JetBrains Rider
Cross-platform JetBrains IDE for .NET, C#, F#, and Unreal Engine development.
HN commenters like it for C# and F# development on macOS and Linux1234, and as a snappier alternative to Visual Studio and VS Code.567 The most common complaint is declining release quality, with new bugs in updates,89 plus an unwanted push toward JetBrains' own AI tools.1011
Why people recommend it
Cross-platform .NET · 3
Commenters use it daily for .NET work on macOS and Linux without problems.
“I use Rider† daily to write F# and C# on my Mac. It works great, I have no issues with it.”
“I use Rider instead of Visual Studio.”
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“I use Rider as IDE, but there are multiple other options.”
Beats VS/VS Code · 3
Several switched from Visual Studio or VS Code and found it better for C#.
“I recently switched from VS Code to JetBrains Rider and I think the latter is much better for C#.”
“I convinced my boss to let us try Rider, it was incredible”
Show 1 more
“I use Rider instead of Visual Studio.”
F# support · 2
F# developers called it one of the best IDEs for the language.
“I use Rider† daily to write F# and C# on my Mac. It works great, I have no issues with it.”
“I've felt the quality has gone downhill ever since I first started paying for it.”
Faster project loading · 2
One user said it loaded projects far faster than Visual Studio on weak laptops.
“I convinced my boss to let us try Rider, it was incredible”
Unreal C++ · 1
A C++ Unreal developer said they love using it for that work.
“I've been using that for C++ Unreal development and absolutely love it.”
Batteries included · 1
A former Neovim user valued its discoverable, ready-to-use environment over a fragile custom setup.
“learning how to do what I wanted to do in a well-designed batteries-included environment had a much bigger payoff”
Caveats and dissent
Declining quality · 2
Longtime users report new bugs with each release and canceled subscriptions over it.
“I've felt the quality has gone downhill ever since I first started paying for it.”
AI push · 2
Users disliked the push toward JetBrains AI tools and losing bring-your-own-model options such as Codex.
“Rider was my IDE for years until they started pushing their AI tools while not letting you bring your own models.”
“I've felt the quality has gone downhill ever since I first started paying for it.”
Memory tuning · 1
One user had to give the JVM more RAM to make it snappy and said it feels slower than some other apps.
Still need VS · 2
Some users still have to switch to Visual Studio for certain tasks.
“I use Rider but need VS for some things.”
“I use Rider and VS”
Learning curve · 2
A switcher from Neovim noted a learning curve, and a Windows .NET developer never got along with it.
“learning how to do what I wanted to do in a well-designed batteries-included environment had a much bigger payoff”
“I’ve tried Ryder/VS code for .net development but never really got along with them”
Often compared with
2 moved from Visual Studio to JetBrains Rider
1 moved from Neovim to JetBrains Rider
2 moved from JetBrains Rider to Neovim
1 moved from Visual Studio Code to JetBrains Rider
1 moved from JetBrains Rider to Visual Studio Code
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025 2 mentions
- No More JetBrains Products for Me 2 mentions
- .NET 10 2 mentions
- ThinkRail from JetBrains 1 mention
- JetBrains Air: A System of Products for Agentic Software Development 1 mention
- Performance Improvements in .NET 11 1 mention
Also written as JetBrains Rider. Data: jetbrains-rider.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 17
“I still use Rider”
“I've felt the quality has gone downhill ever since I first started paying for it.”
“I use Rider but need VS for some things.”
“Rider was my IDE for years until they started pushing their AI tools while not letting you bring your own models.”
“I use Rider instead of Visual Studio.”
“Instead I used Codex with JetBrains Rider (doing a C# project) and it worked flawlessly.”
“learning how to do what I wanted to do in a well-designed batteries-included environment had a much bigger payoff”
“I've been using that for C++ Unreal development and absolutely love it.”
“I use Rider a lot.”
“I convinced my boss to let us try Rider, it was incredible”
“other than maybe Rider but that's due to C# nuances I needed to work with”
“I’ve tried Ryder/VS code for .net development but never really got along with them”
“I use Rider and VS”
“I recently switched from VS Code to JetBrains Rider and I think the latter is much better for C#.”
“I use Rider as IDE, but there are multiple other options.”
“I use Linux on my desktop and Rider for my IDE”
“I use Rider† daily to write F# and C# on my Mac. It works great, I have no issues with it.”