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Microsoft Visual Studio vs SharePoint Designer comparison

Microsoft Visual Studio and SharePoint Designer are both solutions in the .NET Development Services category. Microsoft Visual Studio is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6, while SharePoint Designer is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.7. Microsoft Visual Studio holds a 14.8% mindshare in NDS, compared to SharePoint Designer’s 8.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft Visual Studio users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 82% of SharePoint Designer users who would recommend it.
Microsoft Visual Studio
Read 91 Microsoft Visual Studio reviews
  • 641 Views
  • 641 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
SharePoint Designer
Read 49 SharePoint Designer reviews
  • 477 Views
  • 477 Comparison Views
82% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Microsoft Visual Studio and SharePoint Designer based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two .NET Development Services solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

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To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Visual Studio vs. SharePoint Designer Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Visual Studio vs. SharePoint Designer
July 2025
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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Visual Studio
Ranking in .NET Development Services
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SharePoint Designer
Ranking in .NET Development Services
2nd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the .NET Development Services category, the mindshare of Microsoft Visual Studio is 14.8%, down from 23.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SharePoint Designer is 8.6%, down from 19.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
.NET Development Services
 

Featured Reviews

Eitan Gold - PeerSpot reviewer
Test code efficiency improves with integrated debugger and automation
The test explorer is really important for us as it aids in testing, along with the regular debugger. Even though I forgot the term for it at the moment, there is an overall debugger tool within the IDE ( /categories/ide ) that is very effective. This comprehensive debugger tool does the job efficiently, making our work easier.
Read full review
Raphael Haroun Ikyagh - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ability to directly share documents and highly stable
It's been stable for me. I haven't encountered any issues with the sites I've developed locally within the organization as long as the license remains valid. It's very stable. I haven't had any issues with outages or needing to republish content. It's always accessible to authorized users, so it's stable. The stability is almost a ten out of ten for me.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution includes a debug function that I can breakpoint to easily detect what is wrong with my applications."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Visual Studio is the good intelligence and UI."
"My company works with outsourced programmers. The solution helps us to test, integrate and foresee the code quality. We can trace the development stages."
"The stability is fine."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Visual Studio are debugging and IntelliSense."
"One of the most valuable features is its support. It's easy for me to get support even though I never use it. If there's a bug or a performance issue, Microsoft also provides quick updates, and this is another valuable feature of the program."
"It's pretty prevalent."
"The most valuable aspect of this solution is the integrated development environment. It also offers a very good integration with Microsoft Cloud."
More Microsoft Visual Studio pros
"It’s very convenient for me to update. Last time I used a function called Word. It is a good function, which I can use to coordinate easily."
"What I found most valuable in SharePoint Designer is that through it, you can perform a lot of SharePoint functionalities, such as creating SharePoint lists and libraries, as well as customizing pages."
"The most valuable feature is the simplicity, standardization, and ability to create more than one portal."
"The feature I find most valuable, is the workflow of the product."
"The product is very user-friendly."
"We mostly used this solution for file storage and basic functions, etcetera."
"The initial setup is very straightforward."
"The workflow is the solution's most valuable feature."
More SharePoint Designer pros
 

Cons

"There are some features that I have yet to explore and it would be helpful to have more information about what is available and how it works."
"Microsoft Visual Studio needs to improve integration."
"The solution must provide user-friendly features."
"It would be nice if Visual Studio's extensions and updates could self-correct, if they are not working or disabled, and also inform the user."
"I have faced configuration issues with Microsoft Visual Studio."
"I would like to have more integration with other platforms and technologies."
"The tool's interface should be more user-friendly."
"Sometimes, the deprecation of packages can be a challenge."
More Microsoft Visual Studio cons
"SharePoint is too complex to install and maintain."
"The solution is a bit complex. They should work to simplify it."
"I believe Microsoft does not support Sharepoint on-premises. They only support Sharepoint on the Cloud. They should provide for both options and let the client choose their preference."
"If you compare the workflow with other engines like Olympus and K2, it is very complicated to create a workflow."
"It would be helpful to have the SharePoint Designer capabilities built directly into SharePoint itself, into the management page, so as to create an online version of it directly in SharePoint."
"The record management and digital signature sides need improvement because we still need to rely on other third-party tools."
"We would like to see an improvement in the stability and overall consistency of performance in this solution."
"I want the tool to be more approachable to people. I would like to see AI integration with the tool's future versions."
More SharePoint Designer cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $1,700 per user."
"We purchased an expensive enterprise version of Microsoft Visual Studio."
"The solution is a free tool."
"The development license for Microsoft Visual Studio is free. I don't know if there's a licensing cost to it."
"I use Microsoft Visual Studio's free version."
"We have an enterprise-level license. The cost is expensive for small to medium-sized organizations."
"I am using the free version of Microsoft Visual Studio."
"The solution is expensive."
More Microsoft Visual Studio pricing and cost advice
"The pricing is fair."
"There is no licensing cost for Designer—it's free."
"SharePoint Designer is a free product. It's SharePoint that needs a license, not SharePoint Designer."
"SharePoint Designer is less expensive than other solutions we have used. We purchased Office 365 which SharePoint comes with the package."
"SharePoint Online has a subscription-based model for payments and the price is based on user usage."
"I use Macintosh devices, and because this solution is not available in the Apple Ecosystem I use it because it is cost-effective."
"The price is reasonable."
"This solution is free of charge."
More SharePoint Designer pricing and cost advice
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862,499 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Performing Arts
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Visual Studio?
We can use different .NET features.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Visual Studio?
The pricing for Microsoft Visual Studio is favorable. While many open-source solutions are available, none offer the robustness of Visual Studio, which includes a Marketplace for creating different...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Visual Studio?
The patching aspect can continue to be improved. Although Visual Studio has very expressive refactor solutions and efficient, reliable patching for code, there is always room for enhancement in the...
See all answers
What do you like most about SharePoint Designer?
It saved me big time once! My car got broken into and they took my laptop with all my files. But I didn't have to worry because everything was backed up on SharePoint. It was a lifesaver!
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SharePoint Designer?
I've leased Microsoft SharePoint Designer for the enterprise, not System Center. It's for private work, web development specifically.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SharePoint Designer?
For me, it's flexible enough for most things. But maybe they could improve the user interface to make it easier for everyone to navigate and use. That would be a big plus.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

No data available
No data available
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Visual Studio
July 2025
Microsoft Visual Studio reportDownload Microsoft Visual Studio product report
Buyer's Guide
SharePoint Designer
June 2025
SharePoint Designer reportDownload SharePoint Designer product report
 

Also Known As

MS Visual Studio
No data available
 

Overview

Visual Studio.NET is the umbrella that represents the key pieces of the .NET platform delivered from Microsoft, including the .NET Framework, the recently announced .NET Core, and a shared common layer of packages, compilers and runtime. Read this .NET blog post about the evolution of the platform and the different pieces that make .NET 2015.
Microsoft
SharePoint Designer is the tool of choice for the rapid development of SharePoint applications. Using SharePoint Designer, advanced users and developers alike can rapidly create SharePoint solutions in response to business needs. Advanced users can compose no-code solutions that encompass a variety of common scenarios, from collaborative sites and web publishing to Line-Of-Business data integration, business intelligence solutions, and human workflows, leveraging the building blocks available in SharePoint in an easy to use environment.
Microsoft
 

Sample Customers

Knab, Hamburg Port Authority, Kecioren Municipality, National Instruments, Hamburg Port Authority, Government of Odisha, Kongsberg Maritime AS
Pyrotek Inc., ICA, Deliver Australia, Secretary of Economy of Mexico, Aegon, ABB Switzerland, Ascent Yarns Private Limited, Bakewell Biscuits Pvt Ltd, Hitachi Consulting
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Visual Studio vs. SharePoint Designer
July 2025
Free Report: Microsoft Visual Studio vs. SharePoint Designer
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