The best ides, according to hackers

33 ides recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.

All ides

JetBrains IDEsLong-time developers praise JetBrains IDEs for deep code intelligence, refactoring, navigation and debugging, but critics cite heavy resource use, buggy recent updates and clumsy AI integration.233recommend
IntelliJ IDEAThe go-to IDE for Java and Kotlin, praised for built-in refactoring, code navigation and JVM debugging; the common complaint is heavy memory and resource use.206recommend
Microsoft Visual StudioA full Windows IDE praised for its powerful C++ and C# debugger, code navigation and productive WinForms tooling, though many find it slow, bloated and pushy with Copilot.165recommend
DelphiRecommended for building native Windows desktop apps very quickly with a visual drag-and-drop designer, though critics complain about aggressive licensing and a company that lost its way.126recommend
XcodeApple's free IDE, praised by long-time users for strong debugging tools and steadily improving AI agent support, though many find it buggy and tied to recent Macs and macOS.100recommend
JetBrains RiderDevelopers, mostly on .NET, say it is faster and smoother than Visual Studio, especially on Linux and Mac. The most common caveat is subscription-only licensing.68recommend
Lazarus IDEFree, fast native IDE for building small cross-platform desktop apps with Object Pascal; critics say it feels dated and lacks modern IDE features.50recommend
Eclipse IDEFree, plugin-driven IDE praised for Java tooling, refactoring and a business-friendly license. Critics mostly call it slow, heavy and dependent on plugin setup.46recommend
JetBrains PyCharmPraised for deep Python support, debugging and git tools that many say no other IDE matches. Common caveat: slow indexing and heavy resource use on large codebases.38recommend
Android StudioThe official Android IDE, praised for UI layout tooling and its familiar IntelliJ base; critics most often report crashes and bugs in releases.23recommend
JetBrains WebStormPraised for strong JavaScript and TypeScript support, helpful built-in tools and smooth use once set up. Most common caveat: it often feels slow and uses a lot of memory.22recommend
PlatformIORecommended for making embedded firmware easier, with flashing, dependency management and plain-text config files in VS Code. Common caveat: Arduino 3 support lags, so some libraries do not work.22recommend
Arduino IDERecommended for beginners because it skips makefiles and toolchain setup, with an integrated serial port; the most common caveat is that it offers no gradual path to advanced use.22recommend
Qt CreatorFree, cross-platform IDE for Qt and C++ with a working form editor and reliable debugging. One critic finds its code intelligence weaker than clangd.18recommend
JetBrains CLionRecommended for C++ work, where people find its debugging, analysis and out-of-the-box setup better than VS Code with plugins. Critics say it performs slowly and is only tolerable for many.18recommend
PhpStormDevelopers recommend it for code navigation, auto-completion, indexing and built-in database tools, though it is paid and can be slow and memory-hungry.17recommend
JetBrains RustRoverRecommended for fast Rust navigation, debugging and code analysis that people find better than VS Code; the common caveat is heavy memory and CPU use.17recommend
JetBrains GoLandRecommended for strong code analysis, navigation and bundled Go linters. The most common complaint is that it uses a lot of resources.16recommend
NetBeansFree, long-running Java IDE people recommend for its familiar layout and practical tools for everyday and hobby coding; critics often prefer Eclipse.13recommend
code-serverRuns VS Code in a browser on your own server, so any device with a browser can work in it. Critics warn it is memory hungry.13recommend
RStudioFavored as the best R data science IDE, praised for making everything inspectable. Critics find its support for Git and LLM tools weak.12recommend
Mine IDE for Coalton and Common LispPeople recommend it as a fast, friendly IDE for Coalton and Common Lisp, especially for newcomers on Windows. One commenter found it a weird goal for a Common Lisp IDE.11recommend
C++ BuilderRecommended for fast Windows GUI development in C++, with RAD tooling shared with Delphi. Main caveat: it is Windows-only.9recommend
JetBrains All Products PackLong-time subscribers value its refactoring tools and language IDEs, though many say quality, AI integration and value have slipped.8recommend
MercekDesktop IDE for AWS ECS that avoids Electron and uses little memory. Critics find the look generic and AI-styled.8recommend
GambasPeople recommend Gambas as a free, open source Basic-based development environment for quickly building GUIs and standalone programs, with a Visual Basic-like feel.7recommend
RubyMineRecommended as a strong IDE with good autocomplete and easier conflict resolution than editing text markers. Most common caveat: heavy RAM use.7recommend
QNX Self-Hosted Developer DesktopLets developers run QNX on their own desktop, with a non-commercial license again. Critics find the account and download process cumbersome and distrust the license changes.7recommend
Theia IDEFree open-source IDE people see as a different platform; critics say it resembles VS Code with AI added.6recommend
XojoRecommended as the modern successor to REALbasic, a BASIC-based development tool that some developers say works well for them. Critics find it somewhat outdated and expensive.6recommend
TurboKodRecommended as a polished, nostalgic retro-style IDE that people use as a daily driver; the quotes raise no criticisms.6recommend
GNOME BuilderRecommended as a nice-looking Linux IDE that makes it easy to package apps for distribution and ships with GNOME editions.5recommend
PyTogetherA free, real-time collaborative Python IDE aimed at teachers and learners, praised for bringing shared editing to a tool long used alone. Critics note it seems to work mainly on Chromium-based browsers.5recommend