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Code editors · 11 alternatives

Instead of Microsoft Visual Studio, try one of these 11.

Every alternative is lined up against Microsoft Visual Studio on what people actually switch for: price, open source, self-hosting, offline use and platforms. Microsoft Visual Studio sits in the first row, so you can see what you give up.

Show onlySorted by likes · 11 of 11
Alternative
Price
Open source
Self-host
Offline
Platforms
Microsoft Visual StudioWhat you have now
Full Microsoft IDE for Windows and .NET development workflows.
PriceFreemium
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflinePartial
Platforms
Web · Win
Visual Studio Code#1
The most popular code editor, with a huge extension marketplace.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Sublime Text#2
Blazingly fast, minimalist text editor for code.
PricePaid
$99 license
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
IntelliJ IDEA#3
Full IDE for JVM and Kotlin, with deep refactoring.
PriceFreemium
ultimate from $17/mo
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
VSCodium#4
VS Code without Microsoft telemetry or branding.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Notepad++#5
Lightweight Windows text editor with plugins.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win
Apache NetBeans#6
Apache IDE for Java, PHP and web application development.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Eclipse IDE#7
Veteran open-source IDE for Java and more.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Android Studio#8
Google's official IDE for building Android applications.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Code::Blocks#9
Lightweight C and C++ IDE built around plugins.
PriceFree
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Linux
Qt Creator#10
Cross-platform IDE for Qt and C++ desktop development.
PricePaid
Open sourceYes
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win · Mac · Linux
Delphi#11
Rapid application development suite for Windows in Pascal.
PricePaid
Open sourceNo
Self-hostNo
OfflineYes
Platforms
Win

How to read this. “Yes” means fully supported by the maker. “Partial” means it works with caveats. Likes reflect community popularity; vendors can’t pay for them or for placement. How we compare.

Microsoft Visual Studio alternatives at a glance

Microsoft Visual Studio is a freemium code editors app. We compared 11 alternatives: 8 are open source, 7 are completely free, 0 can be self-hosted and 11 work fully offline. The most popular is Visual Studio Code, with 4.1k likes.

Most liked overallVisual Studio Code

The most popular code editor, with a huge extension marketplace.

Free · Open source · Works offline
Best free optionVSCodium

VS Code without Microsoft telemetry or branding.

Free · Open source · Works offline
Best open-source optionNotepad++

Lightweight Windows text editor with plugins.

Free · Open source · Works offline
Best for offline useSublime Text

Blazingly fast, minimalist text editor for code.

Paid · Works offline

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