My JetBrains all products pack is one of the few subscriptions that I enthusiastically pay every year. People talk about Copilot or Claude as a force multiplier, but I use both and would rather give them both up than switch full-time to VS Code or similar. Between their git integration, navigation tools, refactors, search, and so on, programming in a large codebase with a JetBrains IDE is just a completely different experience than trying to do it in a lower-power editor.<p>And, of course, the other reason why I'm so enthusiastic about their products is that they're one of the only companies that has been able to maintain a thoroughly symbiotic relationship with the developer community. They somehow have consistently maintained a healthy balance of giving things away without losing their business—their subscription model is humane (you get to use the last version you paid for indefinitely), they have an open source core, and they lean in more than most to giving their paid products away to students and others who can't pay.
Specifically worth noting:<p>> It’s important to note that, if you’re using a non-commercial license, you cannot opt out of the collection of anonymous usage statistics.
> Earlier this year, we implemented a new licensing model for our recently introduced IDEs, RustRover and Aqua, making them free for non-commercial use. We’re now extending this model to WebStorm and Rider. If you’re using these IDEs for non-commercial purposes, such as learning, open-source project development, content creation, or hobby development, you can now do so for free.
However, be careful with the terms of non-commercial usage (Enforced heavy metrics)<p>"You agree that the product will send usage data to validate your compliance with the license terms and anonymous feature usage statistics..."<p>"The information collected under Sections 4.1. and 4.2. may include but is not limited to frameworks, file templates used in the Product, actions invoked, and other interactions with the Product’s features."
JetBrains fanboys won't understand or acknowledge that the free versions of JetBrains IDEs are just not competitive anymore against VSCode. This is for multiple reasons. For example, these features are present in VSCode for free, but not in JetBrains IDEs:<p>(1) CoPilot code completion (for open source GitHub users)<p>(2) devcontainer integration<p>(3) docker integration
JetBrains IDEs are better than VSCode, but due to Copilot integration in VSCode, I moved away from JetBrains. I don't see myself going back to JetBrains.<p>Secondly, the free JetBrains IDEs also lack devcontainer support which is readily present in VSCode. To not use devcontainer is a substantial security hazard.