Visual Studio 2022 is a powerful IDE for developing Windows, web, and mobile applications. Microsoft calls it the best IDE to build modern and cross-platform applications. IDE is an abbreviation for Integrated Development Environment, meaning a complete environment for coding that acts as a word processor for programmers and has a collection of text editors, compilers, debuggers, and other tools in a united package. Visual Studio also provides intelligent tools to complete code (IntelliSense) and a visual user interface designer in order to let beginners work with it easily. Ultimately, everything for writing code, running, and code debugging is available in one place.
Visual Studio 2022 is provided in three versions: Community, Professional, and Enterprise. One of the common questions among beginners is about licensing. Commercial versions need to be activated with a license key through a Visual Studio 2022 product key, while Community versions are free and do not need a key.
Community Version
The Community version of Visual Studio 2022 is a free version for individual programmers, students, and small teams. This version ultimately has all the main tools for coding, debugging, and project management. Important tips about the Community version:
- Price and License: Visual Studio 2022 Community is completely free for individual programmers, open-source project participants, and educational uses. Also, in small companies (fewer than 250 computers or less than one million dollars in income), up to five people can use it.
- Facilities: This version provides a complete version of the IDE (code editor, debugger, visual designers, Git connections, and so on). You can create applications for Windows, iOS, Android, web, and cloud, exactly like commercial versions.
- Use Cases: It is a wonderful choice for learning, universal projects, open-source tasks, and independent developers. For instance, students can generate software and even sell it with the Community version, with the condition that they should obey license conditions.
- Support: It just has user community (forums and online documentation) support. Official or paid support is not provided in this version.
Enterprise Version
The Enterprise version of Visual Studio 2022 is the best and most complete version of Visual Studio 2022, which is designed for big companies and complicated projects. Key tips for this version are as follows:
- Price and License: It needs a premium subscription (nearly 250 dollars per month). In this version, there is no limitation on usage rate or operating conditions.
- Facilities: All of the Professional facilities are in it, and also, there are more advanced tools for testing, debugging, and software architecture. For instance, tools such as IntelliSense for generating automatic unit tests, Live Unit Testing that runs at the same time with coding, and IntelliTrace for historical debug (code running process recording) are all in this version. Also, tools such as code maps, dependency graphs, advanced profilers, and other big companies’ special facilities are all in access.
- Use Cases: It is the best choice for big teams and companies that are developing critical applications on a large scale. If your team needs the most powerful testing, troubleshooting, and teamwork tool, the Enterprise version is the best choice.
- Support: It has Microsoft Premium support and has access to advanced tutorials and sources. (Azure validity needs 150 dollars per month).
Visual Studio 2022 Versions Comparison Table
| Section | Community | Professional | Enterprise |
| Price | Free | Just through the Forum community | Suitable for individuals or any company without any limitations |
| License | Suitable for individuals, students, open-source projects, and small teams (up to 5 persons) | A monthly subscription is nearly 250 dollars | Suitable for any team or company of any size |
| Facilities | Complete version of IDE (editor, debugger, visual designers, Git, and so on) | All Community facilities + Tools such as CodeLens and connection to Azure DevOps | All Professional facilities + Advanced tools such as IntelliTest, Live Unit Testing, IntelliTrace, code map, dependency graph, and special profiler |
| Support | Professional developers, freelancers, and small and medium-sized businesses | Standard official support from Microsoft | Premium support, specialized tutorials, and a maximum level of validation (for example, 150 per month) |
| Suitable for | Students, interested people, small startups | Professional developers, freelancers, small and medium-sized businesses | Big companies, complicated projects, and enterprise-level software |
Which Version is Suitable for You?
- Students and Beginners: For these groups of users, the Community free version is enough. It has all the main tools and it is free.
- Open-Source Developers: Use the Community version. This version is free for open-source projects.
- Small Business / Startups: If you have licensing conditions, start with the Community version. If the number of programmers increases or you need official support, choose the Professional version.
- Growing Teams: The Community version license just supports up to five developers in a company. If the number of users increases, you should migrate to the Professional or Enterprise version.
- Professional Developers / Teams: In the Professional version, you can find teamwork tools without license limitations, and it’s worth paying money to use for commercial tasks.
- Big Companies: The Enterprise version is suitable for big teams and complicated applications. It has advanced testing and debugging tools (such as IntelliTrace and Live Unit Testing) that cannot be found in other versions.
- Free Test: Microsoft provides Professional and Enterprise versions for trial. So, you can examine its facilities before buying.
Overall, we can say Visual Studio 2022 Community is a free and complete IDE that is suitable for most beginners, students, and small projects. The Professional version adds more facilities, such as CodeLens for teamwork and Azure DevOps connection, for a small amount of money. The Enterprise version also offers advanced tools that are suitable for big companies with complicated projects and special needs.
Important Point: Starting with the Community version of Visual Studio 2022, which is free, is risk-free – if your needs grow in the future, you can upgrade it to the Professional or Enterprise version.
