The MPLAB IDE is free and supports all PIC products. It also includes a free simulator for all products along with free lite versions of the C compiler for all PICs. These lite versions allow C code development for a small program and can be used quite well for evaluation purposes. C compilers are available from Microchip for all 16- and 32-bit devices. Hi-Tech is now part of Microchip, so extensive C support on all PIC16 and PIC18 devices is now available. Many 3rd party C compilers and RTOSs are also available for Microchip’s 16 and 32-bit products.