Rider provides rich editing support and code insight for languages used in .NET development, from C#, VB.NET, and F# to ASP.NET Razor syntax, JavaScript, TypeScript, XAML, XML, HTML, CSS, SCSS, JSON, and SQL.

What features are included under the free license?

With the new non-commercial license type, you can enjoy a full-featured IDE that is identical to its paid version. The only difference is in the Code With Me feature – you get Code With Me Community with your free license.

Do RustRover and Aqua have the same conditions for non-commercial use?

Yes, RustRover and Aqua follow the same guidelines for non-commercial use. They previously had slightly different criteria for certain use cases, but we've updated them to align with the licensing model used for WebStorm and Rider.

Which license should I choose if I want to use Rider or WebStorm for both non-commercial and commercial projects?

If you intend to use Rider or WebStorm for commercial development for which you will receive direct or indirect commercial advantage or monetary compensation within the meaning of the definitions provided in the Toolbox Subscription Agreement for Non-Commercial Use, you will need to purchase a commercial subscription (either individual or organizational). This license can then also be used for non-commercial development.

Features

Languages and project types

Rider lets you open, edit, build, run, and debug most kinds of .NET applications, including desktop apps, web apps, libraries, and services (with the exception that debugging UWP applications is not yet supported). Applications that target Mono, such as Unity and Xamarin, are also supported, as well as the latest and greatest .NET Core applications.

Rider supports a lot of languages used in .NET development, including C#, F#, VB.NET, ASP.NET (both ASPX and Razor view engines), XAML, XML, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSON, HTML, CSS, SCSS, LESS, and SQL.

ReSharper + IntelliJ platform

Rider uses UI and multiple features of the IntelliJ platform, which powers IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm, and other JetBrains IDEs. It's cross-platform, familiar to millions of developers, and provides core functionality such as VCS and database support.

On top of that, we add ReSharper features: navigation and search, refactoring, code inspections, quick-fixes, and so on. We have spent 10+ years building a feature set that helps read, write and navigate large .NET codebases, and all this is now available to Rider users.

Designed to be smart and fast

Rider isn't jammed into a 32-bit process, which helps it gain deep insight into your code while still being responsive. Rider opens (and reopens) most solutions with almost zero latency. External changes to solution? Switching Git branches? Not a problem: Rider catches up quickly.

When you edit code, our topmost priority is to make sure that you type as fast as your fingers are trained to, not only as fast as the IDE can process your input.

Works on Windows, macOS and Linux

Rider can run on multiple platforms: Windows, macOS and different breeds of Linux. If you want to edit, build, run or debug Unity or .NET Core applications on a macOS, here's your full-blown IDE.

Intelligent code editor

Rider provides tons of smart code editing features, such as different kinds of code completion, auto-importing namespaces, auto-inserting braces and highlighting matching delimiters, rearranging code, live and postfix templates, controller and action hyperlinks in ASP.NET MVC, a multi-selection mode, gutter icons for inheritance navigation, as well as quick access to refactorings, generation, navigation and context actions.

Killer code analysis

Rider boasts 2200+ live code inspections to help you detect errors and code smells. Over 1000 quick-fixes are available to resolve detected issues individually or in bulk: just hit Alt+Enter to pick one. For a bird's-eye view of errors in your projects, use solution-wide error analysis (SWEA): it will monitor errors in your code base and let you know if anything goes wrong, even you don't have a problematic file open in the text editor.

Navigation and search

Jump to any file, type, or member in your code base in no time, as well as find settings and actions, all with a common Search Everywhere shortcut. You can find usages of any symbol, including cross-language usages and usages in string literals. For contextual navigation, use a single Navigate To shortcut that will take you from a symbol to its base and derived symbols, extension methods or implementations.

Decompiler

Want to know how third-party library code works? No problem with Rider: just use Go to Declaration on a library symbol, and have Rider decompile the library type to C# in a regular editor tab. You can then navigate decompiled code as you normally navigate your source code, as well as find and highlight usages. Sometimes however, decompiling is not even necessary: Rider can fetch source code from source servers such as Microsoft Reference Source Center.

Refactoring

Most of ReSharper's 60+ refactorings are already available in Rider, and its 450+ context actions are all there. You can rename, extract methods, interfaces and classes, move and copy types, use alternative syntax, and a lot more! Look for available refactorings in the Refactor This pop-up, or use context actions that you can access with AltEnter.

Unit testing

Rider lets you run and debug unit tests based on NUnit, xUnit.net or MSTest in applications targeting .NET Framework, .NET Core and Mono. Rider marks test classes and methods with a gutter icon in the editor: click it or use the Alt+Enter menu to run, debug and manage tests. You can explore tests, group them in different ways, break them down into individual sessions, see test output and navigate to source code from stack traces.

Debugging

Rider includes a debugger that works with .NET Framework, Mono and .NET Core applications. You can create multiple debug configurations, attach to external processes, set and manage breakpoints and breakpoint conditions, step into, over and out, run to cursor, set watches, evaluate expressions and explore threads.

Version control

Rider includes support for Git, Subversion, Mercurial, Perforce and TFS out of the box, with more version control systems supported via plugins. In the code editor, local changes are highlighted as you type. Using a dedicated VCS tool window, you can view local, incoming and repository changes, manage changelists, shelve changes for later use, view diff, commit and push. A built-in visual merge tool will help you resolve conflicts, and Rider will even let you know if a file you are working on has been changed after your last update.

Web development

With JetBrains Rider, you can develop modern web, mobile, and desktop applications with JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and Sass support built in. Rider supports Node.js, React, Angular, and Vue.js, integrates with package managers such as Bower, NPM, and Yarn, and provides tight integration with various web development tools. Take advantage of code analysis, code completion, refactorings, debugging, and unit testing capabilities available in Rider for a full-stack web development experience.

Databases and SQL

You can work with SQL and databases without leaving Rider. Connect to databases, edit schemas and table data, run queries, and even analyze schemas with UML diagrams. Rider's rich SQL editor comes with syntax highlighting, smart code completion, on-the-fly code analysis, code formatting and navigation.

Plugins

Rider takes advantage of its roots by supporting a wide array of plugins developed for the IntelliJ platform and ReSharper. In addition to bundled plugins (such as those for VCS, F# and Unity support), you can choose to install more plugins as you need them: when you open a file supported by a plugin that you're not using, Rider will suggest that you install it. For example, plugins are available that support Markdown, .gitignore files and Python scripts.

What's New

Rider 2026.1 brings improved support for the .NET ecosystem and game development workflows, as well as refinements to the overall developer experience. Highlights of this release include:

Any agent, built-in

  • ACP Registry: Browse and install AI agents in one click.
  • Git worktrees: Work in parallel branches and hand one off to an agent while you keep moving in another.

The latest language support

  • C# 14 newness, C# 15 Preview features, and more

.NET support and productivity improvements

  • Support for file-based C# programs
  • NuGet Package Manager Console Preview
  • Viewer for .NET disassemblies

Game development improvements

  • Complete mobile development support for Unreal Engine on Android and iOS
  • CMake support for C++ gaming projects Beta
  • Redesigned Unity Profiler integration
  • Enhanced Godot editor integration

AI

Rider is continuing to evolve as an open platform that allows you to bring your preferred AI tools into your professional development workflows.

In addition to Junie, Claude Agent, and Codex in the AI chat, you can now choose from a wider range of agents, including GitHub Copilot and Cursor, and dozens of external agents supported via the Agent Client Protocol. With the new ACP Registry, you can discover available agents and install them in just one click.

Faster solution loading and code completion

Rider 2026.1 improves performance in areas you notice during everyday work.

Opening solutions and attaching to running processes is now faster thanks to more efficient indexing of the referenced assemblies. Code completion is also more responsive, particularly for import suggestions, helping you stay in flow with fewer interruptions.

Code analysis has also been optimized, contributing to lower overall IDE overhead.

The latest language support

C#

Rider 2026.1 brings improvements to code analysis, new inspections, and support for evolving language features. Enhanced support for C# extension members includes better navigation and refactorings, as well as improved quick-fixes that automatically import missing extension members when needed.

Previous Release Notes:

Junie comes to Rider

Explore a new way to code with Junie, an AI coding agent designed to reduce your workload and increase your end-to-end productivity.

We're building our coding agent with a focus on real-life developer tasks to ensure easier adoption and help you get results you can trust. Junie can execute simple tasks, but it shines when assigned more complex ones. Use Code mode for delegating coding tasks or Ask mode for brainstorming features or new solutions.

Reworked Monitoring tool window

Our reimagined Monitoring tool window makes performance optimization for .NET applications a breeze. It now features interactive charts for CPU usage, memory consumption, and garbage collection activity, and lets you start performance or memory profiling sessions for deeper analysis. On Windows, it can also detect performance bottlenecks automatically! Clicking a finding or selecting a time interval on a chart opens call stack data in the bundled dotTrace profiler and takes you straight to the responsible method in the editor.

OpenTelemetry plugin for Rider

Get runtime observability without leaving your IDE thanks to the new OpenTelemetry plugin! The plugin brings logs and metrics directly into Rider. Navigate from any log entry straight to the responsible code, visualize performance metrics, and see auto-generated architecture diagrams based on your application's flow. This allows you to understand system behavior during development and testing, with no external dashboards required.

Connect external AI clients to Rider with one-click MCP server setup

JetBrains IDEs now support one-click setup for the MCP (Model Context Protocol) Server, making it easy to connect to third-party AI agents. When a compatible client is detected on your machine, your IDE will prompt you to enable the server and auto-configure the connection – no manual setup required.

With this integration, JetBrains IDE capabilities become an intelligent extension to your preferred AI clients, letting you trigger actions like running unit tests, refactoring code, and generating files.

Improved garbage collection and memory consumption

For Rider 2025.2, we've experimented with the ConserveMemory setting responsible for garbage collection in Rider. As a result, peak managed memory consumption has gone down by up to 20% – an improvement that will be particularly noticeable when working with large codebases.

Faster stepping when debugging complex projects

We've improved how Rider handles debugger stepping when local variables or user-defined watches are expensive to evaluate. Previously, costly watches, such as tracking large Unity objects or complex LINQ expressions, could make stepping through code feel sluggish as Rider performed the necessary calculations. Rider now cancels unnecessary evaluations more efficiently, delivering snappy and responsive stepping even in projects with heavy watches.

C# support

Rider 2025.2 brings initial support for the latest additions in C# 14, as well as a range of other improvements to code analysis. Here are some highlights:

  • Extensions Initial support
    • Rider previews support for new C# 14 extension members by providing code completion, code analysis, Find Usages, the Rename refactoring, and more.
  • Partial events and constructors
    • C# 14 continues to extend possibilities of source generation with partial events and constructors. Rider is updated to cover these new use cases.
  • Null-conditional assignments
    • Rider 2025.2 lets you use the new a?.b = c and a?[i] = c patterns to simplify your code while safely handling potential null values.
  • User-defined compound assignment operators
    • Rider now correctly understands and processes user-defined compound assignment operators introduced in C# 14.
  • Ignored preprocessor directives
    • Rider now recognizes the new #! and #: preprocessor directives.

Roslyn code completion support

Rider now supports code completion extensions based on Roslyn's CompletionProvider API. This means NuGet-delivered analyzers can offer intelligent, context-specific code suggestions by plugging into the Roslyn CompletionService.

This enhancement unlocks support for advanced ASP.NET Core completions (like route patterns and embedded language syntax), as well as custom completions from community packages and in-house tools, bringing greater flexibility to your Rider development experience.

Roslyn-based suppressors

Rider now fully supports Roslyn-based suppressors, which eliminate unnecessary warnings with custom logic without cluttering your source files. Unlike traditional [SuppressMessage] attributes or #pragma directives, these suppressors work invisibly in the background. When a diagnostic is suppressed, it simply disappears from your editor and won't disrupt your workflow.

Read the complete release notes here.