IdeaVim
Shares rank 2 of 7 Vim plugins by recommenders
Recommended as a solid, frequently updated Vim emulation for JetBrains IDEs that works well with Neovim-style configs. Caveat: experts may find it limiting.
Recommended as a solid, frequently updated Vim emulation for JetBrains IDEs that works well with Neovim-style configs. Caveat: experts may find it limiting.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Configurable to match Neovim setups
“I have also set up ideavim configuration to be as close to neovim as possible”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Escape IntelliJ: Scala and Kotlin LSPs on Emacs Eglot” “I use ideavim with configuration as close as possible to astronvim.”
Comment from 3 May 2026 in “Why TUIs Are Back” Best Vim emulation available
“Ideavim is probably the best vim plugin and it gets new features every month.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025” “Jetbrains IdeaVim plugin is the best vim emulation I've seen.”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “No More JetBrains Products for Me” Works well with JetBrains features
“IdeaVim has been one of the main things pulling me back to JetBrains for a while now”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “No More JetBrains Products for Me” “IntelliJ shines when you use the command pallet, keyboard shortcuts, and IdeaVIM”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “IDEmacs: A Visual Studio Code clone for Emacs”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Occasional issues with some features
“IntelliJ's idea Vim plugin is a pretty decent one, but even there I have encountered the occasional issue”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “Emacs Turns 50” Can feel annoying for experts
“IdeaVIM is good enough, but only to the point - for an expert vimmer it may feel annoying.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “IDEmacs: A Visual Studio Code clone for Emacs”
Other Vim plugins people recommend
The four most recommended other Vim plugins, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vim-fugitive | 10 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| IdeaVimThis page | 9 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| Sidekick.nvim | 9 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| lazy.nvim | 8 | 1 | 89% | 2 | — | — |
| CodeCompanion.nvim | 7 | 3 | 70% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
13 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Gary Bernhard once said: "there's no vim-mode, there's only Vim"”
“IntelliJ's idea Vim plugin is a pretty decent one, but even there I have encountered the occasional issue”
“If you use ideavim you can enable feature which shows you action ID you have currently triggered”
“Ideavim is probably the best vim plugin and it gets new features every month.”
“I have also set up ideavim configuration to be as close to neovim as possible”
“if you use IdeaVim you can”
“IdeaVim has been one of the main things pulling me back to JetBrains for a while now”
“Install ideavim and press yyp”
“Jetbrains IdeaVim plugin is the best vim emulation I've seen.”
“I use ideavim with configuration as close as possible to astronvim.”
“IdeaVim is a really solid vim implementation”
“IdeaVIM is good enough, but only to the point - for an expert vimmer it may feel annoying.”
“IntelliJ shines when you use the command pallet, keyboard shortcuts, and IdeaVIM”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.