Is there a “free” alternative to .NET Reflector? [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Something Better than .NET Reflector?

Possible Duplicate:
Open Source Alternatives to Reflector?

I don't consider this to be a duplicate, as the contact of the other questions is about learning how reflector works, and this question is about coping when reflector stops being free

Now that Red-Gate has said .NET Reflector will no longer be free, is there an alternative that save the pain of getting a purchase order approved?

It seems that jetbrains may be bringing out a tool:

Good news is that we’re preparing a standalone binary-as-a-source application, i.e. a decompiler + assembly browser to explore whatever .NET compiled code is legal to explore. We don’t have any specific date for release, but it’s going to be released this year, and it’s going to be free of charge. And by saying “free”, we actually mean “free”.

Also ilspy is a new open source tool that seems to be making good progress. ILSpy is the open-source .NET assembly browser and decompiler.

Development started after Red Gate announced that the free version of .NET Reflector would cease to exist by end of February 2011.

Cervix

Is a purchase of an indispensable tool that would only cost $35 really that hard to get approved? – Lashing

@Yads or at worse pay out of pocket – Eel

@Yads, I have seen one person that now works for Red-Gate take many months to process a purchase order for not much more. Sometimes getting any purchase order approved is close to impossible, e.g where there is no development manager in post) – Cervix

@Victor, the process of putting software you have paid for yourself on a "work" PC is not always quick and easy. – Cervix

@Ian: you don't have admin access on your computer? JoelTest-- – Quixotic

@Matt, in past jobs I have been told I would be sacked on the spot if I every put software on my develoment PC without going thought all the internal processes - so just having admin rights is not enough! (Some things are hard to find out about at interview) – Cervix

@Barry, I don't think this question is a "exact duplicate" as the contect of the quesion has changed so much. – Cervix

Seems to me they shouldn't have acquired it and promised to keep it free in the first place. RedGate tools used to be a great value, but they just keep nickle-and-diming us.</rant> – Conventioneer

That's an easy million bucks of revenue in June, very hard to pass up. A tool vendor's most important asset is the trust its customers have that they are not going to get screwed after investing time to learn how to use the tool and rely on it. Time bombs are not a great way to gain that trust. This may well end up penny wise, pound foolish. – Chilly

I'd + this up many more times if I could. The question is not about the reasoning behind wanting to find an open source alternative, nor is it a discussion about whether or not what Red Gate did was right. It's a question about alternatives, plain and simple, and the answers should limit themselves to that. – Thanet

@Yads, way to miss the point there. How can we trust that $35 will get you a "perpetual license" when they said in the past it would be free forever? If they lied then, they can lie now too. – Bjorn

@Kyralessa - exactly. It's a "perpetual license" for version 7, not version 8. They've already stated that. What do you want to bet .NET 5 will require v8? – Martainn

Should have a read of this: red-gate.com/MessageBoard/viewtopic.php?t=12735. I've linked to the red-gate site so if they decide it's not appropriate content to be posted they can take it down if they wish. – Gausman

Why was this closed as exact duplicate? One of the linked questions is about learning how ReSharper works, the other (as gauged by the accepted answer) is about disabling the auto-update feature. Neither gives any help regarding alternate tools. – Ironwood

I think this should remain closed as exact duplicate, because both of the linked questions have answers that suggest competing products. If that is not what you want, then this question should have a different title. – Faefaeces

I just tried ILSpy 1.0.0.1000 and it's great! (At least, good enough for me to replace everything I needed in Reflector.) – Dicast

Price Update: The standard version of Red-Gate Reflector is now $70 US. I tried JetBrains dotPeek earlier today and it works quite good. – Milling

Price Update: The standard price is $95 US and the pro is $295 US each with no support, which costs extra, of course. – Enmesh

Answer 1

The old original versions are still free so you can use it. I do not think that there were so many improvements over time that would upgrading make this important.

Biestings

it's only the visual studio integration that is charged... the base - opening assemblies - is still free. – Niu

@Steve: did you read the announcement linked in the question? – Linguiform

A free version will be available for download until the release of Version 7, scheduled for early March. The free version will continue working until May 30, 2011. – Vegetarian

@martinho: sorry I missed that. apologize... so we will have to pay 35$. it's quite cheap for the benefits, as a sharepoint developer. I'll probably pay – Niu

Which old versions? Got a link? – Conventioneer

I remember Lutz Roeder's versions being time bombed too, unless he had much earlier versions that weren't. – Tedra

I've tried opening a v5 reflector and not allowing it to upgrade and it commits suicide. The problem is tho if someone uses it offline and it still commits suicide ... shame :-( – Bcd

@David, the time bomb is not a problem if there is easy free automated updates. – Cervix

@Gausman Ringrose: You are plain wrong, a "time bomb" is always a problem. It forces the user to do something, and they normally would always have that choice. Actually when you think about it, the real reason for the "time bomb" was to do exactly this at some undecided future point. – Anachronism

Answer 2

There's nothing quite as good that I know of.

If you're not willing to shell out $35 for a perpetual license (no upgrade fees, etc.) for a tool as useful as .NET Reflector, you shouldn't be using it to begin with. There's no need for a purchase order, buy yourself a personal copy.

RedGate has been maintaining that tool forever and it's about time they got some revenue from it.

Ethno

Well, not "forever". Since August 2008. Not exactly a lifetime... – Maragretmarala

@Jon @Frederik - There's certainly a flair for the dramatic in there. :-P The point is that they've been doing the community a favor and now they're asking for a little bit in return. It's hardly a bank-breaking fee. – Ethno

How long will the perpetual license be perpetual for? Given we all were lead to think that .NET Reflector would be free for ever. – Cervix

@Gausman - see link - you get that version and minor upgrades. @Justin - the point is the company lied. link – Martainn

Flagged for blatant berating of the asker of a perfectly valid question. – Thanet

-1 Those "tools" over at RedGate don't deserve a dime for pulling this two-faced stunt. They lied to their users and flipped them off. Somewhere Lutz Roeder is shaking his head. – Carolincarolina

Who the hell asked them to "maintain" it? Whom were they doing a favor? They bought it because they wanted to monetize it by creating a fancy expensive version nobody needed. Having sunk a lot of money they can't get back, now they've decided to break their word by charging for the version they'd pledged to keep free. And as Ian says above, we can trust this "perpetual license" crap as far as we can trust their word that it would be free forever. – Bjorn

@Josh @Kyralessa - First, they never promised to keep anything free. Second of all, they bought the source from the author. If they're losing money from it, let them try to recoup it (whether it will work or not is another story). Thirdly, I haven't heard any of you that are calling RedGate "evil" offer any of your time to create an Open Source alternative. You want free software to help you be productive with no willingness to give time or money to help the project. If you're not willing to give either...stop bitching and suck it up. – Ethno

@Justin Niessner: So are you just completely ignoring the simple-talk article, or does "Red Gate will continue to offer the tool for free to the community" not count as a "promise"? As I understand it, a lot of people besides Lutz contributed to the project but never got paid and the promise was a nod towards that. They should keep the promise a release an older version that won't delete itself. We don't want updates for free, we want to use the old, free version. – Conventioneer

@Conventioneer - I'm not ignoring the article, but I sure as hell don't interpret "RedGate will continue to offer the tool for free to the community" to be a promise that means that the tool will be free until the end of time. I will agree, though, that they should release version 6 for free without the timebomb. – Ethno

How can we believe this company anymore? perpetual license , it is a joke. – Hierarchize

Sorry, but it sounds to me like advertisement. The problem is not 35$, the problem for me at least is RedGate. They unnecessary charges much more than they should. I had SmartAssembly earlier, which when acquired by RedGate costs twice for upgrades, the same free Reflector now costs hundreds of dollars. I prefer to stay away from such blood sucking companies. – Juta

As it stands today, the price of reflector is now $132. Are they still honoring their perpetual $35 perpetual license? – Besiege