Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

JetBrains Rider vs Milestone XProtect

JetBrains Rider logo

JetBrains Rider

Developer Tools

Cross-platform .NET IDE from JetBrains for C#, F#, VB.NET and Unity

From
$18.25/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Milestone XProtect logo

Milestone XProtect

Cybersecurity

Open platform video management software with perpetual per-device licences

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Milestone XProtect has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: JetBrains Rider requires a paid subscription with no permanently free commercial tier.; Milestone XProtect care Plus is presented as optional but is not in practice: without it, perpetual licences stop receiving version upgrades and eventually you cannot add a current camera because your frozen version does not support it.
  • They diverge on capability: JetBrains Rider covers Cross-platform .NET Development, Milestone XProtect covers Open device support.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which JetBrains Rider and Milestone XProtect actually diverge.

Attributes where JetBrains Rider and Milestone XProtect differ
AttributeJetBrains RiderMilestone XProtect
Starting price$18.25/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOne-time purchase per device licence, plus annual Care Plus
Free tierNoYes
Platformswindows, mac, linuxWindows, Web, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
Founded2000Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in JetBrains Rider

  • Cross-platform .NET Development
  • ReSharper-powered Code Analysis
  • Integrated Debugger and Profiler
  • Version Control Integration
  • Unity Support

Only in Milestone XProtect

  • Open device support
  • Perpetual device licences
  • Federated architecture
  • Failover recording
  • Evidence export
  • Smart Map
  • Integration platform
  • Video summarisation

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

JetBrains Rider

  • Cross-platform .NET and ASP.NET Core developmentnot Milestone XProtect
  • Unity game development and debuggingnot Milestone XProtect
  • Large-scale C# refactoring with ReSharper-grade analysisnot Milestone XProtect
  • Teams standardizing on JetBrains tooling across languagesnot Milestone XProtect

Milestone XProtect

  • A city or transport operator running tens of thousands of cameras across federated sitesnot JetBrains Rider
  • An enterprise with mixed legacy camera brands that refuses to standardise on one manufacturernot JetBrains Rider
  • A critical infrastructure site needing failover recording servers and tamper-evident evidence exportnot JetBrains Rider
  • An integrator building a bespoke security application on top of an open VMS platformnot JetBrains Rider

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

JetBrains Rider

  • Requires a paid subscription with no permanently free commercial tier.
  • Heavier resource usage than lightweight editors like VS Code for small projects.
  • Some advanced features overlap with a separate ReSharper Visual Studio plugin, causing licensing confusion.
  • First-year pricing increased in late 2025, raising the cost of entry versus prior years.

Milestone XProtect

  • Care Plus is presented as optional but is not in practice: without it, perpetual licences stop receiving version upgrades and eventually you cannot add a current camera because your frozen version does not support it.
  • Per-device licensing means multi-sensor and multi-imager cameras consume several licences each, so a headline camera count badly understates the true licence cost of a modern design.
  • It is Windows only for servers and needs a properly designed server and storage architecture, so the software price is a fraction of a project that also needs recording servers, storage and an integrator.
  • Complexity requires trained staff or a certified integrator; organisations that install it without either end up running a large deployment on default settings and never using the features they paid for.
  • Milestone retired Kite from its portfolio in favour of Arcules from January 2025, which stranded buyers who had standardised on Kite and is a reminder that the cloud side of the portfolio has changed direction more than once.

Pricing, plan by plan

JetBrains Rider

$18.25/month
  • Individual - Year 1$219/year
    • Full Rider IDE license
    • Free minor and major updates during subscription
  • Individual - Year 2$175/year
    • Continuity discount after first year
  • Individual - Year 3+$131/year
    • Further continuity discount from third year onward

Milestone XProtect

Free
  • XProtect Essential+Free
    • Free for up to 8 cameras
    • No recording time limit
    • No vendor support included
  • XProtect Express+$109/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Single site, single server
    • Care Plus purchased separately per device per year
  • XProtect Professional+$177/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Multiple recording servers
    • Edge storage retrieval
  • XProtect Expert$282/one-time
    • Perpetual device licence, distributor list price
    • Failover recording servers
    • Advanced video wall and evidence handling

Which should you pick?

Choose JetBrains Rider if

  • You need cross-platform .net development.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux.
  • You also want resharper-powered code analysis.
JetBrains Rider review

Choose Milestone XProtect if

  • You need open device support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want perpetual device licences.
Milestone XProtect review

Questions people ask

Is JetBrains Rider or Milestone XProtect better?
Neither clearly leads. JetBrains Rider starts at $18.25/month and Milestone XProtect at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, JetBrains Rider or Milestone XProtect?
Milestone XProtect has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $18.25/month for JetBrains Rider and Free for Milestone XProtect.
Does JetBrains Rider or Milestone XProtect run on more platforms?
JetBrains Rider runs on windows, mac, linux. Milestone XProtect runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Milestone XProtect for free?
Yes. Milestone XProtect has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. JetBrains Rider starts at $18.25/month.
What is JetBrains Rider best used for?
JetBrains Rider is most often used for cross-platform .net and asp.net core development, unity game development and debugging, large-scale c# refactoring with resharper-grade analysis, teams standardizing on jetbrains tooling across languages. Of those, cross-platform .net and asp.net core development and unity game development and debugging are not what Milestone XProtect is typically brought in for.
What can JetBrains Rider do that Milestone XProtect cannot?
JetBrains Rider covers Cross-platform .NET Development, ReSharper-powered Code Analysis, Integrated Debugger and Profiler, Version Control Integration. Milestone XProtect covers Open device support, Perpetual device licences, Federated architecture, Failover recording.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

JetBrains Rider: Does Rider have a free version?

JetBrains offers a free non-commercial license for Rider for personal, non-commercial use, alongside paid commercial subscriptions with continuity discounts after the first year.

Source
Milestone XProtect: Is XProtect really free for small sites?

Essential+ is free for up to eight cameras with no recording time limit, but it comes with no vendor support and no multi-server capability.

JetBrains Rider: What counts as non-commercial use under the free license?

Learning, open-source contributions without commercial benefit, content creation like monetized tutorials, and hobby projects qualify; any paid work or commercial release does not.

Source
Milestone XProtect: Are licences perpetual or annual?

Device licences are perpetual. The annual cost is Care Plus, the support and software update contract, which you need to stay on current versions.

JetBrains Rider: Does the free non-commercial license include all Rider features?

Yes, it is a full-featured IDE identical to the paid version, with one exception: Code With Me is limited to the Community tier instead of the premium tier.

Source
Milestone XProtect: What happens if I do not renew Care Plus?

The system keeps recording, but you stop getting version upgrades, and over a few years that blocks you from adding newer cameras.

JetBrains Rider: How often does the non-commercial license renew?

It issues a one-year license that renews automatically each year, provided Rider was opened at least once during the preceding six months.

Source
Milestone XProtect: Who owns Milestone?

Canon. The portfolio also includes BriefCam analytics and Arcules cloud video, with Arcules replacing Milestone Kite from January 2025.

JetBrains Rider: What support do non-commercial license holders get?

Non-commercial users get community forums and public bug trackers rather than private support tickets, which are reserved for paid subscribers.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on JetBrains Rider

More on Milestone XProtect

Keep looking

Other head to heads