IntelliJ IDEA Reviews in September 2026: User Ratings, Pros & Cons

The best IDE, no "but

What do you like best? IntelliJ IDEA has an impressive amount of features. I used it mainly for Java and Kotlin, but also for Web development, NodeJS, etc. It's Darcula theme is gorgeous, it's fast, efficient and supports dozens of languages, technologies and tools. While you can discuss about if IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition is better than Eclipse and Netbeans (spoiler: it is, you can compare IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Edition to any alternative. It's far better than anything else. What ...

It does most of the work for you if you're coding in Java :)

What do you like best? In-built shell support Git integration Decompiler for Java .class files Easy to remember shortcuts Native gradle support Auto-complete, warnings, data-flow analysis Syntax highlighting for every single language there is. What do you dislike? Indexing for a large codebase sometimes takes FOREVER, and you can't do anything when the IDE is indexing. This gets extremely annoying at times My Macbook often overheats when coding and I have to sometimes ...

Advanced developer tools with a beautiful interface

What do you like best? IntelliJ IDEA is packed full of features that optimize both your code and your use of time. Helpful features such as the built-in decompiler and support for the Kotlin language right out of the box make the programming experience easier and more enjoyable. Many new users may find the pricing extremely high, but the quality of the product makes up for that. What do you dislike? The IDE sometimes can be seen consuming a lot of computer resources when working on ...

Great Java IDE

What do you like best? My favorite feature is the built-in refactorings and support for multiple build systems (maven, gradle, ant, etc. What do you dislike? My strongest dislike is that sometimes there are too many options so sometimes finding what I need is hard. Recommendations to others considering the product Try the community edition out before purchase What business problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized? We use this IDE for working on our ...

Powerful, not the fastest nor cheapest

What do you like best? The amount of plugins available. The fact that it supports multiple languages (i.e. HTML, CSS, JS, but also CoffeeScript, or even Golang. What do you dislike? A lot of plugins are reserved for the Enterprise Edition. I dislike the idea of that: having to pay for the (expensive full-version of the software, for *plugins*. It's also not very fast. Recommendations to others considering the product If you're using it commercially, a license is probably well worth ...

Top of the line Java IDE

What do you like best? IntelliJ is an great Java editor. Many are put off by the price (used to be $99/year, now they have a subscription option, but it's a worthwhile investment for any Java developer. it is fast, flexible and has first-class integrations with pretty much any tool in the Java ecosystem. The support is also fantastic. What do you dislike? There's nothing to dislike about it. I guess the number of options is a little bewildering to a new user, but the documentation ...

One of the best IDE

What do you like best? Is one of the best IDE for a lot of programming language (Java, Android, JS and supports several JVM languages like Java, Scala. It has also one of the best intelligent code assistance, inspection and refactoring capabilities. What do you dislike? The integration with plugins could be done better Recommendations to others considering the product If you are using Eclipse with WindowBuilder, it's not easy to What business problems are you solving with the product? ...

Best cross-platform IDE on the market

What do you like best? Developers' dedication to reducing users' routine as much as possible so they could focus on writing code. What do you dislike? The way IDEA is built makes implementing new languages' support harder than emacs/vim/other programmable editor. Another downside is less mainstreamy plugins eventually become unsupported (e.g. Haskforce, PureIdea, Bitbucket etc. Recommendations to others considering the product It pays off most when used against first-class citizen ...

Feature packed IDE for Java, Scala, Groovy and other JVM languages

What do you like best? Provides top-notch experience on all major OSes, Windows, OSX and Linux Supports several JVM languages like Java, Scala, Groovy Intelligent code assistance, inspection and refactoring capabilities Integrates well will the entire toolchain including but not limited: - VCS: git, svn, hg - Build tools: maven, gradle, ant Rich plugin ecosystem adds capabilities like support for other files like Bash, YAML, Highly customizable with keybindings, color themes, ...

IntelliJ invokes memory of SlickEdit from long ago

What do you like best? IntelliJ seems to know what I want to do. It does not come in the way of getting the job done. Intutive code completion! What do you dislike? There isn't anything about IntelliJ that I dislike Recommendations to others considering the product Just try it you will never look back What business problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized? I like writing code again. I am not fighting with the tools even when using WebSphere ...