Visual Studio
Classic
Full-featured IDE
Visual Studio is Microsoft's heavyweight IDE for .NET, C++ and enterprise development.
Debugger
Refactoring
Profiler
Freemium · from $0
Visual Studio Code
AI tool
Code editing. Redefined.
4.7
Free · from Free
Best for Developers wanting extensibility and AI toolsOverview
Visual Studio Code is Microsoft's free, extensible code editor with a massive extension marketplace, integrated terminal, debugging, and AI assistant integrations.
Key features
- Massive extension marketplace
- Integrated terminal & debugger
- Git integration
- AI extensions (Copilot, etc.)
Pros
- Free and extremely popular
- Huge ecosystem
Cons
- Heavier/slower than Sublime
- Electron-based resource usage
Visual Studio Code screenshot
Captured from the official website
Visual Studio Code replaces
AI alternatives to Visual Studio Code
Sublime Text
Classic
Fast, minimal code editor
Sublime Text is a famously quick editor with multi-cursor editing and a tidy interface. It has no built-in AI assistance out of the box.
Multi-cursor editing
Goto anything
Package control
Paid · from $99 one-off
Zed
AI
The fast, collaborative code editor
Zed is a native, GPU-accelerated code editor built in Rust that combines extreme performance with built-in AI assistance and real-time multiplayer collaboration.
Native GPU-accelerated rendering
Built-in AI code assistance
Real-time collaborative editing
Freemium · from Free
Cursor
AI
AI-first code editor
Cursor is a VS Code-based editor where an AI agent reads your repository, writes multi-file changes and explains unfamiliar code.
Repo-aware chat
Multi-file edits
Inline completions
Freemium · from $0
JetBrains Rider
AI
The Cross-Platform .NET IDE
JetBrains Rider is a fast, feature-rich cross-platform IDE for .NET, ASP.NET, Xamarin and Unity development, with AI Assistant for code completion and generation.
Cross-platform .NET development
AI Assistant integration
Advanced refactoring tools
Paid · from $16.90/mo
JetBrains Fleet
AI
The next-generation IDE by JetBrains
Fleet is JetBrains' lightweight, distributed code editor that can scale up into a full IDE with smart code assistance and remote development support.
Lightweight editor mode
Smart code navigation
Remote development
Freemium · from Free