Why VA is faster: it's written in C++
ReSharper is written natively in C#. To analyze C++ source code, it uses a translation layer - which adds processing overhead and creates friction with code C++ developers work with daily: macros, templates, partial builds, legacy codebases that don't compile cleanly.
Visual Assist is written natively in C++. No translation step. The parser processes your source in the same language it's written in - faster indexing, better accuracy on macro-heavy code, and minimal impact on IDE startup and RAM usage. VA also works when your code doesn't: partial builds, broken code, and mid-edit state don't disable features the way they can with ReSharper's analysis engine.
The difference compounds at scale. In testing on the Unreal Engine Lyra sample project, VA found all TOptional references in under 9 minutes. ReSharper found a third of the same references in 30 minutes. VA's parallel parser keeps the IDE responsive while analysis runs - rather than the freezes and hangs ReSharper users report as the index processes.
Visual Assist is also the only product we make. ReSharper is one part of a large JetBrains ecosystem. That focus shows up in how quickly VA addresses C++ pain points, how tightly it integrates with Visual Studio, and how much of the feature set is actually relevant to C++ work.