# JetBrains WebStorm

22 Hacker News commenters recommended JetBrains WebStorm and 15 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 6.5 years (3 owners).

**Verdict:** Praised 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.

## Why people recommend it

- Strong TypeScript and JavaScript support (4 comments): "For JS WebStorm loads a TS file for browser fundamentals and it helps drastically with this problem as well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48062242)) "WebStorm works better with TypeScript than even Microsoft's own creation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45972726)) "WebStorm is miles ahead of vscode for js etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46716868))
- Helpful built-in tools and quick actions (4 comments): "Ctrl+Shift+A which lets you search through all available UI actions (hence the A). That's just so helpful if you know the IDE can do something" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47706752)) "The free one - WebStorm - comes with live preview." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47455797)) "QoL features is where WebStorm shines!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47706104))
- More reliable than VS Code (3 comments): "WebStorm seems to be a lot more reliable than VSCode nowadays" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45984551)) "WebStorm is miles ahead of vscode for js etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46716868)) "WebStorm is better than VSCode at this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47105862))
- Works well out of the box (4 comments): "with a few single-click-install plugins for languages or environmental integrations, it did everything I needed it to do" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49107881)) "No major complains. It takes some time to get going but after that it is mostly smooth sailing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48189546)) "dev experience is excellent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47856699))

## What people warn about

- Slow and laggy in use (5 comments): "it's gotten really slow lately, locking for 3–4 seconds when scrolling a larger file" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48192538)) "it became progressively slower to the point of being unusable even on small projects" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49018886)) "completely unusable on a medium-sized React codebase" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49805089))
- Frequent bugs and broken features (2 comments): "there were so many workflow-breaking bugs in each new release of Webstorm" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50220336)) "the core functionality is frequently broken" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50220607))
- High memory and CPU use (3 comments): "each keypress in a .md file in WebStorm makes the fan spin up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49800086)) "when you open about 6-8 instances of the IDE" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45984643)) "memory usage of webstorm on my work machine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49977855))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [JetBrains IDEs](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jetbrains-ides.md): 233 recommend
- [IntelliJ IDEA](https://hackerapproved.com/p/intellij-idea.md): 206 recommend
- [Microsoft Visual Studio](https://hackerapproved.com/p/visual-studio.md): 165 recommend
- [Delphi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/delphi.md): 126 recommend
- [Xcode](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xcode.md): 100 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "JetBrains WebStorm", https://hackerapproved.com/p/webstorm/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).