Developer tools · ide
Arduino IDE
Recommended 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.
Summarized from 45 comments.
Recommended 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.
- recommend
- 22
- criticize
- 16
- months recommended
- 4 of 13
Why people love it
Beginner-friendly, no makefiles needed · 3
Arduino was a nice beginner friendly IDE for sure that eliminated the need for make files or reading documentation for GCC
Nov 2025 · commentSetting up the toolchain that's not Arduino IDE is a prohibitively high bar for a school child that wants to blink leds.
Dec 2025 · commentThe main reasons I use it are because I don't need to write a makefile, and the integrated serial port.
Nov 2025 · commentSimple, familiar and accessible for newcomers · 5
Arduino IDE was both instantly familiar, and such a breath of fresh air for me back then.
Nov 2025 · commentIMO it would have been way easier if my class used an IDE that was as simple as Arduino
Dec 2025 · commentThe IDE is nice for beginners, which seemed like a major point to Arduino.
Nov 2025 · commentEasy flashing and hardware setup · 2
the software that makes it so easy and straightforward for newcomers to flash programs and experiment the microcontroller
Nov 2025 · commentThe "batteries included" nature of their IDE is remarkable for getting up and running with any random hardware
Nov 2025 · comment
What people warn about
Concerns about corporate control and licensing · 3
I think relying on a corporation to preserve our freedom to code is a bit too optimistic.
Dec 2025 · commentThe "locked in"/captured API and IDE were directly extensions of a language and IDE called Processing.
Nov 2025 · commentwe are forbidden from reverse engineering Arduino SW. That's it, forbidden
Nov 2025 · commentPrefer using a separate editor · 3
you can use an actual editor instead of the arduino "IDE"
Dec 2025 · commentI remember having a harder time setting up a workflow that didn't need me to touch the arduino IDE.
Dec 2025 · commentWriting Python in my own choice of text editor instead of the Arduino IDE is much more my style
Dec 2025 · commentSlow builds and laggy cloud features · 2
Arduino almost spends half of the build time on reanalyzing the project files to find out, what it actually needs to do
Nov 2025 · commentit's incredibly laggy for me, and I hate having these things in the cloud
Dec 2025 · comment
What hackers pick instead
- 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
Every quote
The 40 most detailed of 45 comments. Each links to the original.
Arduino was a nice beginner friendly IDE for sure that eliminated the need for make files or reading documentation for GCC
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino Terms of Service and Privacy Policy update: setting the record straight”
the software that makes it so easy and straightforward for newcomers to flash programs and experiment the microcontroller
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”
Setting up the toolchain that's not Arduino IDE is a prohibitively high bar for a school child that wants to blink leds.
Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
The "batteries included" nature of their IDE is remarkable for getting up and running with any random hardware
Recommends · Nov 2025
The main reasons I use it are because I don't need to write a makefile, and the integrated serial port.
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino Terms of Service and Privacy Policy update: setting the record straight”
The "locked in"/captured API and IDE were directly extensions of a language and IDE called Processing.
Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”
I think relying on a corporation to preserve our freedom to code is a bit too optimistic.
Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
Arduino IDE was both instantly familiar, and such a breath of fresh air for me back then.
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”
IMO it would have been way easier if my class used an IDE that was as simple as Arduino
Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “FPGAs Need a New Future”
The IDE is nice for beginners, which seemed like a major point to Arduino.
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”
quite liked their IDE and how accessible it made a lot of things
Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
the overall comfort of the Arduino IDE are genuinely valuable
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”
you can use an actual editor instead of the arduino "IDE"
Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
Arduino almost spends half of the build time on reanalyzing the project files to find out, what it actually needs to do
Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino Terms of Service and Privacy Policy update: setting the record straight”
I remember having a harder time setting up a workflow that didn't need me to touch the arduino IDE.
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
Writing Python in my own choice of text editor instead of the Arduino IDE is much more my style
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
we are forbidden from reverse engineering Arduino SW. That's it, forbidden
Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”
it's incredibly laggy for me, and I hate having these things in the cloud
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
It uses bog standard avr-gcc and avrdude. There is nothing stopping you from using those yourself.
Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”
The problem with the IDE is that it doesn't offer a gradual path to more advanced usage.
Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
The Arduino IDE never factored into the decision, even at the height of its popularity.
Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
their IDE is not too bad, and there are way too many bits out there relying on it
Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Minimum Viable Arduino Project: Aeropress Timer”
I would only recommend using it instead of the standard Arduino Processing IDE.
Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “ESP32-C3 Adblock”
The contribution of Arduino was that they made the simplified path
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”
Which is useful for C++, but far from being non-replaceable.
Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino Terms of Service and Privacy Policy update: setting the record straight”
is dramatically better than the Arduino.org IDE
Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”
the basic IDE really sucks for that
Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”
Even Arduino has a real app.
Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “WebFPGA (2019)”
this is what made me rage quit on Arduino IDE about 1 hour after starting any embedded dev (esp32) for the first time
Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”
And yet that is the only thing, that they actually produce. Everything is else is from someone else.
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
Actually the Arduino IDE is just the (crappy) build system (and a (subpar) package manager)
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
People also do not like the arduino ide because the days of easy setup and run are gone
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
don't want to have to download yet another custom Arduino IDE
Criticizes · May 2026 · in “Build Adafruit projects right from Firefox”
both of these are hobbyist toys to make it more approachable
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “VSCode rebrands as "The open source AI code editor"”
There is no reason to even touch the Arduino IDE anymore
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
never really got into their whole IDE experience
Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”
the old crusty one maintained by Arduino.org
Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Arduino published updated terms and conditions: no longer an open commons”
Everything Arduino feels like a regression.
Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Adafruit: Arduino’s Rules Are ‘Incompatible With Open Source’”
Arduino IDE support is indeed hit and miss
Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “ESP32-S31: 320MHz 2C RV32IMAFCP+CLIC, 512KB SRAM, GbE, 802.11ax, 61 GPIO”
arduino ide is pretty terrible anyway
Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “The Death of Arduino?”
Counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, Nov 2025 to Nov 2026. How we count · Report a mistake