PyCharm
8.2#2 in integrated development environmentsFrom $100 a yearFree planAPILinuxmacOSSelf-hosted
VisitPyCharm vs Visual Studio
Visual Studio
7.6#7 in integrated development environmentsFree planFree planAPIWindows
VisitWhat both publish
| Fact | PyCharm | Visual Studio |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
PyCharm plans
- 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 plans
- Community—
- 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
Pick PyCharm if…
PyCharm suits Python developers working in web, data, or AI/ML projects who want integrated coding, testing, debugging, and project tools. Its dependency, database, version-control, and remote-development support may also suit teams with varied development environments.
Pick Visual Studio if…
Visual Studio may suit Windows developers building apps, services, or games across the supported technologies. Professional is described as best suited to small teams, while Community has restrictions for enterprise organizations.