an extensible development platform with runtimes and application frameworks for building, deploying and managing software across the entire software lifecycle. Many people know Eclipse as a Java IDE, but it is much more than that- Eclipse actually consists of over 60...

   149 Eclipse alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application types

   • IDE
   • Code Editor

   Origin

   • United States

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • BSD

   

   

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   3comments

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   Eclipse vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

    

   maurosoft391

   Negative comment•Aug 19, 2022

   2

   hard to use and poorly designed

   Guest

   Positive comment•Dec 1, 2018

   8

   Eclipse supports multiple languages, looks good too

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   Guest

   Negative comment•Jul 29, 2016

   -38

   One is for Java and the other is for C#

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   

   

   • Eclipse is Free and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
4. 

   

   VSCodium

    431 likes

   This repository contains a build file to generate FLOSS release binaries of Microsoft's Visual Studio Code - Open Source ("Code - OSS") project, the open source core of the proprietary Visual Studio Code.

   205 VSCodium alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (MIT)

   Application types

   • Code Editor
   • IDE

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • Flathub
   • Electron
   • Snapcraft
   • Homebrew
   • Chocolatey

   

   More about VSCodium  

   

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   Guest

   Positive comment•Nov 22, 2020

   1

   its the same but without the useless features that cause more harm than good

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   

   

   • VSCodium is Free and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
   • VSCodium is Customizable, Privacy focused and LightweightMicrosoft Visual Studio is not according to our users
5. Ad

   

   

   Notepad.exe

   Lightweight macOS code editor. Skip the setup, write code, run instantly. Built-in iOS simulator, AI assistance, and Linux support.

   https://notepadexe.com

   Learn More
6. 

   

   MonoDevelop

    128 likes

   MonoDevelop enables developers to write desktop and web applications on Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. It also makes it easy to port .NET applications created with Visual Studio to Linux and Mac OS X maintaining a single code base for all platforms.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application types

   • IDE
   • Code Editor

   Origin

   • United States

   Alerts

   • Discontinued

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • .NET Framework
   • Xamarin Studio

   

   

   

   +3

   

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   7comments

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   MonoDevelop vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

    

   Top Positive Comment

   Guest

   Oct 19, 2017

   6

   I've used MonoDevelop extensively for C# work in Linux. It can work with Visual Studio projects, and much of the shortcut key mappings match Visual Studio. Support for WinForms is available, but there is no viable GUI layout tool/functionality available. A pity that there's no XAML/WPF support under Linux....

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   Top Negative Comment

   Guest

   Jan 2, 2020

   8

   Has to be built from source before it'll run on Windows.

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   gnusensei

   Positive comment•Feb 5, 2022

   0

   MonoDevelop's GUI designer is admirable, I've tried it and impressed immediately with how easy and straightforward it to design a window by drag and drop. Try to compare it with Netbeans', Eclipse's or CodeBlocks' GUI designer you will know what I mean.

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   3 of 7 comments

   

   

   • MonoDevelop is Free and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
7. 

   

   Apache NetBeans

    746 likes

   A free, open-source Integrated Development Environment for software developers. You get all the tools you need to create professional desktop, enterprise, web, and mobile applications with the Java language, C/C++, and even dynamic languages such as PHP, JavaScript, Groovy, and...

   98 Apache NetBeans alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (Apache-2.0)

   Application types

   • IDE
   • Code Editor

   Origin

   • United States

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Windows
   • Linux
   • BSD

   

   

   

   +2

   

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   Apache NetBeans vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

    

   Top Positive Comment

   brandomettout

   Jun 3, 2017

   1

   Free and Open Source Software. Changing leadership from Oracle to Apache Foundation.

   Top Negative Comment

   Kris Regina

   Feb 27, 2025

   0

   It's not for dotNET languages.

   gnusensei

   Positive comment•Feb 5, 2022

   0

   Netbeans includes built-in GUI designer with drag and drop ability to create desktop applications and they can run on Windows as well as GNU/Linux and macOS.

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   3 of 5 comments

   

   

   • Apache NetBeans is Free and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
8. 

   

   Code::Blocks

    255 likes

   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.

   60 Code::Blocks alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application type

   • IDE

   Origin

   • International

   Platforms

   • Windows
   • Linux
   • BSD

   

   More about Code::Blocks  

   

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   Code::Blocks vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

    

   maurosoft391

   Negative comment•Aug 19, 2022

   0

   windows forms are missing and it's poorly designed

   Guest

   Negative comment•Sep 7, 2020

   0

   Code::Blocks has 0.1% of the functionality of VS. It looks ugly as well.

   Review by a new / low-activity user.

   gnusensei

   Positive comment•Feb 5, 2022

   0

   Faster, smaller, and able to make graphical desktop applications by adding GUI designer plugin wxSmith for C++ language and wxWidgets framework. Also, CodeBlocks is cross platform.

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   3 of 4 comments

   

   

   • Code::Blocks is Free and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
10. 

    

    PyCharm

     299 likes

    Cross-platform IDE for Python and Django with refactoring capabilities, code completion, VCS integration, deployment, issue tracking, remote debugging, and Community Edition, though lacking database support and web technologies.

    58 PyCharm alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source (Apache-2.0)

    Application types

    • IDE
    • Code Editor

    Origin

    • Czechia
    • EU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD

    

    

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    PyCharm vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

     

    Guest

    Positive comment•Oct 13, 2022

    0

    It supports proper Python.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.

    

    

    • PyCharm is Freemium and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • PyCharm is Lightweight and Privacy focusedMicrosoft Visual Studio is not according to our users
11. 

    

    IntelliJ IDEA

     444 likes

    IntelliJ IDEA is the JetBrains IDE for pro development in Java and Kotlin. Built for your comfort, it unlocks productivity, ensures quality code, supports cutting-edge tech, and protects your privacy.

    65 IntelliJ IDEA alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source (Apache-2.0)

    Application types

    • IDE
    • Code Editor

    Origin

    • Czechia
    • EU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    

    

    

    +1

    

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    IntelliJ IDEA vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

     

    Guest

    Negative comment•Jan 4, 2018

    10

    This is only designed for Java not .net.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.

    

    

    • IntelliJ IDEA is Freemium and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • IntelliJ IDEA is Privacy focusedMicrosoft Visual Studio is not according to our users
12. 

    

    SharpDevelop

     81 likes

    #develop (short for SharpDevelop) is a free IDE for C#, VB.NET and Boo projects on Microsoft's .NET platform. It is open-source, and you can download both sourcecode and executables.

    25 SharpDevelop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    • IDE

    Origin

    • Switzerland

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • .NET Framework

    

    More about SharpDevelop  

    

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    6comments

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    SharpDevelop vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

     

    Top Positive Comment

    Guest

    Oct 19, 2016

    6

    It's very similar to it and size is very low! { Visual Studio - up to 3 GB / sharp Develop - Only Up to 15 MB in size }

    Review by a new / low-activity user.

    Guest

    Positive comment•Nov 9, 2018

    0

    Only to a certain extent. Lacking many features and is no longer updated.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.

    lordunknown

    Positive comment•Sep 12, 2017

    4

    It's small, lightweight, specialized on .NET development (but C++ is available too), supports designing both WinForms and WPF and has NuGet support. Perfect IDE for lightweight C# developing (if you don't need to handle a team of 10000 employees working on 5 big projects)

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    • SharpDevelop is Free and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
13. 

    

    JetBrains Rider

     34 likes

    JetBrains Rider is a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) designed specifically for developing .NET applications. With its intuitive and feature-rich interface, Rider provides developers with a seamless coding experience across multiple platforms, including Windows...

    13 JetBrains Rider alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    • IDE
    • Code Editor

    Origin

    • Czechia
    • EU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    

    

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    JetBrains Rider vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

     

    Ola Johansson

    Positive comment•May 1, 2023

    0

    The most similar to VS. Actually better at many things, and real cross-platform.

    Guest

    Positive comment•Nov 8, 2019

    3

    Rider is Resharper... but as a standalone IDE. It is a full blown IDE voor C# and .NET, complete with extensive code completion, peek (decompile) and refactoring

    Review by a new / low-activity user.

    Guest

    Positive comment•Feb 11, 2020

    0

    Though Rider costs money it has been a great development tool for my team.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.

    

    

    • JetBrains Rider is Free Personal and ProprietaryMicrosoft Visual Studio is also Free Personal and Proprietary
14. 

    

    Lazarus

     132 likes

    Lazarus is a cross-platform IDE for the Free Pascal compiler. It tries to offer a Delphi-like programming experience through its own 'Lazarus Component Library' and supporting many platforms like Windows, OSX, Linux, BSD, Android, iOS and more.

    33 Lazarus alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    • IDE

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • OpenSolaris

    

    

    

    +2

    

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    4comments

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    Lazarus vs Microsoft Visual Studio Comments

     

    Guest

    Positive comment•Jul 9, 2020

    3

    Because of license agreement, you can create unlimited codes by using Lazarus but VS has limits in license agreement

    Review by a new / low-activity user.

    gnusensei

    Positive comment•Feb 5, 2022

    1

    Lazarus GUI designer is nice and easy to use. Drag and drop works without much hassles about layouting.

    Guest

    Positive comment•Nov 3, 2016

    5

    Open Source done entirely in an independent language very like TurboPascal (Delphi).

    Review by a new / low-activity user.

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    3 of 4 comments

    

    

    • Lazarus is Free and Open SourceMicrosoft Visual Studio is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • Lazarus is LightweightMicrosoft Visual Studio is not according to our users
15. 

    

    Windsurf Editor

     36 likes

    Windsurf Editor is an IDE merging AI and developers for lockstep collaboration with Cascade capabilities, boosting speed and contextual coding through copilot and agent-like systems across Mac, Windows, and Linux.

    84 Windsurf Editor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    • Code Editor
    • AI Coding Assistant

    Origin

    • United States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    

    

    

    +9

    

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