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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IntelliJ IDEA

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AIntelliJ IDEA is an IDE that aims to give Java and Kotlin developers everything they need out of the box, including a smart code editor, built-in developer tools, framework support, database support, web development support, and much more.

    $19.90

    per month

    Visual Studio

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/AVisual Studio (now in the 2022 edition) is a 64-bit IDE that makes it easier to work with bigger projects and complex workloads, boasting a fluid and responsive experience for users. The IDE features IntelliCode, its automatic code completion tools that understand code context and that can complete up to a whole line at once to drive accurate and confident coding.

    $45

    per month

    Pricing
    IntelliJ IDEAVisual Studio
    Editions & Modules
    For Individual Use (Monthly billing)
    $19.90
    per month
    For Organizations (Monthly billing)
    $71.90
    per month
    For Individual Use (Yearly billing)
    $199
    per year
    For Organizations (Yearly billing)
    $719
    per year
    Professional
    $45.00
    per month
    Enterprise
    $250.00
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IntelliJ IDEAVisual Studio
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsAll Products Pack (For Individual Use) – $299 /1st year, $ 239 /2nd year and $ 179 /3d year onwards All Products Pack (For Organizations) – $979 / year—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IntelliJ IDEAVisual Studio
    Considered Both Products
    JetBrains
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    Back in the day, there weren't too many PHP IDEs with proper syntax and code checks, but PHPStorm and IDEA worked great. So great that when I needed a Java IDE the next time, I gave it a go and have never looked back since (okay, I did keep checking the competition and …
    Incentivized
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    IntelliJ stacks better against Eclipse or vs code because it provides better code suggestions, out-of-the-box SonarLint integration, and built-in support for version control with git. It also has a vast collection of plugins that can increase developer productivity, reduce …
    Incentivized
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    IntelliJ IDEA is the most specific and oriented towards my line of work, however, after using it for years - it's also my preferred IDE that I use for personal projects as well. Jetbrains other IDE offerings are almost as good and I do use them from time to time but IntelliJ …
    Incentivized
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    IntelliJ IDEA has several benefits over vs code when it comes to Java applications, including in-built Java compilers, Maven lifecycle support, Lombok preprocessing, and sonar integration. While vs code is largely generic, IntelliJ IDEA has focused primarily on Java …
    Incentivized
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    IntelliJ has the richest and most complete set of features out of all the IDEs I've tried. There is the most compatibility across different languages and caters to different compilation strategies. The updates come very regularly, so we know that the product is constantly …
    Incentivized
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    UI--IntelliJ IDEA is the winner.
    IntelliSense--Again, IntelliJ IDEA is the winner.
    Performance and CPU usage - IntelliJ IDEA has a lot of room to improve on this. Eclipse handle the large projects more effectively than IntelliJ IDEA.
    Incentivized
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    IntelliJ surpassed every single competitor. The only viable alternative I still use is VisualStudio Code build in a browser for demo purposes... other than that, IDEA does everything better, faster, and in a more comfy way. This is the best IDE out there. This is just as good …
    Incentivized
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    For allowing me to modify to my own taste my graphic interface as my preferential option, in addition to having a wide field for high caliber project in any programming language.
    Incentivized
    Chose IntelliJ IDEA
    I selected IntelliJ IDEA over Eclipse and NetBeans because of the easy to use interface, great customizable features, and it comes with features for the development of Android applications. It is the most stable IDE among the 3, it has never crashed since the moment that I have …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Visual Studio
    IntelliJ IDEA is also a development IDE, but it is much more limited. The tools and methods of execution and debugging are much more complex, and there is not much support.
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    I selected Visual Studio IDE because of its fast syntax analysis capabilities, the ease of which I can install, update and remove packages from my application. The IDE comes with an integrated SVC plugin which allows the fast synchronization of my code. NetBeans falls down in …
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    It's a well [maintained], mature IDE, which has the benefit of being a [software] which only the most skilled developers works on, instead of being open source. It has a lot of very useful features, which most free IDE-s don't. Also, it has many options from commercial …
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    Some of the editors are suitable for a particular programming language . For example PyCharm is suited for Python .
    Visual Studio has support for many languages and Visual Studio is comparatively light weight from most of the IDE . The ability to get extensions and use them is …
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    The main reason why we can't choose the Visual Studio IDE is that the entity framework provides excellent solutions. Besides, there is a very strong community of users. The Visual Studio IDE has a very user-friendly display. Creating functions and creating classes is much more …
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    No added value. If Visual Studio costs too much then I see the point. But otherwise there is just no need for any other tool. IntelliJ is a mess, buggy and counter intuitive. Or maybe it's because java is not a particularly cool language...
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    Both are good but for Microsoft, you need to use Visual Studio IDE.
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    Because it is the product that offers the most stable synchronization and compatibility in the market with Windows OS, in addition to a graphic environment and a variety of fundamental advanced options.
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    Also VSCode; these are all IDE that support the creation of web APIs and web applications; and it can support C# (for example VSCode) but Visual Studio IDE has a better set of integrated tools in the same environment. A developer adopts it very naturally, so a person can be …
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    Visual Studio can do what all of these alternatives can do and does them well. PowerApps is RAD and you just can't tweak apps like you can in Visual Studio. Xamarin is now supported in Visual Studio and IntelliJ is javascript which you can create inside of Visual Studio. Would …
    Incentivized
    Chose Visual Studio
    It was better integrated with technologies we used, worked more reliably, had better IntelliSense.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    30 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    27 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    90%
    Delivers good value for the price
    26 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    27 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    31 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    22 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    22 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    29 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    25 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    IntelliJ IDEAVisual Studio
    Small Businesses
    Visual Studio
    Score9.1 out of 10
    IntelliJ IDEA
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    PyCharm
    Score9.3 out of 10
    PyCharm
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    WebStorm
    Score9.6 out of 10
    WebStorm
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IntelliJ IDEAVisual Studio
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.7
    (59 ratings)
    9.0
    (105 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (8 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    8.8
    (15 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IntelliJ IDEAVisual Studio
    Likelihood to Recommend
    JetBrains
    This is a superb tool if your project involves a lot of backend development, especially in Java/Spring Boot and Kotlin. The support for the front end is great as well, but some developers may prefer to use the GitHub copilot add-on. I especially love using the GitHub copilot add-on. It may be less appropriate if your project requires heavy use of HotSwaps for backend debugging, as sometimes the support for that can be limited.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    It's useful for app development, debugging, and testing. I've been using it for two years and have seen it grow into a fantastic tool. All of the features, NuGet packages, and settings that enable different types of projects are fantastic. It also has a connection to Azure DevOps and Git. It's a fantastic product that's simple to use.
    Read full review
    Pros
    JetBrains
    • Unit testing: Fully integrated into IntelliJ IDEA. Your unit tests will run smoothly and efficiently, with excellent debugging tools for when things get tricky.
    • Spring integration: Our Spring project using Maven works flawlessly in IntelliJ IDEA. I know firsthand that Apache is also easily and readily supported too. The integration is seamless and very easy to set up using IntelliJ IDEA's set up wizard when importing new projects.
    • Customization: IntelliJ IDEA comes out of the box with a bunch of handy shortcuts, as well as text prediction, syntax error detection, and other tools to help keep your code clean. But even better is that it allows for total customization of shortcuts you can easily create to suit your needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Since Microsoft offers a free Community Edition of the IDE many of our new developers have used it at home or school and are very familiar with the user interface, requiring little training to move up to the paid, enterprise-friendly editions we use.
    • The online community support for Visual Studio is outstanding, as solid or better than any other commercial or open-source project software.
    • Microsoft continuously keeps the product up to date and has maintained a history of doing so. They use it internally for their own development so there is little chance it will ever fall out of favor and become unsupported.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    JetBrains
    • Finding if a feature exists or not in IntelliJ IDEA can be challenging.
    • For example, if we know how to format a particular file, the command is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L, but if we don't, then finding it is difficult.
    • Setting up a project interpreter and directory structure might not be intuitive at first.
    • Git integration can be improved. For example, it isn't easy to rebase using UI in IntelliJ IDEA.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Certain settings and features can sometimes be challenging to locate. The interface isn't always intuitive.
    • Sometimes there are too many ways to do the same thing. For example, users can quickly add a new workspace in Source Control Explorer when a local path shows as "Not Mapped," but it doesn't indicate that the user might want to check the dropdown list of workspaces. The shortcut of creating a new workspace by clicking on the "Not Mapped" link can lead to developers creating too many workspaces and causing workspace management to become unwieldy. If the shortcut link were removed, the user would be forced to use the Workspace dropdown. While it can add an extra step to the process, workspaces would be managed more easily, and this would enforce consistency. At the very least, there should be a high-level administrative setting to hide the shortcut link.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    JetBrains
    VS Code is maturing and has a Scala plugin now. The overall experience with VS Code - for web development at least - is very snappy/fast. IntelliJ feels a bit sluggish in comparison. If that Scala plugin for VS Code is deemed mature enough - we may not bother renewing and resort to the Community Edition if we need it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    VS is the best and is required for building Microsoft applications. The quality and usefulness of the product far out-weight the licensing costs associated with it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    JetBrains
    There is always room for improvement, but I haven't met any IDE that I liked more so far. Even if it did not fit a use case right out of the box, there is always a way to configure how it works to do just that.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    The thing I like the most is Visual Studio doesn't suffer from Microsoft's over eager marketing department who feel they need to redesign the UI (think Office and windows) which forces users to loose large amounts of productivity having to learn software that they had previously known.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    JetBrains
    Customer support is really good in the case of IntelliJ. If you are paying for this product then, the company makes sure that you will get all the services adequately. Regular update patches are provided to improve the IDE. An online bug report makes it easier for the developers to find the solution as fast as possible. The large online community also helps to find the various solutions to the issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Between online forums like StackOverflow, online documentation, MSDN forums, and the customer support options, I find it very easy to get support for Visual Studio IDE when I need it. If desired, one can also download the MSDN documentation about the IDE and have it readily available for any support needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    JetBrains
    This installs just like any other application - its pretty straight forward. Perhaps licensing could be more challenging - but if you use the cloud licensing they offer its as simple as having engineers login to the application and it just works.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    JetBrains
    Eclipse is just so old, like a dinosaur, compared to IntelliJ. There are still formats that Eclipse supports better, especially old and/or propriety ones. Still, most of the modern software development needs can be done on IntelliJ, & in a much better way, some of them are not even supported on Eclipse.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    I personally feel Visual Studio IDE has [a] better interface and [is more] user friendly than other IDEs. It has better code maintainability and intellisense. Its inbuilt team foundation server help coders to check on their code then and go. Better nugget package management, quality testing and gives features to extract TRX file as result of testing which includes all the summary of each test case.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    JetBrains
    • Easier to find bugs and debugs, thus reducing man hours and generating immediate dollar impact.
    • Coding time is lessened, which in turn again reduces man hours and generates immediate dollar impact.
    • Refactoring code is more innovative and easy here, resulting in more maintainable code.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • We've had hundreds of hours saved by the rapid development that Visual Studio provides.
    • We've lost some time in the Xamarin updates. However, being cross platform, we ultimately saved tons of time not having to create separate apps for iOS and Android.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IntelliJ IDEA Screenshots

    Screenshot of IntelliJ IDEA interface overview: the Project tool window (left) outlines the code structure and the Editor (right) is used to read, write, and explore the source code.Screenshot of IntelliJ IDEA analyzing the context. It then suggests the most applicable and relevant code.Screenshot of the Search Everywhere window, where users can search for files, actions, classes, symbols, settings, UI elements, and anything in Git, all from a single entry point.Screenshot of inspections to help find probable bugs and dead code, detect performance issues, and improve the overall code structure by providing quick-fixes for any code that contains potential concerns.Screenshot of IntelliJ IDEA's support for frameworks with dedicated assistance for Jakarta EE, JPA, Reactor, Spring and Spring Boot, and other popular frameworks.Screenshot of the AI Assistant that provides features for software development. It can explain code, answer questions about code fragments, provide code suggestions, generate documentation, and commit messages.