Compare MPLAB XC Compiler Free vs. PRO Licenses

When you download an MPLAB XC C compiler from the Microchip website, the compiler executes as a PRO license for 60 days and then reverts to a Free license. You can purchase the PRO license if you want to continue to use the most optimizations.

Figure 1. Optimization Levels per License

To determine if you need to buy a PRO license, you can run a comparison tool for your application in MPLAB X IDE. On the Run toolbar, you can select to either “Build with PRO comparison” or “Clean and Build with PRO comparison.” An example output is below.

Note: If your code it too large to build in Free mode, the comparison will not work. However, for the MPLAB XC8 compiler, you can use the --MAXIPIC option and try again.

These options build the project normally, in whatever optimization is selected, but also create a non-working PRO build and then compare the two results. You still get the original build as the output. Any parts of the PRO build are removed.

Figure 2. PRO Comparison