I'm really confused about my subscription situation. I've been paying $45 a month, but all I want is a license key for Visual Studio 2022. I don't understand why I'm being redirected to this subscription payment, and I can't even find the license key for Visual Studio 2022. Plus, I don't get why I need Azure just to get Visual Studio. Can anyone help me figure out how to link it correctly?
2 Answers
Visual Studio is free for open source and non-commercial projects. But they use a subscription model for billing purposes. Even if you don't use Azure, that’s just how their system is set up. It's a bit annoying, but worth understanding!
When you buy a Visual Studio subscription, the license key is automatically linked to your account. Just log in to Visual Studio, and it should recognize your subscription. If you don't see anything, that could be the issue.
I tried logging in, but it says there's no subscription connected to my account. I've been getting charged for months but just thought I was using the trial version. Turns out I was paying for Azure instead of Visual Studio!
When you originally purchase from the Microsoft Store, it gives you a 25-character product key that needs to be activated and linked to your account on the Visual Studio website.