Atmel Studio (now Microchip Studio) is not only free but still the best environment for professional AVR development. The “free download” story ends happily: no hidden costs, no malware, no expired trials. Just go to Microchip’s official site, download version 7.0.2594 or later, and ignore the impostor sites.
The Last Free IDE: How I Rescued My Old ATmega Project Atmel Studio Free Download
I navigated to the official Microchip website. The URL looked legit: www.microchip.com . I searched for “Microchip Studio.” There it was—a clean product page describing the exact same features: the GCC compiler, the simulator, the debugger interface for tools like Atmel-ICE and the humble SNAP programmer. Atmel Studio (now Microchip Studio) is not only