Codename One vs Visual Studio
Codename One
codenameone.com
Visual Studio
visualstudio.microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | Codename One | Visual Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $25/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 8 | 18 |
| Spec score · Mobile Development IDEs | 9.3 (#1) | 8.3 (#13) |
| Product | Codename One is an open-source cross-platform framework for Java and Kotlin developers to build native apps from a shared codebase. | Visual Studio is a fully featured IDE for building web, cloud, desktop, mobile apps, services, and games. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.4 out of 5 from 5 reviews | 4.5 out of 5 from 4,007 reviews |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 3.8 out of 5 from 9 reviews | 3.0 out of 5 from 22 reviews |
| Security | The security guide documents secure storage, encryption, certificate pinning, device integrity checks, and cryptographic APIs. | Visual Studio Enterprise is described as including enterprise security, and Visual Studio can integrate with Azure security tools. |
| Support | The Free plan includes community support, Pro includes email support, and Enterprise includes phone support during office hours. | Visual Studio provides a product-specific support page for help with issues related to Visual Studio. |
| What it does | Codename One is an open-source Java and Kotlin framework that turns one codebase into native applications for mobile, desktop, web, watch, TV and vehicle targets. | Visual Studio is an integrated development environment for creating, debugging, testing and deploying applications across web, cloud, desktop and mobile targets. |
Plans
Codename One
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Basic$25 a month
- Pro$85 a month
- Basic$300 a year
- Enterprise$450 a month
- Pro$1,020 a year
- Enterprise$5,400 a year
Visual Studio
- CommunityPrice not published
- Professional monthly$45 a month
- Enterprise monthly$250 a month
- Professional standard$99.99 a year
- Enterprise standard$499.92 a year
- IDE standalone$499, paid once
- Visual Studio CommunityFree
- Visual Studio CommunityFree
- Visual Studio Professional monthly$45 a month
- Visual Studio Professional monthly$45 a month
In their own words
Codename One
Codename One is an open-source framework for Java and Kotlin developers building apps from one codebase for Android, iOS, macOS, Linux, Windows, and web browsers. Its toolkit renders its own interface components and bundles the runtime and theme with each app. Developers can access platform SDKs through native interfaces and embed heavyweight views, including maps, web views, and camera surfaces. Projects use Maven and work in Maven-capable IDEs such as IntelliJ IDEA, NetBeans, Eclipse, and VS Code. The documented security tools include secure storage, encryption, certificate pinning, device integrity checks, and cryptographic APIs; App Shield adds short-lived attestation tokens on Enterprise. The Free plan provides 100 cloud build credits monthly, with iOS builds using eight credits, and an 8.5 MB user JAR limit. Commercial use carries no royalties or per-app fees. Pricing lists a free plan, paid plans from $25/user/mo billed annually, and a 14-day trial. Platforms also list watchOS and tvOS among mobile targets.
Visual Studio
Visual Studio is a Windows IDE for building web, cloud, desktop, and mobile apps, as well as services and games. It combines code editing, graphical designers, compilers, code completion, source control, and extensions. Listed development support covers Windows desktop, ASP.NET web work, Python, Node.js,.NET Core, Docker tools, and cross-platform C++ libraries. Debugging and testing tools include IntelliTrace, memory dump analysis, static code analysis, unit testing, code coverage, and IntelliTest. GitHub support lets users authenticate, create repositories, and push commits within the IDE. Visual Studio can create and manage Azure resources and deploy applications, and it supports Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions for CI/CD automation. GitHub Copilot provides code completion, chat, multi-file editing, debugging assistance, and test generation. Community is free, subject to limits for enterprise organizations. Professional monthly access costs $45 a month, and Enterprise monthly access costs $250 a month. A free trial is listed.