Macworld
TL;DR: Get a lifetime license for Microsoft Visual Studio Pro 2026 on sale for $29.97 (reg. $499.99) through August 30.
Most professional IDEs require a monthly subscription that becomes a worse deal the longer you pay for it. If you want a simpler alternative, Microsoft now allows you to get lifetime licenses for Visual Studio Pro, and this one is even on sale for $29.97 (reg. $499.99).
This is the 64-bit version, so it can handle very large solutions and heavy workloads without slowing down. You can build cross-platform mobile and desktop apps with .NET MAUI, write responsive web UIs in C# with Blazor, and debug .NET and C++ apps targeting Windows, Linux, and containers. Hot reload applies code changes to a running app right away, so you’re not restarting every few minutes to check your work.
IntelliCode reads your code context and completes lines or whole blocks based on patterns from your codebase, then ranks the next suggestions so you type less. AI-assisted refactoring cuts down on bugs and boilerplate. CodeLens shows recent changes, authors, test status, and commit history directly in the editor, so you never leave your code to find out who touched what. Live Share runs real-time collaboration sessions with teammates, and they don’t have to clone repos or install every dependency to join in.
Pay once and get your IDE for good.
Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026 on sale for $29.97 through August 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026See Deal
StackSocial prices subject to change.