Xamarin has integrated its cross-platform development tools with Microsoft’s Visual Studio Community 2013, allowing developers to build native Android and iOS apps for free.

The integration between Visual Studio Community and Xamarin’s Starter edition will be available in the coming weeks, the company said in a blog post Wednesday. Xamarin is also doubling the size limit on apps that can be created with Starter, so that developers can build even more capable apps for free.

Previously, developers had to pay for Visual Studio and at least Xamarin’s Business edition, which costs US$83 per month, user and platform.

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