Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Visual Studio vs Vultr

Visual Studio logo

Visual Studio

Developer Tools

IDE for .NET and C++ development on Windows

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Vultr logo

Vultr

Cloud

High performance cloud compute

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Visual Studio community edition is free only for individual developers, classroom use, academic research and open-source contribution, not general commercial use; Vultr vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Visual Studio and Vultr actually diverge.

Attributes where Visual Studio and Vultr differ
AttributeVisual StudioVultr
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
PlatformsWebWeb, Api, Cli
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Visual Studio

Nothing recorded that Vultr does not also cover.

Only in Vultr

  • Cloud servers
  • Bare metal servers
  • Block storage
  • Object storage
  • Load balancers
  • Kubernetes
  • Firewalls
  • Private networks

What people use each for

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

Visual Studio

  • Managing complex, large-scale projects across multiple platformsnot Vultr
  • Commercial development in small businessesnot Vultr
  • DevOps and automated deployment workflowsnot Vultr
  • Windows/SQL Server developer and tester rolesnot Vultr
  • Short-term or month-to-month IDE access needsnot Vultr

Vultr

  • High performance computingnot Visual Studio
  • Game serversnot Visual Studio
  • Streamingnot Visual Studio
  • Database hostingnot Visual Studio
  • Application serversnot Visual Studio

Where each one falls short

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

Visual Studio

  • Community edition is free only for individual developers, classroom use, academic research and open-source contribution, not general commercial use
  • Monthly subscriptions are $45 per user per month for Professional and $250 per user per month for Enterprise, and do not include perpetual use rights the way annual Standard subscriptions do
  • A standalone perpetually licensed Visual Studio Professional 2022 costs $499 as a one-time purchase, separate from the subscription tiers

Vultr

  • Vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan

Pricing, plan by plan

Visual Studio

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Visual Studio review.

Vultr

Free
  • Cloud Compute$2.5/month
    • 512MB RAM
    • 10GB SSD
    • 500GB bandwidth
  • Bare Metal$32/month
    • Dedicated hardware
    • High performance
    • Full root access

Which should you pick?

Choose Visual Studio if

  • You want to start without paying.
Visual Studio review

Choose Vultr if

  • You need cloud servers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal servers.
Vultr review

Questions people ask

Is Visual Studio or Vultr better?
Neither clearly leads. Visual Studio starts at Free and Vultr at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Visual Studio or Vultr?
Visual Studio starts at Free and Vultr at Free.
Does Visual Studio or Vultr run on more platforms?
Visual Studio runs on Web. Vultr runs on Web, Api, Cli.
Can I use Visual Studio for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Visual Studio best used for?
Visual Studio is most often used for managing complex, large-scale projects across multiple platforms, commercial development in small businesses, devops and automated deployment workflows, windows/sql server developer and tester roles. Of those, managing complex, large-scale projects across multiple platforms and commercial development in small businesses are not what Vultr is typically brought in for.
What can Visual Studio do that Vultr cannot?
Vultr covers Cloud servers, Bare metal servers, Block storage, Object storage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Visual Studio: What are the pricing differences between subscription types?

Standard subscriptions include access to more benefits, such as Azure dev/test pricing, monthly Azure individual credit, software and download access, services, training, and support. Monthly subscriptions offer flexibility but fewer benefits.

Source
Visual Studio: Are discounts available for startups?

There aren't any discounts available to start-ups, however an unlimited number of users within an organization can use Visual Studio Community for specific scenarios like open source work.

Source
Visual Studio: Who can use Visual Studio Community for free?

In non-enterprise organizations, up to five users can use it. Enterprise organizations (greater than 250 PCs or greater than $1M annual revenue) cannot use it beyond academic/open-source scenarios.

Source
Visual Studio: What's the renewal pricing structure?

Enterprise standard renews at $214.09/month (after initial $499.92); Professional at $66.59/month (after $99.99).

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Visual Studio

More on Vultr

Keep looking

Other head to heads