Microsoft Visual Studio vs SharePoint Designer [EOL] comparison

Microsoft Visual Studio and SharePoint Designer [EOL] are both solutions in the .NET Development Services category. Additionally, 96% of Microsoft Visual Studio users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 82% of SharePoint Designer [EOL] users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Visual Studio

Read 101 Microsoft Visual Studio reviews

1,384 Views
1,384 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

SharePoint Designer [EOL]

Read 49 SharePoint Designer [EOL] reviews

82% willing to recommend

Microsoft Visual Studio

SharePoint Designer [EOL]

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Visual Studio and SharePoint Designer [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Cognosys Inc Hardened Images, Harman and others in .NET Development Services.

To learn more, read our detailed .NET Development Services Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

.NET Development Services

January 2026

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Helped 881,707 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

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

101

Ranking in other categories

.NET Development Services (1st)

SharePoint Designer [EOL]

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Eitan Gold

SQA Manager at Elmo Motion Control Ltd.

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 that is very effective. This comprehensive debugger tool does the job efficiently, making our work easier.

Read full review

Vladimir Vasilev

Digital Lead at Baker Tilly

Helps to centralize and share files and has an easy setup

I'm using the solution for creating different sites in our organization. We also use it for a file repository mainly. It's provided us with a centralized document database that is available to all collaborators 24/7. There are good features in general. It helps centralize and store files. It's…

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

"Microsoft Visual Studio helps my company improve efficiency in software development suites."

"The installation of the solution is easy."

"We can use different .NET features."

"The solution includes a debug function that I can breakpoint to easily detect what is wrong with my applications."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Visual Studio are the availability of many extensions, an interpreter, a code formator, and helpful dark and light modes."

"The scalability of Microsoft Visual Studio is good."

"My company works with outsourced programmers. The solution helps us to test, integrate and foresee the code quality. We can trace the development stages."

"It is great for integration with Excel."

More Microsoft Visual Studio pros

"The document filing system is the solution's most valuable feature. We have used SharePoint as an option for a document managed system, like Documentum and IBM Filenet."

"SharePoint Designer is easy to deploy and it is one of the most valuable features. The whole process took a couple of days and it is easy to work on."

"We mostly used this solution for file storage and basic functions, etcetera."

"The workflow is the solution's most valuable feature."

"The support on offer is helpful."

"The most valuable feature of SharePoint Designer is document management."

"The basic functionality the solution makes it easy to share documents or information with the team."

"When you have a group project and you want to share your document with your group members, the solution is very useful."

More SharePoint Designer [EOL] pros

Cons

"Microsoft Visual Studio can improve by adding more features to the Mac version. There are a lot of features lacking in the Mac version, there are limitations. I can install Microsoft Visual Studio on the Mac operating system, but it is not the same as if I installed it on a Microsoft Windows system. The Microsoft Windows version has a lot of features available in Microsoft Visual Studio."

"There could be more coding languages in the solution."

"Microsoft Visual Studio can improve integration with the Microsoft Office suite; this was only implemented in 2022."

"Microsoft should add more visualization for analytical studies or research."

"Microsoft Visual Studio could improve by being compatible with more operating systems. However, we understand the solution is proprietary to Microsoft."

"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."

"The time that it takes to load the application can be reduced"

"Microsoft Visual Studio needs to improve integration."

More Microsoft Visual Studio cons

"The pricing is a little bit high and can be reduced."

"The solution does not need any additional features."

"The new SharePoint Designer is very limited."

"There is zero technical support. I have to use Google to fix the issues myself."

"SharePoint Designer could improve by making the searching feature better. It is not accurate in some cases, and there are some descriptions that are not clear."

"The downside is the different versions of SharePoint which means we need to have different designers as not all versions are compatible."

"The search capabilities need to be improved."

"SharePoint does not have enough resources to cover the security part."

More SharePoint Designer [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio monthly is approximately $300."

"Microsoft Visual Studio is a free product."

"Its price could be better."

"I am using the free version of Microsoft Visual Studio."

"Our purchasing department pays a fair price for it."

"The solution is expensive."

"The price of Microsoft Visual Studio could be lowered. For a single developer, it is approximately $1,000."

"I am working with the open-source community version, which is free."

More Microsoft Visual Studio pricing and cost advice

"I've never paid for SharePoint Designer. What I paid for, is the SharePoint license, the cava, and then the client accesses the line fee."

"I use Macintosh devices, and because this solution is not available in the Apple Ecosystem I use it because it is cost-effective."

"SharePoint Designer is a free product. It's SharePoint that needs a license, not SharePoint Designer."

"We are using an enterprise SharePoint Designer license."

"The cost of the license is based on the size of the user base."

"Priced per user per month with different plans to choose from."

"The tool's pricing is cheap."

"The price is reasonable."

More SharePoint Designer [EOL] pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Marketing Services Firm

19%

Performing Arts

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Outsourcing Company

Marketing Services Firm

20%

Comms Service Provider

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	36
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	50

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	21

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Visual Studio?

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Microsoft Visual Studio is that the pricing is free, which is perfect.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Visual Studio?

I think Microsoft Visual Studio is a very good tool and I do not have many improvements to suggest. The only thing I can think of is that I quite regularly get notifications that interrupt my workf...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Visual Studio?

My main use case for Microsoft Visual Studio is writing code, specifically infrastructure as code to build resources in cloud platforms such as AWS EC2 instances, Google IAM resources, and networks...

See all answers

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ASP.NET vs SharePoint Designer [EOL]

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Visual Studio

January 2026

Download Microsoft Visual Studio product report

Buyer's Guide

SharePoint Designer [EOL]

January 2026

Download SharePoint Designer [EOL] 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

.NET Development Services

January 2026

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