Skip to content

Developer tools · ide

JetBrains PyCharm

Praised 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.

Summarized from 86 comments.

Praised 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.

recommend
38
criticize
33
months recommended
12 of 13
median owned, 4 owners said
10 years

Why people love it

  • Best Python support and analysis · 4

    PyCharm is still better for python development at this point, with its one black mark being endless indexing on large codebases / dependencies

    Nov 2025 · comment

    the python LSP in PyCharm is miles ahead of any other lsp out there

    Dec 2025 · comment

    for python development pycharm is still superior

    Apr 2026 · comment
  • Powerful debugging for complex code · 2

    people are blown away when I show them how much more powerful PyCharm is when debugging complex code

    Dec 2025 · comment

    I was all in on the full stack debug capability in pycharm of Django.

    Mar 2026 · comment
  • Strong git and local history · 3

    the git implementation in PyCharm is better than any git app I've used

    Dec 2025 · comment

    has saved my ass more than once when accidentally overwriting changes before committing

    Aug 2026 · comment

    I checked its built-in version tracker and lo and behold, my code as it was before I rm -rf'ed up my code.

    Jan 2026 · comment
  • Free Community edition available · 2

    VS Code and PyCharm are both free and are great for Python coding.

    Nov 2025 · comment

    the intellij pycharm community edition being free

    Dec 2025 · comment

What people warn about

  • Slow indexing and high CPU use · 4

    PyCharm is still better for python development at this point, with its one black mark being endless indexing on large codebases / dependencies

    Nov 2025 · comment

    watching my coworker's computer slow down to a crawl when Pycharm started reindexing the project

    Mar 2026 · comment

    it feels slow, and randomly likes to suddenly peg a CPU core to 100% for no apparent reason

    May 2026 · comment
  • Weak modern tooling and AI integration · 3

    it's a bit of a cop-out that the Claude Code integration in PyCharm is just the TUI

    Jun 2026 · comment

    Even PyCharm now routinely completes some hallucinated method or library

    Dec 2025 · comment

    pycharm’s weakness is not integrating with modern tooling like ruff/pyright

    Nov 2025 · comment
  • Slow to fix long-standing issues · 3

    instead of substantially improving or fixing PyCharm, without you steadily replacing/repairing big chunks of Pycharms functionality I would be miserable

    Dec 2025 · comment

    they completely neglected (no, to minimal progress for years) their typehint support in PyCharm

    Oct 2026 · comment

    failed to gain attention from JetBrains for months and years on their issue tracker

    Dec 2025 · comment
  • Lighter alternatives like VS Code · 2

    I let my Pycharm sub lapse since I switched to VSCode. Its lighter and better at some static analysis.

    Aug 2026 · comment

    PyCharm/GoLand both are "nice" but it did not feel better/more efficient than pylance/pyright

    Mar 2026 · comment

Long-term owners

I used PyCharm like 10 years ago and it was fine. Way faster than other IDEs in fact.

May 2026 · comment

What hackers pick instead

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 86 comments. Each links to the original.

  1. PyCharm is still better for python development at this point, with its one black mark being endless indexing on large codebases / dependencies

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Zed is our office”

  2. I checked its built-in version tracker and lo and behold, my code as it was before I rm -rf'ed up my code.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Running Claude Code dangerously (safely)”

  3. I let my Pycharm sub lapse since I switched to VSCode. Its lighter and better at some static analysis.

    Mixed · Aug 2026 · in “OpenChamber: An Agentic Development Environment”

  4. people are blown away when I show them how much more powerful PyCharm is when debugging complex code

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “JetBrains cancels Fleet”

  5. PyCharm/GoLand both are "nice" but it did not feel better/more efficient than pylance/pyright

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Java 26 is here, and with it a solid foundation for the future”

  6. it feels slow, and randomly likes to suddenly peg a CPU core to 100% for no apparent reason

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “No More JetBrains Products for Me”

  7. has saved my ass more than once when accidentally overwriting changes before committing

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Zed DeltaDB”

  8. the git implementation in PyCharm is better than any git app I've used

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Claude Code gets native LSP support”

  9. I was all in on the full stack debug capability in pycharm of Django.

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Coders Coded Their Job Away. Why Are So Many of Them Happy About It?”

  10. the python LSP in PyCharm is miles ahead of any other lsp out there

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Claude Code gets native LSP support”

  11. VS Code and PyCharm are both free and are great for Python coding.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Python is not a great language for data science”

  12. I <3 JB IDEs for their functionality, but resource pigs they are.

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “JetBrains Air: A System of Products for Agentic Software Development”

  13. proper type inference through multiple class inheritance hoops

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Are you expected to run five Python type-checkers now?”

  14. the intellij pycharm community edition being free

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Ruby 4.0.0 Released”

  15. for python development pycharm is still superior

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Zed is 1.0”

  16. instead of substantially improving or fixing PyCharm, without you steadily replacing/repairing big chunks of Pycharms functionality I would be miserable

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Announcing the Beta release of ty”

  17. watching my coworker's computer slow down to a crawl when Pycharm started reindexing the project

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Ripgrep is faster than {grep, ag, Git grep, ucg, pt, sift}”

  18. they completely neglected (no, to minimal progress for years) their typehint support in PyCharm

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025”

  19. failed to gain attention from JetBrains for months and years on their issue tracker

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “The Unified IntelliJ Idea: More Free Features, Better Experience, Smoother Flow”

  20. it's a bit of a cop-out that the Claude Code integration in PyCharm is just the TUI

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “strace-ui, Bonsai_term, and the TUI renaissance”

  21. pycharm’s weakness is not integrating with modern tooling like ruff/pyright

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Google Antigravity”

  22. Even PyCharm now routinely completes some hallucinated method or library

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Microsoft please get your tab to autocomplete shit together”

  23. As a very heavy user of IDEA, DataGrip and PyCharm, I still appreciate the level of power and flexibility JetBrains offer

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025”

  24. we had hellish bureaucratic fights with the IT department to get access to Pycharm, Obsidian, and even GitHub

    Mixed · Aug 2026 · in “An Honest Review of AI Programming”

  25. There's a nice feature that will tell you when you could have used a shortcut instead of the manual thing.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Small programming tricks”

  26. pycharm allows you to edit the commit prepopulated with the filename if only one file is staged

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Ziggity – A terminal UI for Git, written in Zig”

  27. No major complains. It takes some time to get going but after that it is mostly smooth sailing.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “No More JetBrains Products for Me”

  28. we use Phpstorm and PyCharm, and they come with fully-fledged database connection support

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “SQL Studio”

  29. I still love RustRover and PyCharm! Switching to anything else would be a big downgrade.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “JetBrains Air: A System of Products for Agentic Software Development”

  30. I used PyCharm like 10 years ago and it was fine. Way faster than other IDEs in fact.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “No More JetBrains Products for Me”

  31. Oh, it's good at venvs. Lots of flexibility too on whether to use pip, conda, or uv.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Google Antigravity”

  32. they generally work very well for me at my day job and open source side projects

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “JetBrains cancels Fleet”

  33. PyCharm is doing some pretty massive non-AI stuff on the deterministic side

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “JetBrains Air: A System of Products for Agentic Software Development”

  34. especially for working with data which I do a lot it helps quite a bit

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Vim 9.2 Released”

  35. I mostly use their CLion, Webstorm and PyCharm IDE's for development

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “SpaceX and Cursor partnership. Right to acquire Cursor later this year”

  36. products like PyCharm and official Python plugins made by Microsoft

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “In Defense of Matlab Code”

  37. It is astonishing no other IDEs have offered direct competition.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “JetBrains Air: A System of Products for Agentic Software Development”

  38. Mainly centered around performance. Yet it has no competition!

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “JetBrains reports revenue growth, net financial loss for 2025”

  39. initially I despised the minimalist interface for the new UI

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “No More JetBrains Products for Me”

  40. IMO pycharm's internal implementation is still the best

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Ziggity – A terminal UI for Git, written in Zig”

Counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, Nov 2025 to Nov 2026. How we count · Report a mistake