Microsoft Visual Studio 2026 Professional

Visual Studio 2026 Professional: Microsoft's current development environment for individual developers and small teams

Visual Studio 2026 Professional is the Professional edition of the current generation of Microsoft's integrated development environment (IDE) for Windows, internally designated as version 18. Here, the editor, compiler, debugger, testing tools and Git integration are closely linked with AI features based on GitHub Copilot. The IDE covers Windows desktop applications, web applications, cloud services for Azure, mobile apps with .NET and C++ projects, and is suitable for professional software development by individual developers, freelancers and small teams.

AI assistance and development

Visual Studio 2026 integrates GitHub Copilot directly into the IDE. In addition to code suggestions and chat, Copilot offers an agent mode that works on a task in several steps and plans the next steps itself. The Copilot features run via a GitHub Copilot plan; according to Microsoft, agent mode is also available in the free GitHub Copilot Free plan. Alternatively, Bring Your Own Key lets you connect your own model access, for example from Microsoft Foundry, OpenAI, Anthropic or a local Ollama server. This feature is currently in preview.

The IDE supports .NET Framework versions 3.5 SP1 and 4.6.2 to 4.8.1 as well as .NET 8, 9 and 10. Native Android apps are created with .NET and C#, iOS apps can be built and debugged together with a Mac configured for iOS development, and Linux applications in C++, Python and Node.js. C++ developers work with MSVC Build Tools 14.51, which according to Microsoft bring improved support for C++23. In addition to Docker, the debugger can also attach to processes in Podman containers. The interface follows Fluent Design, and the colour theme and light or dark mode can be linked to the Windows settings or customised individually.

Microsoft delivers new features monthly via the Stable Channel; the current release is version 18.11 from October 2026. According to Microsoft, the Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) will be added for the Professional and Enterprise editions from November 2026, supplying a version with security updates only for one year. This is useful if a team wants to stay on a fixed version for a project over the long term.

Difference from Visual Studio 2026 Enterprise

Some tools for diagnostics, testing and architecture are reserved for the Enterprise edition: the IntelliTrace execution recording, Live Unit Testing, Microsoft Fakes, code clone analysis and the creation of code maps and dependency diagrams. In the Professional edition, code maps and dependency diagrams can be read but not fully edited. If you need these tools, choose Visual Studio 2026 Enterprise.

Buy Visual Studio 2026 Professional: licence and scope of delivery

You receive a perpetual licence for Visual Studio 2026 Professional. The licence applies to one user, who can install Visual Studio on several devices; parallel use on many computers is not licensed. A GitHub Copilot plan is not part of the licence. The scope of delivery includes:

• the product key for Visual Studio 2026 Professional
• the download link for the software (all downloads are also available under Software Download)

Once your payment has been received, your product key is displayed directly on the order confirmation page and also sent to you by email. After that, you can retrieve it again at any time: with a customer account under My Product Codes, without a customer account via the Guest Portal.

If you have any questions about installation or activation, our Support team is available around the clock by email, and you will find guides under Guides and FAQ. For multiple developer workstations, there are offers for businesses, schools and public authorities in the B2B Area. You will find further versions in the category Development & Programming and under PC Software.

System requirements

Minimum requirements according to Microsoft. Microsoft does not list Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 among the supported operating systems for Visual Studio 2026. Microsoft recommends an SSD for better performance.