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I'm considering purchasing a ReSharper license, but are there any possible alternatives to ReSharper and how would you rate these compared to ReSharper?

It doesn't necessarily have to be a free alternative, but I would just like to know how good equivalent products are.

Brent Worden
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Riain McAtamney
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    For style recommendations I use StyleCop. For code analysis I manage with built in VS one which more or less replaces FxCop. For typing ease I rely on Productivity Power Tools. All 3 from MS. For me that's the alternative currently :) – nawfal Jun 06 '15 at 10:13

9 Answers9

91

The main alternative is:

  • CodeRush, by DevExpress. Most consider either this or ReSharper the way to go. You cannot go wrong with either. Both have their fans, both are powerful, and both have talented teams constantly improving them. We have all benefited from the competition between these two. I won't repeat the many good discussions/comparisons about them that can be found on Stack Overflow and elsewhere.

Another alternative worth checking out:

  • JustCode, by Telerik. This is new, still with kinks, but initial reports are positive. An advantage could be licensing with other Telerik products and integration with them. There are bundled licenses available that could make things cheaper / easier to handle.
Peter Mortensen
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Patrick Karcher
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    BTW,Telerik is retiring JustCode... http://www.telerik.com/products/justcode-sunsetting – George Vovos Apr 29 '17 at 21:04
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    Devexpress's CodeRush Is not the same as Resharper. CodeRush, to my knowledge, improves productivity, rather than enforcing standards on Code-Style and also suggestions and code conversions and all that. which is in my opinion why its much faster than resharper on big solutions (+10 heavy projects ). – Niklas Aug 15 '17 at 05:17
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    JustCode is now dead with VS2017 – Avenger789 Oct 03 '17 at 09:17
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    Anything for VS Code? – Paesano2000 Jan 30 '18 at 17:28
  • @Paesano2000 VSCode is good enough for dotnet Core projects but lacks many features for dotnet Framework projects.. (like easy way to install nuget packages or debugging on par which any of the IDEs...) – Macindows Nov 10 '20 at 17:48
56

A comprehensive list:

  • CodeRush, by DevExpress. (Considered the main alternative) Either this or ReSharper is the way to go. You cannot go wrong with either. Both have their fans, both are powerful, both have talented teams constantly improving them. We have all benefited from the competition between these two. I won't repeat the many good discussions/comparisons about them that can be found on Stack Overflow and elsewhere. 1

  • JustCode, by Telerik. This is new, still with kinks, but initial reports are positive. An advantage could be liscensing with other Telerik products and integration with them. 1

  • Many of the new Visual Studio 2010 features. See what's been added vs. what you need, it could be that the core install takes care of what you are interested in now.

  • Visual Assist X, More than 50 features make Visual Assist X an incredible productivity tool. Pick a category and learn more, or download a free trial and discover them all. 2

  • VSCommands, VSCommands provides code navigation and generation improvements which will make your everyday coding tasks blazing fast and, together with tens of essential IDE enhancements, it will take your productivity to another level. VSCommands comes in two flavours: Lite (free) and Pro (paid). 3

  • BrockSoft VSAid, VSAid (Visual Studio Aid) is a Microsoft Visual Studio add-in available, at no cost, for both personal and commercial use. Primarily aimed at Visual C++ developers (though useful for any Visual Studio project or solution), VSAid adds a new toolbar to the IDE which adds productivity-enhancing features such as being able to find and open project files quickly and cycle through related files at the click of a mouse button (or the stroke of a key!). 4

Peter Mortensen
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Daniel
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Keep in mind that with Visual Studio 2010 you may not need/want any addon. A lot of the ReSharper features were added into the Visual Studio 2010 core features. ReSharper, CodeRush, etc. have other features above and beyond Visual Studio for sure, but see what's been added vs. what you need. It could be that the core install takes care of what you are interested in now.

I personally use ReSharper 5 still as it has many uses, for me. What each coder finds most important though varies widely. You'll have to test each for yourself, but luckily all the alternatives have trial periods as well.

Peter Mortensen
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Nick Craver
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VSCommands - not an alternative per se, but rather a complementary tool with plenty of unique features not available in ReSharper, CodeRush, and JustCode.

From the website:

IDE Enhancements

* Custom Formatting
      o Build Output
      o Debug Output
      o Search Output
* Solution Properties
      o Manage Reference Paths
      o Manage Project Properties
* Apply Fix
      o File being used by another process
      o [StyleCop][2] warnings
      o Importing .pfx key file was cancelled
* Search Online
* Cancel Build When First Project Fails
* Advanced Zooming

Solution Explorer Enhancements

* Prevent Accidental Drag & Drop
* Prevent Accidental Linked Item Delete
* Group / Ungroup Items
* Show Assembly Details
* Build Startup Projects
* Open Command Prompt
* Open PowerShell
* Locate Source File
* Open File Location
* Show / Hide All Files
* Edit Project / Solution File
* Copy / Paste As Link
* Copy / Paste Reference
* Open In Expression Blend
* Collapse All
* Clean All Build Configurations

Debugging Assistance

* Attach To Local IIS
* Debug As Administrator
* Debug As Normal user
* Debug As Different user

Code Assistance

* Create Code Contract
Peter Mortensen
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iggi123
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  • VS Commands for VS 2015 is now dead :-( ... https://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/c84be782-b1f1-4f6b-85bb-945ebc852aa1 – bytedev Sep 28 '16 at 08:50
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CodeRush. Also, Scott Hanselman has a nice post comparing them, ReSharper vs. CodeRush.

A more up-to-date comparison is in Coderush vs Resharper by Jason Irwin.

Peter Mortensen
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Neil Knight
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    That article is 6 years old. I'm sure both products have moved on enough that the comparison isn't entirely valid anymore. – Adam Lear May 14 '10 at 13:33
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Visual Assist X.

Brian
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    +1, an omission in my answer. And you made your own answer community wiki? Now that's community. I'm going to look at our other answers and get you some dang reputation for this. . . – Patrick Karcher May 14 '10 at 15:43
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    @Patrick: I feel like voting will be based on what people consider the quality of the tools. Good tools *should* be at the top, but I don't think that warrants reputation. – Brian May 14 '10 at 18:10
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There's also JustCode from Telerik.

Adam Lear
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I think that CodeRush has a free, limited version, too. I ended up going with ReSharper, and I still recommend it, even though some of the functionality is in Visual Studio 2010. There are just some things that make it worth it.

Keep in mind that you don't need the full ReSharper license if you only code in one language. I have the C# version, and it's cheaper.

Peter Mortensen
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adimauro
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3

There is BrockSoft VSAid. This is mainly used for finding files in a solution.

Peter Mortensen
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Riain McAtamney
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