Visual Studio Pricing
MSDN Subscriptions, now called Visual Studio Subscriptions, provides access to developer tools, cloud services, software, support and training. It’s a complete package to build your next great app for any platform with the power of Visual Studio IDE and the rich resources in your subscription.
Cloud subscriptions
With our new cloud subscriptions, you can rent Visual Studio, VSTS, and the subscriber benefits you need without a long-term contract. Billing is handled through your Microsoft Azure subscription, supporting credit card payment, purchases through the Enterprise Agreement contract*, and Cloud Solution Provider partners. If you don’t have an Azure subscription yet, no worries—it’s free to set up and you can do this while you make your first purchase.
| Annual Subscriptions | Monthly Subscriptions | ||||
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Visual Studio | Visual Studio | Visual Studio | Visual Studio | |||
Price per user | $2,999/yr | $539/yr | $250/mo | $45/mo | ||
Newest version for PC & Mac (2017) |
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(access to features on any VSTS account) |
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Server license |
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User client access license (CAL) |
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Subscriber Benefits | Cloud Services |
$150 credit per month |
$50 credit per month | Subscriber benefits not included in monthly subscriptions | ||
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Office 365 Developer subscription (up to 25 users) |
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Windows Store developer account (for publishing apps) |
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Software for dev/test | Microsoft Office Professional Plus, Project, Visio |
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Windows, Windows Server, Windows Embedded, Microsoft SQL Server |
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Sharepoint, Exchange, Dynamics & other Microsoft server software |
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Software for production use | Office Professional Plus 2016 (licensed for normal use on one device) |
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Training & Education |
Full subscription for 6 months |
Full subscription for 3 months | ||||
Pluralsight training |
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Full subscription for 3 months |
Full subscription for 3 months | |||||
6 months access to Xamarin University subscription |
3 months access to Xamarin University subscription | |||||
Opsgility – Microsoft Cloud-focused training |
Full subscription for 12 months |
Full subscription for 6 months | ||||
(print or early digital access) |
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Support |
4 incidents |
2 incidents | ||||
Azure Advisory Chat |
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Azure Community |
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Online Chat |
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Visual Studio partner offers | MODERNRequirements SmartOffice4TFS and inteGREAT4TFS |
Full subscription for 6 months | ||||
Parasoft – Virtualize/SOAtest Professional Desktop |
Full subscription for 6 months | |||||
Redgate Data Tools |
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WhiteSource – TFS/VSTS Bolt extension |
Full subscription for 6 months | |||||
All prices are in US dollars.
* Using your Enterprise Agreement will require the removal of spending limits, as monetary commitments cannot be used to purchase Visual Studio Cloud subscriptions.
Additional information
Compare Visual Studio IDE features
Visual Studio licensing white paper
Visual Studio subscription documentation
Standard subscriptions
While we’ve recently dropped the “with MSDN” from the names of our main Visual Studio subscriptions, these are the same subscriptions that we’ve offered for years through software resellers on multi-year Microsoft Volume Licensing contracts, and directly through the Microsoft Store online. In most cases for standard subscriptions you will be buying Visual Studio, not renting.
| Standard subscriptions | Standard subscriptions | ||||
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Visual Studio | Visual Studio | MSDN | Visual Studio | |||
Microsoft Store (retail) | New, per user | $5,999/ first year | $1,199/ first year | N/A | $2,169/ first year | |
Renewal, per user | $2,569/yr | $799/yr | N/A | $899/yr | ||
Newest version for PC & Mac (2017) |
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| No Visual Studio IDE included in subscription, but subscribers can use Visual Studio Code (free for anyone) and Visual Studio Community (free for open source projects, classroom learning, and academic research, plus for any use by up to 5 people in small organizations) | |||
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(access to features on any VSTS account) |
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Server license |
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User client access license (CAL) |
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Subscriber benefits | Cloud Services |
$150 credit per month |
$50 credit per month |
$100 credit per month |
$50 credit per month | |
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Office 365 Developer subscription (up to 25 users) |
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Windows Store developer account (for publishing apps) |
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Software for dev/test | Microsoft Office Professional Plus, Project, Visio |
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Windows, Windows Server, Windows Embedded, Microsoft SQL Server, R Server |
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Sharepoint, Exchange, Dynamics & other Microsoft server software |
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Software for production use | Office Professional Plus 2016 (for use on one device) |
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Training & Education |
Full subscription for 6 months |
Full subscription for 3 months |
Full subscription for 3 months |
Full subscription for 3 months | ||
Pluralsight training |
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Full subscription for 3 months |
Full subscription for 3 months |
Full subscription for 3 months |
Full subscription for 3 months | |||
6 months access to Xamarin University subscription |
3 months access to Xamarin University subscription | |||||
Opsgility – Microsoft Cloud-focused training |
Full subscription for 12 months |
Full subscription for 6 months | ||||
(print or early digital access) |
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Support
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4 incidents |
2 incidents |
2 incidents |
2 incidents | ||
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Online Chat |
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Visual Studio partner offers | MODERNRequirements SmartOffice4TFS and inteGREAT4TFS |
Full subscription for 6 months | ||||
Parasoft – Virtualize/SOAtest Professional Desktop |
Full subscription for 6 months | |||||
Redgate Data Tools |
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WhiteSource – TFS/VSTS Bolt extension |
Full subscription for 6 months | |||||
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All prices are in US dollars.
Additional information
Compare Visual Studio IDE features
Visual Studio licensing white paper
Visual Studio cloud subscription purchasing FAQ
Visual Studio subscription documentation
Cloud vs. Standard subscriptions
Standard and cloud subscriptions differ in only a few ways:
Standard | Cloud | ||
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Purchasing | New vs. renewing subscription price | First subscription term (New) costs significantly more than later (Renewal) terms | Same price each term |
Committed subscription term | Typically 36 months for most | Monthly or annual | |
Purchased using your Azure account, with or without other Azure services | No | Yes | |
Purchased via Resellers or via Microsoft Store | Yes | No | |
Purchased via Cloud Solution Providers (CSP) | No | Yes | |
Benefits | Includes subscriber benefits | Yes | Yes for annual |
After the subscription expires, can use the software that was available during the active subscription term (“perpetual” use rights) | Yes in most cases | No | |
Experience | Modes of unlocking Visual Studio from trial (Visual Studio Professional and Enterprise are always installed as a trial to start) | Sign in or enter a product key to unlock | Sign in only |
Must connect to the Internet to check license status at least once every 30 days | No, when a product key is used to unlock | Yes |
All prices are in US dollars.
Additional information
Compare Visual Studio IDE features
Visual Studio licensing white paper
Visual Studio cloud subscription purchasing FAQ
Visual Studio subscription documentation
Standalone License
If all you need is the current version of Visual Studio Professional, you can make a one-time standalone license purchase. If you need new versions of Visual Studio Professional, access to VSTS, or have short-term needs then the Visual Studio Professional monthly subscription may be a better option.
Visual Studio Professional 2017 standalone license | Visual Studio Professional monthly subscription | ||
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Price per user | $499 | $45/mo | |
Newest version (2017) |
PC only |
PC & Mac | |
(access to features on any VSTS account) | Not included (but every VSTS account includes 5 free users) |
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Server license |
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User client access license (CAL) |
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Subscriber Benefits | Not included | Not included | |
All prices are in US dollars.
Additional information
Compare Visual Studio IDE features
Visual Studio licensing white paper
Visual Studio cloud subscription purchasing FAQ
Visual Studio subscription documentation
Free, fully-featured IDE for students, open-source and individual developers
Professional developer tools, services, and subscription benefits for small teams
End-to-end solution to meet demanding quality and scale needs of teams of all sizes
Free, fully-featured IDE for students, open-source and individual developers
Professional developer tools, services, and subscription benefits for small teams
End-to-end solution to meet demanding quality and scale needs of teams of all sizes