Which IDE is best? (as of July 2025)

One of Sketch's senior software developers recently polled the group chat: “What IDE is everyone using these days?”

It didn’t take long for responses to start pouring in:

Sung: “Neovim/ tmux with Claude Code”

Jeff: “I had just been using the Helix editor, which has LSP functionality, but now I am trying out Zed and enjoying it. It has some nice collaboration and AI capabilities. Zed is written by the guys who created Atom. Both built with Rust.”

(If you’re fired up by the Rust mention, catch Jeff’s session about Rust at DevOps Midwest in September 2025.)

Keith: “IntelliJ for Java, VS Code otherwise”

It didn’t take very many answers for something to become clear: If you’re looking for consensus about the best IDE to use, your best bet is to limit the survey size to one person.

All the same, some are more popular than others. Let’s look at some general trends before getting into more nuanced highlights from the group:

• What people look for in an IDE while writing code

• Unique setups that mix and match IDEs

• Healthy debate about AI in IDEs

• Pros and cons of various IDEs

If you have any hot takes while reading, don’t hesitate to share them with us. We might add them to the article (and give credit where credit is due).

Which IDEs are most popular right now? (Summer 2025’s greatest hits)

Sketch’s team of senior software developers prides itself on its shared commitment to continued learning. It doesn’t hurt that it works with some of the world’s most successful enterprise software teams. Here’s a quick look at where the group stands by the numbers:

• VS Code – 7 mentions (including a somewhat begrudging one)

• JetBrains – 7 mentions

• • IntelliJ received 3 callouts as being great for Java, with the IntelliJ/CoPilot combo and IntelliJ Ultimate getting special nods.

• • Other specific JetBrains Suite mentions include Goland, WebStorm, and DataGrip.

• Cursor – 6 mentions (especially popular among Sketch’s biggest AI enthusiasts)

• Neovim – 3 mentions in the chat (and one compelling blog that makes the case for Neovim as an IDE)

• Zed – 2 mentions

Despite the breadth of top IDEs mentioned, someone called out the absence of a few options: “It's interesting that I haven't heard anyone say cline, Windsurf, or Trae.”

One size does not fit all – best IDEs for different jobs

Some developers didn’t go too far into their reasons for preferring one IDE over another. In fairness to them, they didn’t know marketing would rip off their thoughts for an easy blog post. Others did share more detail about when they think different IDEs are best.

Some called IntelliJ the best IDE for Java. People go back to it even if they choose another IDE for just about everything else. Others still say they prefer to use IntelliJ for most work.

VS Code got some extra love because Microsoft’s “Live Share” feature is good for collaboration. The extension makes working with another developer more like editing a shared Word file or Google Doc. This is especially useful when collaborating remotely, and can spare you from trying to direct someone over a screenshare.

Mix and match IDEs to create your perfect setup

Beyond choosing the best IDE for each project, some of the software developers at Sketch are combining multiple IDEs to use in parallel.

For example, here’s something one developer shared about his thought process when firing up an IDE:

“I've been mainly using JetBrains with Copilot. I tried using JetBrains AI Assistant a couple months ago since it's included with the all products pack, but I found it to be really slow compared to Copilot and not as good (not sure if it's gotten better).

“I've also tried using Cursor for a few things, but more for the chat interface. I'm not a big fan of the VS Code UX. When using it, I'll switch between Cursor and JetBrains for the same project.”

“My ChatGPT agent human simulator uses Neovim with a splash of tmux, a drop of Cursor, a pinch of Zed, a dollop of JetBrains, with a side of Cursor running on Win/Mac/Nix,” quipped another. “That’s right, I said Cursor twice.”

(All jokes aside, he mentioned that he’s canceled his JetBrains subscription, and suspects a lot of developers will be doing the same, but more on that later.)

AI and IDEs

This brings us to the topic of AI-infused software development. The general consensus is that software developers should be using AI to write code. Still, there was some back and forth about the time and the place for AI in software development:

“I tried a pilot coding assistant that [CLIENT REDACTED] is working on, but it wasn't that helpful. Took a long time, tended to do things I didn't want,” shared one developer.

“Public LLM models are probably much better than the private enterprise models,” responded another. “I would recommend giving the public ones a shot.”

How to co-write code with AI

As discussion continued on the topic of writing code with AI, one developer laid out a potential workflow:

“With the agentic style of programming, it would be easier to collaborate by sitting together and building out a plan with whatever AI tool you use. Once it looks good, then implement the plan, rinse and repeat.”

He clarified that this isn’t his exclusive approach, but something he’ll do for larger functionality. It’s worth noting that he’s always checking to see if the plan sounds like something he would do himself. If not, he makes the necessary adjustments before putting the AI to work.

Writing code like this seems to work best, he says, when he lets the AI take a shot or two at the problem, then he cleans up after it as needed.

JetBrains vs. Microsoft vs. Cursor – who makes the best IDE?

Let’s quickly revisit the numerical tally:

• JetBrains products got 7 votes.

• Microsoft’s VS Code got 7 votes.

• Cursor got 6 votes.

There’s a significant gap between the podium and the rest of the field. (Neovim came in fourth with only half as many votes as Cursor.) What puts these three at the head of the pack?

The case for JetBrains as the best IDE

People seem to love JetBrains because it offers a suite of products, providing access to different tools for different projects within a single ecosystem. Because there are multiple IDE options to use out of the box, a software developer might not have to spend as much time making tweaks or installing additional plugins.

The case for VS Code as the best IDE

A dissenting opinion comes from someone who has largely moved away from JetBrains in favor of VS Code. “I used to be a big JetBrains person, but I think they're behind the trend, playing catch-up. I’m using VS Code now. The Microsoft ecosystem is on fire right now.”

He expands on this opinion by saying JetBrains is trending downward and might see its user base shrink as a result. He’s anticipating a mass exodus to options including Cursor, WindSurf, and VS Code, among others. He says he made the switch because these other IDEs are improving faster, such as surging ahead when it comes to AI assistance.

The case for Cursor as the best IDE

Cursor bills itself as “the AI code editor.” It was designed with AI software development in mind, which makes it attractive to the AI tinkerers in the room.

VS Code turned 10 this year. JetBrains has been around since 2000. The initial release of Cursor was only a couple of years ago in 2023. The stable release, Cursor 1.0, was on June 4, 2025, just before this whole conversation took place.

Already, Cursor is almost as popular at Sketch as JetBrains and VS Code. The pressure to add AI agents to software development teams is rising every day, which is part of the reason for Cursor’s explosive growth. The other reason is that Cursor is a fork of VS Code, so it inherits the good (lots of extensions)  and the bad (heavier memory usage and occasional slowness). So even though it’s young, it builds on an established platform with lots of customization. Also, many people who are already familiar with the very popular VS Code can easily switch to Cursor.

Honorable Mention – The case for Zed as the best IDE 

While Zed didn’t receive nearly as many votes as some of the others, it gets an honorable mention as a cult classic. The developers who use it advocated for it with enthusiasm and backed up their opinion with thoughtful research:

• The creators of Atom reimagined the IDE from the ground up with custom data structures and modern features like collaborative development and AI.

• The AI experience is great. You can use any popular AI model, or a private local model, to make AI your partner in the development process.

• Zed offers blazing speed, which distinguishes it from heavy, memory-intensive IDE options like VS Code. This is vital when you need a lot of projects or files open, need a lot of malware/virus scanning tools on your corporate laptop, or have other performance constraints.

That said, there are also a few downsides. It’s relatively new, which means the plugin/extension catalog is small. That said, it already covers the basic features, and it relies on WASM for its plugin mechanism (which means near-native speed even with many extensions enabled, unlike the slowdown you see with JS extensions in VS Code).

With all these fragmented tools, which are the best IDEs going forward?

While there was some back and forth, even calling it a “debate” is strong. Sure, people are using a broad mix of different IDEs and editors, but no one is drawing lines in the proverbial sand or typing at a colleague in all caps. The developers are finding what works for them, and the clients are happy. All of this to say, “The best IDE is the one that helps you stay productive and get the job done.”