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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 8.6, while Zend is ranked #8. Microsoft holds a 14.8% mindshare in NDS, compared to Zend’s 3.4% 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 90 Microsoft Visual Studio reviews
  • 641 Views
  • 156 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
Zend Studio
Read 1 Zend Studio review
  • 117 Views
  • 23 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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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.

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To learn more, read our detailed .NET Development Services Report (Updated: June 2025).
Buyer's Guide
.NET Development Services
June 2025
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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
Ranking in .NET Development Services
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
90
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 July 2025, in the .NET Development Services category, the mindshare of Microsoft Visual Studio is 14.8%, down from 23.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zend Studio is 3.4%, 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

"Microsoft Visual Studio is stable and the performance was good. However, if you do not have decent hardware you will not have the same experience."
"The solution can scale."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Visual Studio are debugging and IntelliSense."
"While you're coding, it's really nice to be able to print stuff out and make sure that all the data is being organized the way you want it to be."
"I was testing how to publish in a cloud using Azure and it was very easy."
"It's a useful integrated development environment."
"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."
"Most valuable features include code navigation by symbols and document auto formatting."
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

"For Visual Studio, the only challenge I've faced is referencing any package or new concept I'm trying to debug or run."
"The technical support can be slow."
"I would like the solution to have a designing default in addition to the current coding default."
"There is room for improvement in the price of the solution overall."
"Microsoft Visual Studio could improve by being compatible with more operating systems. However, we understand the solution is proprietary to Microsoft."
"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."
"This solution could be integrated with other open-source languages, such as Python and not only C#, .NET or Microsoft development languages."
"Technical support needs to be improved. Right now, it's not great."
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

"The price of Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $400 annually."
"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $1,700 per user."
"I am using the free version of Microsoft Visual Studio."
"The price is good."
"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio monthly is approximately $300."
"Our purchasing department pays a fair price for it."
"Microsoft Visual Studio is not expensive. Its licensing costs are expensive."
"We have an enterprise-level license. The cost is expensive for small to medium-sized organizations."
More Microsoft Visual Studio pricing and cost advice
"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."
"Licensing is reasonable for this type of tool. Although, you can cobble together a solution which is zero cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Performing Arts
9%
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 favorable. While many open-source solutions are available, none offer the robustness of Visual Studio, which includes a Marketplace for creating different...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Visual Studio?
The patching aspect can continue to be improved. Although Visual Studio has very expressive refactor solutions and efficient, reliable patching for code, there is always room for enhancement in the...
See all answers
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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
June 2025
Microsoft Visual Studio reportDownload Microsoft Visual Studio product report
Buyer's Guide
.NET Development Services
June 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
June 2025
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