PyCharm vs. Microsoft Visual Studio

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
PyCharm
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
According to the vendor, PyCharm is an extensive Integrated Development Environment (IDE) specifically designed for Python developers. Its arsenal includes intelligent code completion, error detection, and rapid problem-solving features, all of which aim to bolster efficiency. The product endeavors to support programmers in composing orderly and easily maintainable code by offering PEP8 checks, testing assistance, intelligent refactorings, and inspections. Moreover, it caters to web…
$9.90
per month per user
Visual Studio
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Visual Studio (now in the 2022 edition) is a 64-bit IDE that makes it easier to work with bigger projects and complex workloads, boasting a fluid and responsive experience for users. The IDE features IntelliCode, its automatic code completion tools that understand code context and that can complete up to a whole line at once to drive accurate and confident coding.
$45
per month
Pricing
PyCharmMicrosoft Visual Studio
Editions & Modules
For Individuals
$99
per year per user
All Products Pack for Organizations
$249
per year per user
All Products Pack for Individuals
$289
per year per user
For Organizations
$779
per year per user
Professional
$45.00
per month
Enterprise
$250.00
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
PyCharmVisual Studio
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
PyCharmMicrosoft Visual Studio
Considered Both Products
PyCharm
Chose PyCharm
What differentiates PyCharm from other products is that it is built for a particular language (Python) and works great while doing it, without losing efficiency with the rest of languages. It's simple, easy to use, fast and efficient, what else could you need?
Chose PyCharm
Simply one of the best IDE's of our time. It has a lot of features, a big user base, and a professional developer team behind it. It simply surpasses most of its competitors, as there are not too many Python-specialized IDEs anyway.
Chose PyCharm
I preferred PyCharm because of its debugging capabilities, plus it has a built-in git versioning tool that helps teams to collaborate. I like the UI of this IDE, and it makes development very simple and enjoyable. PyCharm has helped in reducing development time because of its …
Chose PyCharm
PyCharm is probably the best IDE for Python, whether it is Web or Machine Learning as in the cases I witnessed so far. It has much variety in terms of functionality, such as auto code completion, data type illustration, git visualization, package management (pip), code history …
Chose PyCharm
Less expensive, better customer support.
Chose PyCharm
PyCharm has all the features that ACIM software has, such as version control, real-time coding correction, misuse, and documentation. Now what has determined is the integration of this IDE with features that we would normally have to perform in external applications like BD …
Chose PyCharm
All other IDEs do not have as many tools and practicalities as PyCharm has. To run code or manage your virtual environments sometimes you need to have multiple terminals or other applications open, when with PyCharm all this integration is present in itself.
Chose PyCharm
PyCharm was selected due to it's first class treatment of Python. Visual Studio is more general "Do everything" IDE which contains a lot of features our team didn't need. PyCharm strikes the balance of power and complexity.
Chose PyCharm
Best user experience. While the JavaVM is a heavy hit on resources, it is worth it because of the sheer amount of functionality.
Community/Free/Educational version easily available.
Excellent Git support.
Chose PyCharm
Because PyCharm was designed specifically for Python Development, I felt it had the most to offer over the others that I tried. A more experienced Dev might have no problem using NotePad++ or TextWrangler to develop a Python program, but for my needs as somewhat of a beginner, …
Visual Studio
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio
Eclipse: I did not have a good experience with Eclipse when I started to code in Python. I chose Eclipse because that's what the person doing my Python training was using and I used it to follow along better. I found it difficult to figure out how to get my environment setup …
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio
PyCharm is a one programming language tool. If you program in multiple languages Visual Studio if much better. Until a few weeks ago, if you were developing in Java, Eclipse was the IDE to use, but now that Visual Studio supports Java, I would look to see if Visual Studio might …
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio
Eclipse, PyCharm, NetBeans I have used during my internship for smaller applications but to have a full end-to-end application with ease to connect to database and deployment I believe Visual Studio is way better than other available IDE in this space.
Although your options get …
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio
I have used Eclipse and PyCharm for smaller projects. However, VS IDE is more for a bigger company/organization. It is an enterprise software that is perfect for a company who can pay the money to use and maintain it. Eclipse and PyCharm are more for non-business use as they …
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio
Some of the editors are suitable for a particular programming language . For example PyCharm is suited for Python .
Visual Studio has support for many languages and Visual Studio is comparatively light weight from most of the IDE . The ability to get extensions and use them is …
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio
It's a well [maintained], mature IDE, which has the benefit of being a [software] which only the most skilled developers works on, instead of being open source. It has a lot of very useful features, which most free IDE-s don't. Also, it has many options from commercial …
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio
Also VSCode; these are all IDE that support the creation of web APIs and web applications; and it can support C# (for example VSCode) but Visual Studio IDE has a better set of integrated tools in the same environment. A developer adopts it very naturally, so a person can be …
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio
Sincerely, my company just used it, so I don't have many usage data about competitors, however I **heard** that their autocompete is very good and I can testify for it.
Top Pros
Top Cons
TrustRadius Insights
PyCharmMicrosoft Visual Studio
Highlights

TrustRadius
Research Team Insight
Published

PyCharm and Visual Studio IDE are both development tools designed to make it easier for users to write code.  PyCharm is specialized in Python programming, while Visual Studio IDE is a development tool specialized for .net development.  Both tools are popular with mid-sized businesses and large enterprises depending on their use case.

Features

PyCharm and Visual Studio IDE both offer basic features such as code completion and linkers, but they also have a few standout features that set them apart from each other.

PyCharm provides built in support for virtual environments, as well as specialized Python features out of the box.  Users will be able to write Python code in PyCharm out of the box with many additional features, whereas other IDEs may require users to find and install extensions first to create a good development environment. 

Visual Studio IDE supports coding in many languages, and allows users to add additional features using extensions.  A Python developer can download whatever extensions they want to create an ideal programming environment.  As a result, Visual Studio IDE is lightweight out of the box, and users are able to add only the extensions they need.  For developers looking for a lean, quick loading IDE that is still customizable, VIsual Studio IDE may be a good choice.

Limitations

PyCharm and Visual Studio IDE both aid developers with coding, but they also have some limitations that are important to consider.

PyCharm provides many features for Python coding out of the box, but it is also a heavy IDE with longer load times compared to other options.  Additionally, PyCharm offers limited support for non-Python languages.  Businesses looking for a quick, lightweight IDE with more customization options may prefer Visual Studio IDE.

Visual Studio IDE offers a high level of customizability, but it doesn’t offer as much support for Python development out of the box.  Businesses looking for high levels of support for virtual environments, or who don’t want to have to set up extensions may prefer the ease of use of PyCharm.  Even with extensions, Visual Studio IDE also doesn’t support Python development to the same extent as a dedicated tool, so businesses that develop primarily, or exclusively in Python will appreciate the features of PyCharm.

Pricing

PyCharm professional is priced at $199.00 per year, though its price reduces with each renewal.

Visual Studio’s basic subscription starts at $45.00 per month and includes essential development features.  Businesses looking for priority support or professional training can purchase the Professional subscription for $1,199.00 per year, with discounts for renewal.

Best Alternatives
PyCharmMicrosoft Visual Studio
Small Businesses
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Score 9.3 out of 10
PyCharm
PyCharm
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Score 9.3 out of 10
PyCharm
PyCharm
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Score 9.3 out of 10
PyCharm
PyCharm
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
PyCharmMicrosoft Visual Studio
Likelihood to Recommend
9.8
(38 ratings)
9.3
(104 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(13 ratings)
8.8
(15 ratings)
User Testimonials
PyCharmMicrosoft Visual Studio
Likelihood to Recommend
JetBrains
It's easy to create virtual environments and install packages for different projects as we may need project-specific packages for doing our experiments, also it's easy to see what changes we have made and create pull requests faster. But sometimes we want some light python editor like Jupiter notebook as PyCharm is relatively heavier, also Jupiter notebooks are a good option when we need to run remote code on local machines.
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Microsoft
It's useful for app development, debugging, and testing. I've been using it for two years and have seen it grow into a fantastic tool. All of the features, NuGet packages, and settings that enable different types of projects are fantastic. It also has a connection to Azure DevOps and Git. It's a fantastic product that's simple to use.
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Pros
JetBrains
  • Git integration is really essential as it allows anyone to visually see the local and remote changes, compare revisions without the need for complex commands.
  • Complex debugging tools are basked into the IDE. Controls like break on exception are sometimes very helpful to identify errors quickly.
  • Multiple runtimes - Python, Flask, Django, Docker are native the to IDE. This makes development and debugging and even more seamless.
  • Integrates with Jupyter and Markdown files as well. Side by side rendering and editing makes it simple to develop such files.
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Microsoft
  • Since Microsoft offers a free Community Edition of the IDE many of our new developers have used it at home or school and are very familiar with the user interface, requiring little training to move up to the paid, enterprise-friendly editions we use.
  • The online community support for Visual Studio is outstanding, as solid or better than any other commercial or open-source project software.
  • Microsoft continuously keeps the product up to date and has maintained a history of doing so. They use it internally for their own development so there is little chance it will ever fall out of favor and become unsupported.
Read full review
Cons
JetBrains
  • The biggest complaint I have about PyCharm is that it can use a lot of RAM which slows down the computer / IDE. I use the paid version, and have otherwise found nothing to complain about the interface, utility, and capabilities.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Certain settings and features can sometimes be challenging to locate. The interface isn't always intuitive.
  • Sometimes there are too many ways to do the same thing. For example, users can quickly add a new workspace in Source Control Explorer when a local path shows as "Not Mapped," but it doesn't indicate that the user might want to check the dropdown list of workspaces. The shortcut of creating a new workspace by clicking on the "Not Mapped" link can lead to developers creating too many workspaces and causing workspace management to become unwieldy. If the shortcut link were removed, the user would be forced to use the Workspace dropdown. While it can add an extra step to the process, workspaces would be managed more easily, and this would enforce consistency. At the very least, there should be a high-level administrative setting to hide the shortcut link.
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Likelihood to Renew
JetBrains
It's perfect for our needs, cuts development time, is really helpful for newbies to understand projects structure
Read full review
Microsoft
VS is the best and is required for building Microsoft applications. The quality and usefulness of the product far out-weight the licensing costs associated with it.
Read full review
Usability
JetBrains
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The thing I like the most is Visual Studio doesn't suffer from Microsoft's over eager marketing department who feel they need to redesign the UI (think Office and windows) which forces users to loose large amounts of productivity having to learn software that they had previously known.
Read full review
Support Rating
JetBrains
I rate 10/10 because I have never needed a direct customer support from the JetBrains so far. Whenever and for whatever kind of problems I came across, I have been able to resolve it within the internet community, simply by Googling because turns out most of the time, it was me who lacked the proper information to use the IDE or simply make the proper configuration. I have never came across a bug in PyCharm either so it deserves 10/10 for overall support
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Microsoft
Between online forums like StackOverflow, online documentation, MSDN forums, and the customer support options, I find it very easy to get support for Visual Studio IDE when I need it. If desired, one can also download the MSDN documentation about the IDE and have it readily available for any support needs.
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Alternatives Considered
JetBrains
PyCharm is the best IDE for python development. PyCharm offers various features: source code completion, support for unit testing, integration with Docker/GitLab/Git, ability to manage and configure virtual environments, auto-indentation, and re-factoring code with ease. Support for JSON/Shell scripts and support for Flask/Django Other tools are effective for creating isolated scripts but not for handling projects with more than two scripts.
Read full review
Microsoft
I personally feel Visual Studio IDE has [a] better interface and [is more] user friendly than other IDEs. It has better code maintainability and intellisense. Its inbuilt team foundation server help coders to check on their code then and go. Better nugget package management, quality testing and gives features to extract TRX file as result of testing which includes all the summary of each test case.
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Return on Investment
JetBrains
  • Buying the licensed pro version is a bit costly, but overall because of its features and its speed, the time taken by a developer to develop something can be improved. Indirectly getting a good return of Investment.
  • Considering the team size and its features, one can go for the licensed version as the ROI is high.
  • Customer support is also good for a licensed version, thereby saving the time, which in turn shows ROI as high.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • We've had hundreds of hours saved by the rapid development that Visual Studio provides.
  • We've lost some time in the Xamarin updates. However, being cross platform, we ultimately saved tons of time not having to create separate apps for iOS and Android.
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