See what's new in VA 2025.5 (Visual Studio 2026 support)

Write and navigate C++ at the speed of thought.

Visual Assist supercharges Visual Studio with instant navigation, real-time code analysis, smarter refactoring, and a unique parallel parser that understands even massive C++ codebases for instant, contextual results.

Download now
Available on Visual Studio
Instant Navigation Find what you need fast
One-click refactoring Modernize and maintain code
Unreal Engine optimized Features for game developers
Stay in flow Stays out of your way
Safer code Detects and corrects code issues
Introducing Visual Assist for Visual Studio
9.6 / Quality of Support 9.7 / Ease of Use 1.5m / Downloads

Main benefits

All-in-one productivity toolkit

Speed and responsiveness that scales with your C++ project
Speed and responsiveness that scales with your C++ project
Visual Assist's parallel parsing engine handles the scale and complexity that native IntelliSense can't. Instantly navigate million-line projects like Unreal code bases. No lag, no indexing delays, no crashes. Stay in flow, even in projects where Visual Studio slows to a crawl.
Instant results. No indexing delays.
Instant results. No indexing delays.
Context-aware, always ready project navigations.
Context-aware, always ready project navigations.
Visual Assist understands your code contextually – tracking connections across your entire codebase as you type. Find symbols, references, and definitions instantly, with accuracy that doesn't degrade when IntelliSense lags or breaks. Always ready, always reliable.
Get contextual assistance from anywhere. Even as you type.
Get contextual assistance from anywhere. Even as you type.
Optimized for Unreal Engine's massive C++ architecture
Optimized for Unreal Engine's massive C++ architecture
Your tool works best when it actually understands the engine. VA is tailor-made for the large Unreal Engine codebases, macros, and generated structures. Get helpful context and navigation as you code, making UE development feel more natural without breaking your flow.
VA’s Find References dialog understands Unreal Engine’s C++ and Blueprint’s class inheritance system.
VA’s Find References dialog understands Unreal Engine’s C++ and Blueprint’s class inheritance system.
Navigate anywhere, instantly
Navigate anywhere, instantly
Stop wasting hours tabbing through files. Open any class, jump to any symbol, or find every reference in your codebase with just a few keystrokes—even in massive projects like Unreal Engine. No more "sorry, it took all day to find this symbol." Just instant navigation that keeps you in flow.
Minimize context switching with accessible GoTo and Find Symbol dialogs.
Minimize context switching with accessible GoTo and Find Symbol dialogs.
Confidently refactor at scale
Confidently refactor at scale
Confidently rename a variable across 200 files. Restructure a function used in dozens of places. Extract messy code into clean methods. Code inspections flag outdated practices to help adopt modern C++ safety standards. What would take hours manually happens in seconds—and it works across your entire solution.
Confidently rename a symbol across your entire solution—no matter the project size.
Confidently rename a symbol across your entire solution—no matter the project size.
Skip the repetitive typing
Skip the repetitive typing
Write a class declaration and instantly generate all the function definitions. Missing an include? Add it with one click. Visual Assist handles the mechanical, repetitive parts of C++ so you can focus on solving problems. No more copying syntax from old files or hunting down the right header path.
Easily set up implementation stubs for methods in a class declaration. Parameters between declarations and implementations will consistently follow user preferences.
Easily set up implementation stubs for methods in a class declaration. Parameters between declarations and implementations will consistently follow user preferences.
Detects code issues and automatically suggests fixes
Detects code issues and automatically suggests fixes
Using a parallel parsing engine, Visual Assist uses contextual hints and code checkers to not only ensure that your code builds, but also follows the safest C++ coding conventions.
VA automatically detects the missing include directive and offers to add it in a single click.
VA automatically detects the missing include directive and offers to add it in a single click.
Works on non-compiling, unbuildable code
Works on non-compiling, unbuildable code
Unlike IntelliSense and other plugins, VA’s non-compiling parser keeps refactoring, navigation, and search running smoothly—even with broken code, half-written declarations, and mid-refactor changes.
VA’s navigations and code checkers still function regardless of the errors present in the code. 
VA’s navigations and code checkers still function regardless of the errors present in the code. 
See all features

Read what our users say about us

Read more reviews

Academic license program

Visual Assist for Education

Free
Students
Free
Students and learners with verified educational email addresses are eligible for a complimentary license of Visual Assist. Check with your university or program if they have existing packages with Whole Tomato and they can provide you free access.
Get to know more
Sponsored
Teachers / Institutions
Sponsored
Looking to share Visual Assist to your class or department? Teachers, instructors, and educational institutions can get a number of tiered package options to help get your students set up.
Get to know more

Learn more about Visual Assist

Starting out

Top 10 Visual Assist features

Discover the ultimate guide to boosting your coding efficiency. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, this offers practical insights to help you harness Visual Assist’s full potential.

Learn by watching

Visit our YouTube channel

Explore tutorials, and in-depth guides to enhance your coding skills, featuring everything from beginner basics to advanced features. Perfect for developers looking to optimize their workflow!

Explore in depth

Visual Assist Documentation

The Visual Studio documentation serves as a strategic resource for developers, offering a high-level overview of the toll’s capabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Visual Assist and the built in Intellisense tooling share a few common features. Where we share features, VA frequently operate much faster and do a better job of giving you the correct results (e.g. finding more references that Visual Studio would miss).

Also, the Visual Studio UI can arguably complicate some dialog boxes for simple tasks.

An example is the Visual Studio unified search, which operates like the search bar in the operating system wherein everything is shown. In contrast, VA uses different search dialogs for each type of search, each with features specific to that kind of search and without displaying results you aren’t interested in.

Visual Assist (VA) is a coding productivity plugin for C++ and C# developers who work in Visual Studio. Visual Assist has its own code parser, separate from the built in Intellisense parser. This provides all of the features one would expect from a modern IDE and many more.

These features include tools for Navigation, Refactoring, Debugging Assistance and Automatic Code Modernization with Code Inspections. VA also offer special support and tooling for Unreal Engine, Unity, Graphics Card “Shaders” and CUDA.

Yes! We have special licenses for students and teachers. Visit this page to learn more.

As with any tool, how useful it is depends on how much you intend to use it. VA enhances productivity by improving Visual Studio’s default features or by adding new ones absent from the IDE.

Some users focus on a few features, while some take the time to try out all the features. There are many options available to you with all of them aimed at making you code faster, easier, and making the experience less frustrating.

Read this blog to learn more about the value VA provides

Developers using Microsoft’s Visual Studio to develop and code using C, C# and C++ will benefit from using VA.

There has been a focus on C++ game development (Unreal Engine) wherein the added support and tooling is most needed. Recent updates have also added support and tooling for Unity Engine, Graphics Card “Shaders” and CUDA development.

Try Visual Assist for free

Try a fully functional trial of Visual Assist for 30 days. No reinstallation or reconfigurations required if you purchase.

Download Now