PhpStorm
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 16 of 33 IDEs by recommenders
Developers recommend it for code navigation, auto-completion, indexing and built-in database tools, though it is paid and can be slow and memory-hungry.
Developers recommend it for code navigation, auto-completion, indexing and built-in database tools, though it is paid and can be slow and memory-hungry.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 17
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 77%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 17 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 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
Built-in database tools and DQL support
“Most JetBrains IDE's include the database tools actually, we use Phpstorm and PyCharm, and they come with fully-fledged database connection support”
Comment from 8 Jan 2026 in “SQL Studio” “I still use PHPStorm for checking diffs, database access, reviewing PRs, and the debugger.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025” “DQL which is an SQL-like language that's pretty well integrated in phpstorm”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “What I love about Django” Widely used, well-regarded IDE
“PHPStorm is still the default IDE for many developers.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025” “that's really a great IDE”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “How I am deeply integrating Emacs” “PHP Storm is a proper IDE”
Comment from 20 May 2026 in “GitHub Compromised” Excellent indexing and code navigation
“I love what it can do, especially when it comes to code discovery and auto-completion.”
Comment from 20 May 2026 in “GitHub Compromised” “PHPStorm's indexing is incredible.”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “How Claude Code works in large codebases” Used daily by long-time customers
“I've been a happy customer of PHPStorm for years and it continues to improve.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025” “use PhpStorm almost daily”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “JetBrains Air: A System of Products for Agentic Software Development”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Uses lots of memory and runs slow
“I'll occasionally have PHPStorm use up all available memory, but it tends to go away after a restart of the app.”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “No More JetBrains Products for Me” “is super slow and hogs ram like crazy”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Escape IntelliJ: Scala and Kotlin LSPs on Emacs Eglot”
Other IDEs people recommend
The four most recommended other IDEs, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBrains IDEs | 233 | 143 | 62% | 13 | 10 yrs39 owners | — |
| IntelliJ IDEA | 206 | 105 | 66% | 13 | 10 yrs18 owners | — |
| Microsoft Visual Studio | 165 | 165 | 50% | 12 | 10 yrs10 owners | — |
| Delphi | 126 | 44 | 74% | 13 | 23 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| PhpStormThis page | 17 | 5 | 77% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
20 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Years ago there were frequent crashes (kernel panics) i could directly relate to IntelliJ (PHPStorm, etc)”
“I still use PHPStorm for checking diffs, database access, reviewing PRs, and the debugger.”
“PHPStorm is still the default IDE for many developers.”
“The value proposition has changed, not disappeared.”
“I've been a happy customer of PHPStorm for years and it continues to improve.”
“use PhpStorm almost daily”
“DQL which is an SQL-like language that's pretty well integrated in phpstorm”
“is super slow and hogs ram like crazy”
“the terminal in Jetbrains IDEs just isn't that great. It's gotten a lot better with their rewrites”
“Works very well with PHP (in PHPStorm)”
“PHP Storm is a proper IDE”
“I love what it can do, especially when it comes to code discovery and auto-completion.”
“I'll occasionally have PHPStorm use up all available memory, but it tends to go away after a restart of the app.”
“the newest pain point is that I will have claude in a terminal update a file”
“PHPStorm's indexing is incredible.”
“it works pretty well for IDEs like PHPstorm or other jetbrains IDEs”
“in PyCharm and PHPStorm I find that very convenient”
“PHPStorm costs money (not just if you want AI assistance), and is based on ( drum roll ) Java technology”
“Most JetBrains IDE's include the database tools actually, we use Phpstorm and PyCharm, and they come with fully-fledged database connection support”
“that's really a great IDE”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.