PyCharm vs Visual Studio
PyCharm
jetbrains.com
Visual Studio
visualstudio.microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | PyCharm | Visual Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $8.33/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 5 | 18 |
| Spec score · Integrated Development Environments | 8.9 (#5) | 8.3 (#18) |
| Spec score · Web Development IDEs | 9.0 (#4) | 8.4 (#14) |
| Spec score · IDE Software | 8.9 (#6) | 8.3 (#16) |
| Spec score · Integrated Development Environment Ide Software | 8.9 (#4) | 8.4 (#10) |
| Spec score · Debugging Software | 9.0 (#4) | 8.5 (#10) |
| Spec score · Developer Tools | 8.9 (#7) | 8.4 (#13) |
| Company founded | JetBrains was founded in 2000. | Gartner lists Microsoft as founded in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington. |
| Development tools | The IDE includes debugging and testing tools, Git and GitHub integration, an integrated terminal, package managers, and Docker integration. | The IDE brings together code editing, graphical designers, compilers, code completion, source control, and extensions. |
| Documentation | JetBrains maintains versioned PyCharm 2026.2 documentation covering setup, interpreters, testing, debugging, databases, remote development, security, plugins, and data sharing. | Microsoft Learn provides a Visual Studio product-family documentation hub covering installation, development, debugging, testing, deployment and extensibility. |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Microsoft's global headquarters are in Redmond, Washington. |
| Limit: resource use | Reviewers commonly report high memory or CPU usage, slow startup, and lengthy indexing, especially on older or weaker machines and large projects. | TrustRadius reviewers frequently report high CPU and memory consumption, slower startup and slower builds on large solutions. |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.7 out of 5 from 371 reviews | 4.6 out of 5 from 3,017 reviews |
| Rating on G2 | 4.6 out of 5 from 788 reviews | 4.5 out of 5 from 4,007 reviews |
| Rating on Gartner Peer Insights | 4.5 out of 5 from 270 ratings | 4.5 out of 5 from 1,723 reviews |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 2.6 out of 5 from 102 reviews for JetBrains | 3.0 out of 5 from 22 reviews |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 9.3 out of 10 from 233 reviews and ratings | 8.8 out of 10 from 863 reviews and ratings |
| Security | Remote development connections use end-to-end TLS 1.3 encryption with SSH security and host-fingerprint verification. | Visual Studio Enterprise is described as including enterprise security, and Visual Studio can integrate with Azure security tools. |
| Support | PyCharm lists a community forum, bug and issue tracker, plugin repository, and PyCharm blog as support resources. | Visual Studio provides a product-specific support page for help with issues related to Visual Studio. |
| What it does | PyCharm is JetBrains' integrated development environment for Python programming, combining code analysis, debugging, testing, refactoring, project navigation, databases, version control, and collaboration tools. | Visual Studio is an integrated development environment for creating, debugging, testing and deploying applications across web, cloud, desktop and mobile targets. |
Plans
PyCharm
- PyCharm coreFree
- PyCharm FreeFree
- PyCharm Pro personal annual first year$100 a year
- PyCharm Pro$200 a year
- PyCharm Pro commercial annual$200 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 a month
- Visual Studio CommunityFree
- Visual Studio CommunityFree
- Visual Studio Professional monthly$45 a month
- Visual Studio Professional monthly$45 a month
In their own words
PyCharm
PyCharm is an IDE for web, data, and AI/ML professionals, with tools for Python development. It provides code completion, PEP 8 checks, inspections, and refactoring, alongside debugging and testing. The IDE includes an integrated terminal, package managers, Docker integration, and support for Pipenv, conda, virtualenv, and Poetry. Version control includes Git, GitHub, GitLab, Subversion, Mercurial, and Perforce; database tools cover MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Redis, and other providers. Local AI code completion can run local LLMs without sending code over the internet. Remote development supports several listed services, and remote connections use end-to-end TLS 1.3 with SSH security and host-fingerprint verification. PyCharm runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its free plan costs nothing and includes one month of Pro. The listed Pro plan costs $200 a year, billed per user per year. PyCharm Ultimate can be evaluated free for 30 days before purchase and license activation are required.
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.