GNU Emacs vs. PyCharm

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
GNU Emacs
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
GNU Emacs is described as a free extensible and customizable text editor for the Lisp programming language.N/A
PyCharm
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
PyCharm is an extensive Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Python developers. Its arsenal includes intelligent code completion, error detection, and rapid problem-solving features, all of which aim to bolster efficiency. The product supports programmers in composing orderly and maintainable code by offering PEP8 checks, testing assistance, intelligent refactorings, and inspections. Moreover, it caters to web development frameworks like Django and Flask by providing framework…
$99
per year per user
Pricing
GNU EmacsPyCharm
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
For Individuals
$99
per year per user
All Products Pack for Organizations
$249
per year per user
All Products Pack for Individuals
$289
per year per user
For Organizations
$779
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GNU EmacsPyCharm
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GNU EmacsPyCharm
Best Alternatives
GNU EmacsPyCharm
Small Businesses
BBEdit
BBEdit
Score 9.1 out of 10
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Score 9.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Vim
Vim
Score 8.3 out of 10
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Vim
Vim
Score 8.3 out of 10
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Score 9.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GNU EmacsPyCharm
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
GNU EmacsPyCharm
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are willing to put in a little time to learn how GNU Emacs works, it can be an extremely powerful and versatile editing tool, as well as being used for almost any kind of text searching, replacing, or processing. Using Org-mode alone is worth learning Emacs. Once you learn the basics, they can be applied and used in all areas that you would use Emacs for. If you want a text editor and information tool that you can use for almost everything, then the learning curve is worth it. If you want simple text editor for editing small files, then Emacs may be overkill.
Read full review
It's easy to create virtual environments and install packages for different projects as we may need project-specific packages for doing our experiments, also it's easy to see what changes we have made and create pull requests faster. But sometimes we want some light python editor like Jupiter notebook as PyCharm is relatively heavier, also Jupiter notebooks are a good option when we need to run remote code on local machines.
Read full review
Pros
  • Readily available: Emacs is available on almost all operating systems. You can use it for free, and even use it for remote editing. It has a nice desktop application that anyone can use, even the ordinary user.
  • Lightweight application: Although it hasn't always been, Emacs is now a very lightweight, efficient editor that isn't going to demand much CPU power. This can be crucial for large-scale applications.
  • Easy learning curve: for complex editors, Emacs is one of the easier to get a handle on. There's good documentation, and an easy layout that makes figuring out how it works much easier than others.
Read full review
  • Git integration is really essential as it allows anyone to visually see the local and remote changes, compare revisions without the need for complex commands.
  • Complex debugging tools are basked into the IDE. Controls like break on exception are sometimes very helpful to identify errors quickly.
  • Multiple runtimes - Python, Flask, Django, Docker are native the to IDE. This makes development and debugging and even more seamless.
  • Integrates with Jupyter and Markdown files as well. Side by side rendering and editing makes it simple to develop such files.
Read full review
Cons
  • Shortcuts are not standard.
  • Sometimes certain key combinations puts it into an unfamiliar state.
Read full review
  • PyCharm text editor automatically inserts whitespace at the end of each line which can cause issues when doing text comparisons.
  • The package requirement checker and installer does not work well all the time and can be improved
  • Integration with GitLab pipelines can be made better.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
It's perfect for our needs, cuts development time, is really helpful for newbies to understand projects structure
Read full review
Usability
No answers on this topic
It's pretty easy to use, but if it's your first time using it, you need time to adapt. Nevertheless, it has a lot of options, and everything is pretty easy to find. The console has a lot of advantages and lets you accelerate your development from the first day.
Read full review
Support Rating
Since Emacs is free software, support comes from online forums, and online searches. I have always been able to find an answer to any question I've had, as well as "How do I do XXX in Emacs?". I've found Emacs users in general are very willing to help others who are learning Emacs and to share what they have already done with Emacs.
Read full review
I rate 10/10 because I have never needed a direct customer support from the JetBrains so far. Whenever and for whatever kind of problems I came across, I have been able to resolve it within the internet community, simply by Googling because turns out most of the time, it was me who lacked the proper information to use the IDE or simply make the proper configuration. I have never came across a bug in PyCharm either so it deserves 10/10 for overall support
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Emacs can be easier to use than Vim as it is more similar to modern text editors. Its graphical interface is also better than anything Vim has to offer. Emacs also has better syntax highlighting and recognition of coding languages. Interestingly, Emacs handles clipboard copy and pasting into other programs a lot better than Vim does. Overall, if you know how to use Emacs, it is often preferred over Vim.
Read full review
It is more complete and can handle more projects at the same time. On the other hand, Visual Studio Code has better integration with LMS to help you code. PyCharm allows you to integrate with many external tools and external servers that Visual Studio Code has difficulties with.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Overall, the ROI of Emacs has stemmed around its nature as a free, open source product. Usability is high, so when you use it you are more productive, but if you are unfamiliar with it, you will be less productive to start.
  • Emacs is more than just an IDE. It includes IDE-like functionality, but it is really much more than an IDE.
  • Emacs makes it easy for me to work in my environment, in a fashion to which I have become accustomed over the last 30+ years. It is more suited to the professional who has used it before.
Read full review
  • Improved efficiency with coding assistance (templates, code completion, documentation), which helps us avoid 'reinventing the wheel' with new projects.
  • Extensive support for other packages/integrations: Docker support to test code, Git repo creation (for version control), and integration with different database systems (Postgres, MySQL).
Read full review
ScreenShots