# IntelliJ IDEA vs Microsoft Visual Studio - 2026 Comparison - Software Advice

> IntelliJ IDEA vs Microsoft Visual Studio - See how these products stack up against each other with real user reviews, product feature comparisons and screenshots. Find out which one is best for your organization.

Source: https://www.softwareadvice.com/compare/207805-intellij-idea/vs/410128-microsoft-visual-studio

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IntelliJ IDEA vs Microsoft Visual Studio

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# IntelliJ IDEA vs Microsoft Visual Studio: Which is best for you?

Updated June 18, 2026

[IntelliJ IDEA](https://www.softwareadvice.com/app-development/intellij-idea-profile/)

4.7 [(1259)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/app-development/intellij-idea-profile/reviews/)

[Microsoft Visual Studio](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/410128-microsoft-visual-studio/)

4.6 [(3006)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/410128-microsoft-visual-studio/reviews/)

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Starting Price

$19.90

per month

$45.00

per month

Free Trial

Free Version

Screenshots  
and Demo

See all

See all

Top Rated  
  Features

Code Development

4.77

Code Editing

4.75

Integrated Development Environment

4.71

See All

For Developers

4.72

Code Development

4.69

Code Editing

4.68

See All

Integrations

Docker

Redis Enterprise

GitHub

See All

GitHub

Microsoft SQL Server

Unity

See All

Pros / Cons

-   The intelligent code completion and refactoring tools are lifesavers, especially when ensuring the code adheres to OOP and SOLID principles.
    
-   the AI assistant is nice when it works, but it often doesnt, and your code snippets/project files are aggressively truncated behind the scenes making the tool much less useful for anything other than very narrow prompts lacking context
    

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-   I liked Visual Studio’s powerful IDE features, including advanced debugging, IntelliSense, integrated testing, and seamless integration with Microsoft tools, which significantly boost developer productivity.
    
-   I have nothing that I specifically dislike about Visual Studio. If I had to choose one item it would be the fact that a user could feel "forced" to start using MS Copilot by virtue of it being so integrated into the latest versions of VS.
    

Read more

Ease-of-Use

Highest performing feature  
in the comparison

4.5/ 5

4.3/ 5

Value for Money

Highest performing feature  
in the comparison

4.5/ 5

4.4/ 5

Customer Support

Highest performing feature  
in the comparison

4.3/ 5

4.2/ 5

Functionality

Highest performing feature  
in the comparison

4.7/ 5

4.6/ 5

Support Options

Email/Help Desk

FAQs/Forum

Knowledge Base

Phone Support

24/7 (Live Rep)

Chat

Email/Help Desk

FAQs/Forum

Knowledge Base

Phone Support

24/7 (Live Rep)

Chat

Training Options

In Person

Live Online

Webinars

Documentation

Videos

In Person

Live Online

Webinars

Documentation

Videos

FrontRunners

FrontRunners 2026

FrontRunners 2026

Advisor  
  Recommendations

N/A

N/A

Ideal Customer Size

Small

Medium

Large

Small

Medium

Large

Deployment Options

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based

Desktop - Mac

Desktop - Windows

Desktop - Linux

Desktop - Chromebook

On-Premise - Windows

On-Premise - Linux

Mobile - Android

Mobile - iPhone

Mobile - iPad

Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based

Desktop - Mac

Desktop - Windows

Desktop - Linux

Desktop - Chromebook

On-Premise - Windows

On-Premise - Linux

Mobile - Android

Mobile - iPhone

Mobile - iPad

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