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

"The most valuable feature is the integration with different databases."

"It is convenient to have all the development tools in one interface."

"Notably, the Enterprise version facilitates seamless integration with Microsoft products, leveraging the ease of connectivity within the Microsoft ecosystem."

"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."

"The feature I find most valuable is the fact that it's broad-spectrum, so it can be used for a wide variety of technologies."

"I was testing how to publish in a cloud using Azure and it was very easy."

"We like Visual Studio because you can choose the different types of languages, like JavaScript. I think it's better than the other solutions I used."

"Microsoft Visual Studio provides comprehensive development capabilities; you can create any type of application, including mobile applications, console applications, Windows applications, WPF, ASP.NET MVC, and .NET Core."

More Microsoft Visual Studio pros

"The solution tightly integrates with all other collaboration tools."

"The technical support from Microsoft is very good."

"The feature I find most valuable, is the workflow of the product."

"What I like most about this solution, is that we can use it as a secondary customization platform."

"The most valuable feature is the development."

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

"We like the highly customizable websites that you can build."

"We appreciate the fact that this solution can provide us with an on-premises version, as due to our geographical location, we are not able to use cloud-based tools."

More SharePoint Designer [EOL] pros

Cons

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

"The solution is not really good at debugging JavaScript, jQuery, or SQL"

"Additional components such as add-ons could be included in the installation packages."

"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."

"Microsoft Visual Studio needs to improve integration."

"Every time it updates, there are issues."

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

"Could be improved with the ability to personalize the interface and development style and to edit extension requirements."

More Microsoft Visual Studio cons

"The designer itself could be improved, as it isn't particularly intuitive."

"Microsoft could include more applications in this. And if more applications are included, then it can be scalable that way."

"It needs to align with PowerApps and Power Automate."

"SharePoint Designer needs filter options for lists and libraries."

"It has a lot of bugs. It's also not very convenient. The UX/UI is not very user-friendly and not designed to be similar to other applications from Microsoft."

"The web services aspect of the solution is very weak."

"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."

"SharePoint Designer's integration with Microsoft tools could be improved."

More SharePoint Designer [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Visual Studio is a free product."

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

"The introduction of the Community Version allows some people to use it free of charge."

"Microsoft Visual Studio is not expensive. Its licensing costs are expensive."

"The solution is a free tool."

"I use the open-source version of Microsoft Visual Studio."

"We have an enterprise-level license. The cost is expensive for small to medium-sized organizations."

"We use the free version, and you don't need a license."

More Microsoft Visual Studio pricing and cost advice

"SharePoint Online has a subscription-based model for payments and the price is based on user usage."

"Most of the time, our customer's license from Microsoft includes the cost of SharePoint. However, if you have to buy it then SharePoint is quite expensive."

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

"SharePoint Designer's pricing is okay."

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

"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."

"There is no licensing cost for Designer—it's free."

"The entire package is expensive. There is no extra cost in addition to the standard license."

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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Comparisons

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ASP.NET vs SharePoint Designer [EOL]

Compared 39% of the time

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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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