Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Microsoft Visual Studio vs Zend Studio comparison

Microsoft and Zend are both solutions in the .NET Development Services category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.5, while Zend is ranked #8. Microsoft holds a 15.1% mindshare in NDS, compared to Zend’s 4.0% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Zend users who would recommend it.
Microsoft Visual Studio
Read 88 Microsoft Visual Studio reviews
  • 663 Views
  • 196 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
Zend Studio
Read 1 Zend Studio review
  • 112 Views
  • 25 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report
Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Microsoft Visual Studio and Zend Studio based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Adobe, FourJs and others in .NET Development Services.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed .NET Development Services Report (Updated: March 2025).
Buyer's Guide
.NET Development Services
March 2025
Download the complete report
Helped 849,686 peers since 2012

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
88
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zend Studio
Ranking in .NET Development Services
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the .NET Development Services category, the mindshare of Microsoft Visual Studio is 15.1%, down from 22.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zend Studio is 4.0%, up from 2.5% 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
marketacumen - PeerSpot reviewer
It has higher quality code, faster debugging, and higher quality projects
* Stability is sometimes lacking in updates. * Search/replace across multiple files is not ideal. * The debugger often has problems determining where to map files to local projects, as well as setting breakpoints, which often are ignored depending on your configuration. * The product requires a subscription to Zend Server Developer, which used to be free and now has an annual fee, but it is still worth the money.
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

"What we like about Microsoft Visual Studio is that it's a comprehensive tool. It has features that work for different plans and it has a wide variety of use cases. It's also a powerful tool and it's quite efficient."
"The product integrates well with Azure Cloud, and it supports a ton of languages."
"It is easy to integrate with GitHub. We integrate with GitHub, and we deploy our solution on our local system. We need this integration for pushing our code. When we were working with Eclipse, we had to write everything in the command prompt, which is a little bit tricky, whereas Visual Studio is very much UI-based and simple. So, it's very easy to integrate GitHub with Visual Studio. It is much easier than Eclipse."
"It's a very easy-to-use product."
"The most valuable feature is how smoothly it runs."
"You can use the solution to do coding and drag and drop. It is easy to install with web documentation."
"The solution can scale."
"Visual Studio's best feature is debugging, which isn't available with any other Microsoft development tool."
More Microsoft Visual Studio pros
"It has higher quality code, faster debugging, and higher quality projects."
"It has the ability to jump to any file in your project with a few keystrokes, as well as the ability to command-click on any token in your code and have it jump to the token's definition."
 

Cons

"Microsoft should add more visualization for analytical studies or research."
"I'd like the product to become more secure. You could potentially, for example, download an extension that contains malware."
"What I don't like about Microsoft Visual Studio is its user interface. It could be better. WebStorm is a better solution for me as it has a good user interface and is more user-friendly, though my friends like Microsoft Visual Studio. I worked with WebStorm for the web layer, and for the server layer, I worked with IBM Eclipse which is my favorite software. I also dealt with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS through Angular."
"Additional components such as add-ons could be included in the installation packages."
"In the next version I would like to see a better development tool."
"It would be better if it didn't get stuck. Sometimes when we are writing code, we open too many tabs and modules, and it gets stuck."
"Microsoft Visual Studio could benefit from a more centralized education system."
"I would not recommend it for complex tasks."
More Microsoft Visual Studio cons
"Most recent set of patches (2018) on Mac OS X caused the app to crash when you would cut more than 10 lines of code. Apparently, this was due to a bug in Eclipse, but regardless, it took several months for Zend to post a patch."
"Stability is sometimes lacking in updates."
"The debugger often has problems determining where to map files to local projects."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Visual Studio is free. It's freeware, so you don't have to pay for its license."
"I am using the free version of Microsoft Visual Studio."
"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $1,700 per user."
"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio monthly is approximately $300."
"The solution is a free tool."
"The introduction of the Community Version allows some people to use it free of charge."
"The development license for Microsoft Visual Studio is free. I don't know if there's a licensing cost to it."
"We have an enterprise-level license. The cost is expensive for small to medium-sized organizations."
More Microsoft Visual Studio pricing and cost advice
"Licensing is reasonable for this type of tool. Although, you can cobble together a solution which is zero cost."
"The product requires a subscription to Zend Server Developer, which used to be free and now has an annual fee, but it is still worth the money."
report
See which vendors are best for you
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which .NET Development Services solutions are best for your needs.
See recommendations
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 expensive. The charges are $499 per user per month for the 2022 version, and the professional version costs $29. This is particularly costly in the South ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Visual Studio?
User authentication with the local database creates some problems. Integration with a local database on a VM server may also create issues, though connecting with a Cloud VM works well.
See all answers
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Comparisons

SharePoint Designer vs Microsoft Visual Studio Logo
SharePoint Designer vs Microsoft Visual Studio
Compared 100% of the time
More Microsoft Visual Studio Competitors
No data available
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Visual Studio
April 2025
Microsoft Visual Studio reportDownload Microsoft Visual Studio product report
Buyer's Guide
.NET Development Services
March 2025
Zend Studio reportDownload Zend Studio 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
Zend Studio – the PHP IDE for smarter development. It codes faster with up to 3X performance improvements in indexing, validation, searching of PHP code. It has superior PHP 7.1 support, PHP 7.1 express migration assistant, and seamless integration with Zend Server 9. It provides robust debugging capabilities with Xdebug, Zend Debugger, and Z-Ray integration. Zend Studio has an extensive plugin capabilities provided by the large Eclipse eco-system and supports for best-in-class dev tools including Docker and Git Flow Intelligent code editor. Deploy PHP applications on any server including cloud support for Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure and support for HiDPi displays - scale graphics (ala 4K resolution).
Zend
 

Sample Customers

Knab, Hamburg Port Authority, Kecioren Municipality, National Instruments, Hamburg Port Authority, Government of Odisha, Kongsberg Maritime AS
CDS Global, EnglishCentral, BNP Paribas, Carlo Gavazzi, Sunstate Equipment, Novadex GmbH, CONFTEC, Marilan, Mediaspike, Cisco WebEx, Corvette America, Value Drug Mart Associates Ltd., Allied Beverage Group
Buyer's Guide
.NET Development Services
March 2025
Download Free Report
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Adobe, FourJs and others in .NET Development Services. Updated: March 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See our list of best .NET Development Services vendors.

We monitor all .NET Development Services reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.