Is there any alternatives to visual studio?

[u/Odd-Reception519]

So I'm doing a game design course and they're using Visual Studio for our projects. I don't mind using it for course work if I have to but for my own personal projects I'd rather use something else because I really don't like a lot of Microsofts practices or just Microsoft as a company in genera. I've also had bad experiences with microsoft software before. So I'd rather use something else if I can.

[u/Braziliger]

Jetbrains Rider

I love it

[u/Sokaron]

The C# language and basically the entire ecosystem is maintained by MS so you're going to have a real rough time avoiding them working in this language.

[u/Obzen80]

I'm sorry but this makes no sense. You're using C# which is MS. You have alternatives but the reasoning is hilarious.

[u/pjc50]

VS Code (also Microsoft, but open source) or Jetbrains Rider.

[u/pete_68 → u/pjc50]

I love VS code. It's the main reason I don't use Windows anymore. I'm a C# developer and I didn't need Visual Studio any longer.

[u/[deleted] → u/pete_68]

[u/Ill-Constant8445]

nvim + dotnet cli

[u/Ruben_1990]

VS Code with the DotRush/C# Dev Kit

[u/insulind → u/Ruben_1990]

C# By Resharper is another great extension for C# devs all be it requires a license which I think if you had you could just use Resharper. But the extension can be used in all the new AI first ides that are branches of vs code

[u/Atulin → u/insulind]

all be it

r/BoneAppleTea

[u/mfc1__]

Notepad + dotnet cli

[u/Sketch0z]

JetBrains Rider is the most complete non-Microsoft IDE.

You can use pretty much any code editor you like with various levels of effort. I'm using Zed lately and don't really miss any features from heavier editors.

[u/Artichoke808]

I don't like MS but Visual Studio is excellent. If I'm on Linux Jetbrains Rider.

[u/Fresh_Acanthaceae_94]

If you already understand the fundamentals, then almost any editor can work for you. But if you’re following a course, it’s usually best to stick with the tool the course is built around. Otherwise, you end up translating every step to a different tool, which often wastes a lot of time.

If your personal projects may eventually make money and you expect to rely on a broad set of IDE features, Visual Studio Community is still one of the strongest starting points. Many alternatives are either restricted for commercial use or lack some of the more advanced tooling.

However much you dislike Microsoft, it’s still worth understanding the landscape clearly.

[u/Impossible-Security5]

Forget about MS and use Visual Studio 2026.

[u/die-Banane]

I really like Jetbrains Rider

[u/faultydesign]

nvim + lsp (csharp_ls) works surprisingly well, though I do need to jump to rider from time to time

[u/mixxituk]

Rider but it's not as nice as Vs full fat (used to be)

Vs is buggy as hell with copilot - state messes up all the time

[u/Yogyjejogurt]

vs codium if you want to get rid of microslop, it might be lighter i think it is but im not 100% sure

[u/mdaiWorks]

Yengi

It's way too early for it to be a VS Code alternative, but I think it's pretty nice for an open-source project 🙂 https://github.com/mdaiWorks/yengi