LabVIEW vs Visual Studio
LabVIEW
ni.com
Visual Studio
visualstudio.microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | LabVIEW | Visual Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 18 |
| Spec score · Integrated Development Environments | 8.4 (#10) | 8.3 (#18) |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas, United States | Microsoft's global headquarters are in Redmond, Washington. |
| Security | NI says LabVIEW is memory-safe and that it generates software bills of materials for LabVIEW as part of its Secure Development Lifecycle. | Visual Studio Enterprise is described as including enterprise security, and Visual Studio can integrate with Azure security tools. |
| Support | A single-seat purchase includes an NI software service agreement with technical support, version downloads, and LabVIEW Core 1 on-demand, with perpetual-license benefits included for the first year. | Visual Studio provides a product-specific support page for help with issues related to Visual Studio. |
Plans
LabVIEW
- LabVIEW Community EditionFree
- LabVIEW Base perpetualPrice not published
- LabVIEW Base subscriptionPrice not published
- LabVIEW Full perpetualPrice not published
- LabVIEW Full subscriptionPrice not published
- LabVIEW Professional perpetualPrice not published
- LabVIEW Professional subscriptionPrice not published
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
LabVIEW
LabVIEW is a graphical programming environment for developing automated test and measurement applications. Its G language uses dataflow programming, supports parallel execution, and includes interactive debugging. LabVIEW connects to instruments from any vendor and offers more than 7,000 instrument drivers. Engineering analysis functions and a native interface support monitoring and controlling tests. Editions can integrate Python, C/C++,.NET, and MathWorks MATLAB code. The Professional edition includes Application Builder, NI Nigel AI, software engineering tools, and Report Generation, Database Connectivity, and Advanced Signal Processing Toolkits. The Community Edition costs nothing, but is limited to personal, non-commercial, non-industrial use and cannot be used for teaching or research at a degree-granting institution. Professional trials provide seven days of access; the downloadable trial can be extended up to 45 days after first opening it. The downloadable trial connects to physical hardware, while the web trial uses simulated hardware only. NI lists Windows and Linux support for editions; starting with LabVIEW 2025 Q3, Community Edition is the only macOS edition. Each target computer running a developed application requires a perpetual deployment license.
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.