I've been using JetBrains products since my university days, and now that I'm working, I've had access to them for free for a while. Recently, I've started using VS Code for my personal projects instead. I'm curious if you all think it's worth it to pay for a JetBrains license for personal use, considering I'm already familiar with their tools. If I go for a year-long subscription, I understand I get lifetime access to that version, but are there any ways to use JetBrains products for free (not including the community editions)?
1 Answer
That's a tough call! Ultimately, only you can decide if it’s worth it. Are you missing out on anything from JetBrains that VS Code can’t do? For me, the only JetBrains IDE I find essential is IntelliJ for Java work. Just a heads up, there’s no way to use them without a license unless you're going for the community versions, and remember that if you subscribe for a year, you get lifetime access to the version released while you’re subscribed. Plus, renewals get cheaper in the following years!
Yeah, I’ve had some trouble with the community extensions not running well in VS Code compared to what I experience in IntelliJ, and managing larger projects can be tricky without a solid IDE.