IntelliJ IDEA vs. PhpStorm

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
IntelliJ IDEA
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
IntelliJ IDEA is an IDE that aims to give Java and Kotlin developers everything they need out of the box, including a smart code editor, built-in developer tools, framework support, database support, web development support, and much more.
$16.90
per month
PhpStorm
Score 9.5 out of 10
N/A
JetBrains supports PhpStorm, an integrated development environment (IDE).
$9.90
per month per user
Pricing
IntelliJ IDEAPhpStorm
Editions & Modules
For Individual Use
$16.90
per month
All Products Pack (For Individual Use)
$28.90
per month
For Organizations
$59.90
per month
All Products Pack (For Organizations)
$77.90
per month
For Individuals
$99
per year per user
For Organizations
$249
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
IntelliJ IDEAPhpStorm
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsYearly subscriptions: For Individual Use – $169 /1st year, $ 135 /2nd year and $ 101 /3d year onwards All Products Pack (For Individual Use) – $289 /1st year, $ 231 /2nd year and $ 173 /3d year onwards
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
IntelliJ IDEAPhpStorm
Considered Both Products
IntelliJ IDEA
Chose IntelliJ IDEA
IDEA has great roadmap, every update brings useful features. Support is great. Excellent documentation. It's full-featured as it comes out of the box and even if you can't find something you'll get it via plugins.
PhpStorm

No answer on this topic

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IntelliJ IDEAPhpStorm
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PyCharm
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Score 9.1 out of 10
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Score 9.1 out of 10
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All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
IntelliJ IDEAPhpStorm
Likelihood to Recommend
9.6
(58 ratings)
9.6
(20 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(8 ratings)
9.3
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(15 ratings)
9.4
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
IntelliJ IDEAPhpStorm
Likelihood to Recommend
JetBrains
This is a superb tool if your project involves a lot of backend development, especially in Java/Spring Boot and Kotlin. The support for the front end is great as well, but some developers may prefer to use the GitHub copilot add-on. I especially love using the GitHub copilot add-on. It may be less appropriate if your project requires heavy use of HotSwaps for backend debugging, as sometimes the support for that can be limited.
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JetBrains
PhpStorm is well suited for any project that utilizes PHP. I have used it on Windows, Ubuntu, and Mac OS and it works great on all those platforms. Having a solution that keeps the developer from having to constantly switch tools to do their job is invaluable. Whether you're a junior developer, front end engineer or a senior developer, PhpStorm is a great product that will help you get your work done.
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Pros
JetBrains
  • Unit testing: Fully integrated into IntelliJ IDEA. Your unit tests will run smoothly and efficiently, with excellent debugging tools for when things get tricky.
  • Spring integration: Our Spring project using Maven works flawlessly in IntelliJ IDEA. I know firsthand that Apache is also easily and readily supported too. The integration is seamless and very easy to set up using IntelliJ IDEA's set up wizard when importing new projects.
  • Customization: IntelliJ IDEA comes out of the box with a bunch of handy shortcuts, as well as text prediction, syntax error detection, and other tools to help keep your code clean. But even better is that it allows for total customization of shortcuts you can easily create to suit your needs.
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JetBrains
  • Database browsing, Remote host browsing, and all the deep seated customizations for both the UI and Technical feasability are the result of an amazing integrity and compatibility with most components and technologies.
  • The built-in shell is insanely helpful for traversing code in order to debug scripts with ease, and the plug-in system makes this software quite extensible.
  • Not to mention the variety of options and settings (divided into global settings and per-project settings) are both intuitive & easy to use, especially the fact that I can export and import them across my workstations while maintaining my spacing & indentation, highlighting, inspection patterns and syntax styling.
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Cons
JetBrains
  • Finding if a feature exists or not in IntelliJ IDEA can be challenging.
  • For example, if we know how to format a particular file, the command is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L, but if we don't, then finding it is difficult.
  • Setting up a project interpreter and directory structure might not be intuitive at first.
  • Git integration can be improved. For example, it isn't easy to rebase using UI in IntelliJ IDEA.
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JetBrains
  • Some of the newest github copilot features lag behind what's being done in vs code and would be nice if more of the newer features were brought over though this has greatly improved recently
  • Interface can be a little overwhelming for newcomers
  • Some features like rainbow brackets should be native rather than addon
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Likelihood to Renew
JetBrains
VS Code is maturing and has a Scala plugin now. The overall experience with VS Code - for web development at least - is very snappy/fast. IntelliJ feels a bit sluggish in comparison. If that Scala plugin for VS Code is deemed mature enough - we may not bother renewing and resort to the Community Edition if we need it.
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JetBrains
No answers on this topic
Usability
JetBrains
There is always room for improvement, but I haven't met any IDE that I liked more so far. Even if it did not fit a use case right out of the box, there is always a way to configure how it works to do just that.
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JetBrains
PhpStorm is very easy to use, once you get the hang of it. It can take a while to get the hang of it because there's so many options, some of which are buried in the imposing settings panel. It could use some help with multi-cursor, especially multi-file editing but that's a minor gripe.
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Support Rating
JetBrains
Customer support is really good in the case of IntelliJ. If you are paying for this product then, the company makes sure that you will get all the services adequately. Regular update patches are provided to improve the IDE. An online bug report makes it easier for the developers to find the solution as fast as possible. The large online community also helps to find the various solutions to the issues.
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JetBrains
The JetBrains community is all about helping others succeed, even in the most obscure setups. I have never had a question go unanswered, or I have never been able to come up with empty results in searching for the answer. My questions or concerns are typically address from other users in the community, so timing is pretty quick for a response
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Implementation Rating
JetBrains
This installs just like any other application - its pretty straight forward. Perhaps licensing could be more challenging - but if you use the cloud licensing they offer its as simple as having engineers login to the application and it just works.
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JetBrains
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
JetBrains
Eclipse is just so old, like a dinosaur, compared to IntelliJ. There are still formats that Eclipse supports better, especially old and/or propriety ones. Still, most of the modern software development needs can be done on IntelliJ, & in a much better way, some of them are not even supported on Eclipse.
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JetBrains
Easier to use, more features, more reliable. Much more purpose built with specific integrations aimed directly at php code instead of the broad generic interfaces the other software have that are aiming to support many different languages.
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Return on Investment
JetBrains
  • Easier to find bugs and debugs, thus reducing man hours and generating immediate dollar impact.
  • Coding time is lessened, which in turn again reduces man hours and generates immediate dollar impact.
  • Refactoring code is more innovative and easy here, resulting in more maintainable code.
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JetBrains
  • PhpStorm decreased the time to market of new features - we are following the Agile SCRUM methodology with 2 weeks sprints. Using PhpStorm helped with releasing UI features even faster than 2 weeks.
  • Considering the price of the license and the cost of the server where we run it, the ROI is still high due to less time spent by developers with writing code, debugging, refactoring etc. Especially when you have highly paid developers.
  • Increased people's happiness - by using a modern tool with lots of features which has made their work easier.
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ScreenShots

IntelliJ IDEA Screenshots

Screenshot of IntelliJ IDEA interface overview: the Project tool window (left) outlines the code structure and the Editor (right) is used to read, write, and explore the source code.Screenshot of IntelliJ IDEA analyzing the context. It then suggests the most applicable and relevant code.Screenshot of the Search Everywhere window, where users can search for files, actions, classes, symbols, settings, UI elements, and anything in Git, all from a single entry point.Screenshot of inspections to help find probable bugs and dead code, detect performance issues, and improve the overall code structure by providing quick-fixes for any code that contains potential concerns.Screenshot of IntelliJ IDEA's support for frameworks with dedicated assistance for Jakarta EE, JPA, Reactor, Spring and Spring Boot, and other popular frameworks.Screenshot of the AI Assistant that provides AI-powered features for software development. It can explain code, answer questions about code fragments, provide code suggestions, generate documentation, and commit messages.