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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 8.7, while Zend is ranked #4. Microsoft holds a 14.4% mindshare in NDS, compared to Zend’s 3.6% 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 92 Microsoft Visual Studio reviews
  • 780 Views
  • 780 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
Zend Studio
Read 1 Zend Studio review
  • 132 Views
  • 132 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, FourJs, Zend and others in .NET Development Services.

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To learn more, read our detailed .NET Development Services Report (Updated: August 2025).
Buyer's Guide
.NET Development Services
August 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
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zend Studio
Ranking in .NET Development Services
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the .NET Development Services category, the mindshare of Microsoft Visual Studio is 14.4%, down from 22.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zend Studio is 3.6%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
.NET Development Services Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Visual Studio14.4%
Zend Studio3.6%
Other82.0%
.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 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

"The valuable feature is that it provides a basic template for everything and built-in debugging tools. They definitely save me time."
"It is a stable solution."
"It's a very easy-to-use product."
"We use the solution to develop applications."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Visual Studio are debugging and IntelliSense."
"What I like the most about Microsoft Visual Studio is that it's useful. It's also a very stable solution, and is scalable as well. It's quick to set up as it only took me a few seconds to do it."
"Most valuable features include code navigation by symbols and document auto formatting."
"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."
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

"The hot reload feature is good, but sometimes it doesn't work. It could be improved."
"It would be great if they added some extra support for other languages that are available in the market and prepared it for the, let's say, crypto developers as we are going in the age of cryptocurrency."
"Microsoft Visual Studio needs to improve integration."
"The best advice I can give to others is to take training because it's so easy to use out of the box. However, you might tend to install it and maybe configure it improperly. You need to have some training."
"Sometimes, the deprecation of packages can be a challenge."
"Microsoft Visual Studio can improve integration with the Microsoft Office suite; this was only implemented in 2022."
"File installations are heavy."
"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
"Stability is sometimes lacking in updates."
"The debugger often has problems determining where to map files to local projects."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Visual Studio is not expensive. Its licensing costs are expensive."
"The price of Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $400 annually."
"Microsoft Visual Studio is free. It's freeware, so you don't have to pay for its license."
"We use the free version, and you don't need a license."
"I am working with the open-source community version, which is free."
"You have to be a subscriber with a Visual Studio subscription to use the solution and the organization has to purchase a license that's linked to the account."
"We have an enterprise-level license. The cost is expensive for small to medium-sized organizations."
"Licensing costs are reasonable."
More Microsoft Visual Studio pricing and cost advice
"Licensing is reasonable for this type of tool. Although, you can cobble together a solution which is zero cost."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
15%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise43
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?
Based on my experience and my colleagues' feedback, I believe a potential area of improvement for Microsoft Visual Studio could be incorporating more AI, as it makes things easier for us, and havin...
See all answers
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Comparisons

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Visual Studio
August 2025
Microsoft Visual Studio reportDownload Microsoft Visual Studio product report
Buyer's Guide
.NET Development Services
August 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
August 2025
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Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, FourJs, Zend and others in .NET Development Services. Updated: August 2025.
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