Development Tools
Development Tools
Move your design from concept to production in record time with Microchip’s award-winning development tools. Our tools work together to provide state of the art debugging for your project with easy-to-use graphical user interfaces in our free MPLAB® X and Atmel Studio Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and our code generation tools. Providing the ultimate ease-of-use experience, Microchip’s line of programmers, debuggers and emulators work seamlessly with our software tools so you can focus on your project. Our development boards help you evaluate the best silicon device for your application, while our line of third party tools round out our comprehensive development tool solutions.
Simple. Flexible.
Microchip’s MPLAB X and Atmel Studio ecosystems provide a variety of embedded design tools to consider for your project that support multiple devices and architectures. MPLAB X tools are compatible with Windows®, Linux® and macOS® operating systems while Atmel Studio tools are compatible with Windows.
AVR® MCU | PIC® MCU | dsPIC® DSC | SAM MCU | xEC* MCU | MPU | $ | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IDEs | MPLAB X IDE | • | • | • | • | • | • | FREE |
MPLAB Xpress | • | • | • | |||||
Atmel Studio | • | • | ||||||
Compilers | MPLAB XC** | • | • | • | • | • | • | FREE |
AVR GCC | • | |||||||
ARM GCC | • | • | ||||||
Configurators | MPLAB Code Configurator | • | • | • | FREE | |||
MPLAB Harmony | •*** | • | • | |||||
Atmel Start | • | • | ||||||
Programmers/ Debuggers | MPLAB REAL ICE™ | • | • | $ | ||||
MPLAB ICD 4 | • | • | • | • | ||||
MPLAB PICkit™ 4 | • | • | • | • | • | |||
MPLAB Snap | • | • | • | • | • | |||
Atmel-ICE | • | • | ||||||
J-32 Debug Probe | •*** | • | • | |||||
Power Debugger | • | • | ||||||
Production | MPLAB IPE | • | • | • | • | FREE IPE | ||
MPLAB PM3**** | • | • | ||||||
* xEC is the CEC/MEC families of devices
** PRO Compiler license available, including subscriptions
*** 32-bit MCUs and MPUs only
**** The MPLAB PM3 also supports Microchip's memory devices
In-Circuit Emulator and Debugger Features
Microchip offers a wide variety of debugger solutions to fit any performance requirements and budget.

Development Boards and Kits
Microchip has over 2,000 development boards and kits spanning hundreds of applications. Reference designs and sample projects are available to help you get started at lightening speed.