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Head-to-head · Integrated Development Environments

Visual Studio vs PyCharm

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Visual Studio #2 in Integrated Development Environments 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 5 features Visit Visual Studio
PyCharm #3 in Integrated Development Environments 9.2/10 Free plan · 30-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 4 of 5 features Visit PyCharm

Visual Studio leads on 0 checks, PyCharm on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreVisual Studio · 9.3/10
  • Free planboth
  • Free trialonly PyCharm
  • Most featuresPyCharm · 4 of 5

Visual Studio scores higher on our rubric for integrated development environments: 9.3 against 9.2 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #3.

Visual Studio is the better fit for windows-focused .NET and C++ teams. PyCharm is the better fit for python developers needing a full IDE.

  • Visual Studio fits best

    Windows-focused .NET and C++ teams

  • PyCharm fits best

    Python developers needing a full IDE

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Side by side

Feature Visual Studio 9.3/10 Visit ↗ PyCharm 9.2/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.3 9.2
Ranking #2 in Integrated Development Environments #3 in Integrated Development Environments
Best for Windows-focused .NET and C++ teams Python developers needing a full IDE
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price $499.92/user/yr —
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — 30 days
Deployment Desktop Desktop
Platforms Windows Windows, macOS, Linux
Support Docs, Community Docs, Tickets
Integrations 8 integrations 16 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Visual Studio 3/5 · PyCharm 4/5
Integrated debugger ✓ ✓
Integrated testing tools ✓ ✓
Build tools ✓ ✓
Project management Not checked yet Not checked yet
Dev container support Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Specs
Supported operating systems Windows Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Broad support for .NET, C++, Python, JavaScript, and TypeScript
  • Integrated debugging, testing, builds, Git, CI/CD, and containers
  • Free Community plan for eligible individual, student, and open-source use
  • Deep Python completion, navigation, inspections, and refactoring
  • Integrated testing, debugging, Jupyter, databases, and SQL tools
  • Docker, Dev Containers, remote development, and broad integrations
Cons
  • The IDE itself is supported only on 64-bit Windows
  • Enterprise monthly pricing is $250 per user per month
  • Advanced paid editions add substantial cost beyond Community
  • Advanced capabilities require a Pro subscription after the trial
  • The broad feature set may exceed the needs of lightweight coding workflows
  • Core free functionality does not include the full IDE feature set
Our verdict

Visual Studio is Microsoft's full-featured integrated development environment for professional developers and teams. It brings code editing with IntelliSense and extensions together with debugging, testing, project and solution builds, Git…

Read the review →

PyCharm is a cross-platform integrated development environment from JetBrains for Python developers building web applications, data projects, and AI/ML workloads. It combines code completion, navigation, inspections, refactoring,…

Read the review →
  1. Visual StudioIntegrated Development Environments 9.3Free plan
  2. PyCharmIntegrated Development Environments 9.2Free plan · 30-day trial

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Visual Studio — where it wins

    • Broad support for .NET, C++, Python, JavaScript, and TypeScript
    • Integrated debugging, testing, builds, Git, CI/CD, and containers
    • Free Community plan for eligible individual, student, and open-source use

    Where it doesn't

    • The IDE itself is supported only on 64-bit Windows
    • Enterprise monthly pricing is $250 per user per month
    • Advanced paid editions add substantial cost beyond Community

  • PyCharm — where it wins

    • Deep Python completion, navigation, inspections, and refactoring
    • Integrated testing, debugging, Jupyter, databases, and SQL tools
    • Docker, Dev Containers, remote development, and broad integrations

    Where it doesn't

    • Advanced capabilities require a Pro subscription after the trial
    • The broad feature set may exceed the needs of lightweight coding workflows
    • Core free functionality does not include the full IDE feature set

More comparisons

All integrated development environments comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update