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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
  • 1,132 Views
  • 1,132 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
 

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.

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.NET Development Services
January 2026
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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
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
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Eitan Gold - PeerSpot reviewer
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 - PeerSpot reviewer
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 features of Microsoft Visual Studio are the UI functionality where you can do software development. Everything is available there that you need. You can create the UI, and code, develop and compile it."
"I have found that it is scalable."
"It is convenient to have all the development tools in one interface."
"The stability is fine."
"We have no issues with scaling."
"I like the performance, stability and ease of use."
"The most valuable aspect of this solution is the integrated development environment. It also offers a very good integration with Microsoft Cloud."
"Microsoft Visual Studio helps my company improve efficiency in software development suites."
More Microsoft Visual Studio pros
"The support on offer is helpful."
"The Power App is the most valuable feature."
"The drag and drop feature is the most useful feature when using this solution."
"The scalability is excellent, and I rate it ten out of ten."
"I find the document management and search of SharePoint the most valuable features."
"What I like most about this solution, is that we can use it as a secondary customization platform."
"I would rate the solution's stability a nine out of ten."
"Designer is easy to manage."
More SharePoint Designer [EOL] pros
 

Cons

"Long installation or upgrade times are sometimes a problem."
"File installations are heavy."
"I would like to see more tools in the next release."
"Microsoft should add more visualization for analytical studies or research."
"The UI could be better, and development could be easier on Microsoft Visual Studio if there were more features like drag and drop and more frameworks, etc."
"Visual Studio Team System needs to improve documentation."
"Microsoft Visual Studio needs to improve integration."
"Despite its advantages, challenges in diverse cloud environments may prompt the uninstallation of the application or entire development environment for resolution."
More Microsoft Visual Studio cons
"If they included some training modules, I would give them a ten, because that would make it even more user-friendly."
"Sharepoint could improve the user interface to make it easier for everyone to navigate and use. That would be a big plus."
"The system can become slow which should be improved."
"There is zero technical support. I have to use Google to fix the issues myself."
"I have heard of clients that have complained about the stability once a certain amount of data, over 200 gigs has been reached as well as the stability of SQL Databases."
"SharePoint Designer doesn't support the features that are available in the latest version of SharePoint Online."
"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."
"Adding guest users is a bit difficult on SharePoint."
More SharePoint Designer [EOL] cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing costs are reasonable."
"We have an enterprise-level license. The cost is expensive for small to medium-sized organizations."
"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $1,700 per user."
"The price is good."
"The price of Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $400 annually."
"The development license for Microsoft Visual Studio is free. I don't know if there's a licensing cost to it."
"I am using the free version of Microsoft Visual Studio."
"There's a community edition that is absolutely free to use. It's pretty good."
More Microsoft Visual Studio pricing and cost advice
"It is a free solution that does not require a license."
"SharePoint Designer's pricing is okay."
"The entire package is expensive. There is no extra cost in addition to the standard license."
"This solution is free of charge."
"The tool's pricing is cheap."
"We are using an enterprise SharePoint Designer license."
"The cost of the license is based on the size of the user base."
"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."
More SharePoint Designer [EOL] pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Performing Arts
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business36
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise50
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Visual Studio?
The setup cost rates about eight out of ten.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Visual Studio?
I wish Microsoft Visual Studio was available on the Mac for improvement. I just wish it worked on the Mac.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Visual Studio?
My main use case for Microsoft Visual Studio is writing file processing code and backend APIs. A specific example of the kind of file processing or API work I do with Microsoft Visual Studio is pro...
See all answers
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Earn 20 points
 

Comparisons

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Compared 100% of the time
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ASP.NET vs SharePoint Designer [EOL] Logo
ASP.NET vs SharePoint Designer [EOL]
Compared 38% of the time
More SharePoint Designer [EOL] Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Visual Studio
January 2026
Microsoft Visual Studio reportDownload Microsoft Visual Studio product report
Buyer's Guide
SharePoint Designer [EOL]
January 2026
SharePoint Designer [EOL] reportDownload 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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