Overview

PhpStorm

Stacks14.4K

Followers11.1K

Votes1.6K

IntelliJ IDEA

Stacks44.2K

Followers36.9K

Votes1.5K

WebStorm

Stacks13.6K

Followers10.7K

Votes985

IntelliJ IDEA vs PhpStorm vs WebStorm: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will explore the key differences between IntelliJ IDEA, PhpStorm, and WebStorm, which are all popular integrated development environments (IDEs) designed specifically for different types of software development.

Functionality: IntelliJ IDEA is a comprehensive IDE that supports a wide range of programming languages and technologies, making it suitable for large-scale enterprise development. In contrast, PhpStorm focuses primarily on PHP development, providing extensive features and tools tailored specifically for PHP projects. On the other hand, WebStorm is optimized for web development, with robust support for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Pricing: While IntelliJ IDEA and WebStorm offer both free and paid versions, PhpStorm is a paid-only IDE. IntelliJ IDEA has a Community Edition which is free, but it lacks some of the advanced features available in the Ultimate Edition, which is a paid version. WebStorm offers a free trial and requires a license for continued use.
Features: IntelliJ IDEA boasts a plethora of advanced features such as intelligent code completion, version control integration, code analysis, debugging, and support for frameworks like Spring and Hibernate. PhpStorm, being specialized for PHP development, includes dedicated features like PHP code editor, PHPUnit testing integration, and support for popular PHP frameworks like Laravel. WebStorm, being focused on web development, offers features like intelligent JavaScript and TypeScript coding assistance, built-in tools for debugging, and integration with popular web development frameworks like Angular and React.
Performance: IntelliJ IDEA is known for its robust performance, even when working on large-scale projects, thanks to its intelligent indexing and smart background processes. PhpStorm and WebStorm also offer good performance, but they are optimized for their respective domains (PHP and web development), providing specific features and optimizations that cater to those needs.
Community and Ecosystem: IntelliJ IDEA benefits from a large community of developers, which results in a vast array of plugins and extensions available for enhancing the IDE's functionality. PhpStorm also has a well-established community, while WebStorm, being specific to web development, has its own dedicated community that focuses on web-related plugins, frameworks, and libraries.
User Interface: IntelliJ IDEA, PhpStorm, and WebStorm share a similar user interface as they are all built on the same IntelliJ platform. This ensures consistent navigation, menus, and overall user experience across the IDEs.

In Summary, IntelliJ IDEA, PhpStorm, and WebStorm are all powerful IDEs with unique focuses and feature sets. IntelliJ IDEA is versatile and suitable for various languages and technologies, while PhpStorm is specialized for PHP development, and WebStorm is optimized for web development. It's important to choose the IDE that aligns with your specific requirements and project needs.

Why do developers choose IntelliJ IDEA vs PhpStorm vs WebStorm?

IntelliJ IDEA fans call it “fantastically intelligent” and the “best in class IDE.” They appreciate its plugin architecture, integrated version control, and reliability.
Users of PhpStorm call it the best IDE for PHP. They also appreciate its integrated version control, local history, themes, plugins, and functionality, and call it easy to use.
WebStorm fans call WebStorm intelligent and appreciate that it’s cross-platform, supports the latest technologies, and offers easy JavaScript debugging.

What are some alternatives to IntelliJ IDEA, PhpStorm, and WebStorm?

Visual Studio - State-of-the-art tools and services that you can use to create great apps for devices, the cloud, and everything in between
Xcode - The complete toolset for building great apps
RubyMine - The most intelligent Ruby and Rails IDE

Advice on PhpStorm, IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm

Johnny

Software Engineer at StackShare

Aug 15, 2019

Needs adviceon

Visual Studio Code

PhpStorm

WebStorm

When I switched to Visual Studio Code 12 months ago from PhpStorm I was in love, it was great. However after using VS Code for a year, I see myself switching back and forth between WebStorm and VS Code. The VS Code plugins are great however I notice Prettier, auto importing of components and linking to the definitions often break, and I have to restart VS Code multiple times a week and sometimes a day.

We use Ruby here so I do like that Visual Studio Code highlights that for me out of the box, with WebStorm I'd need to probably also install RubyMine and have 2 IDE's going at the same time.

Should I stick with Visual Studio Code, or switch to something else? #help

1.02M views1.02M

Comments

christy

Program Manager

Jul 1, 2020

Needs adviceon

Python

Eclipse

IntelliJ IDEA

UPDATE: Thanks for the great response. I am going to start with VSCode based on the open source and free version that will allow me to grow into other languages, but not cost me a license ..yet.

I have been working with software development for 12 years, but I am just beginning my journey to learn to code. I am starting with Python following the suggestion of some of my coworkers. They are split between Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA for IDEs that they use and PyCharm is new to me. Which IDE would you suggest for a beginner that will allow expansion to Java, JavaScript, and eventually AngularJS and possibly mobile applications?

2.03M views2.03M

Comments

Manabu

CEO, Co-Founder at WinguMD

Jun 13, 2020

Decided

I originally chose IntelliJ over Eclipse, as it was close enough to the look and feel of Visual Studio and we do go back and forth between the two. We really begin to love IntelliJ and their suite of IDEs so we are now using AppCode for the IOS development because the workflow is identical with the IntelliJ. IntelliJ is super complex and intimidating at first but it does afford a lot of nice utilities to get us produce clean code.

551k views551k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

PhpStorm	IntelliJ IDEA	WebStorm
PhpStorm is a PHP IDE which keeps up with latest PHP & web languages trends, integrates a variety of modern tools, and brings even more extensibility with support for major PHP frameworks.	Out of the box, IntelliJ IDEA provides a comprehensive feature set including tools and integrations with the most important modern technologies and frameworks for enterprise and web development with Java, Scala, Groovy and other languages.	WebStorm is a lightweight and intelligent IDE for front-end development and server-side JavaScript.
Smart PHP Code Editor;Code Quality Analysis;Debugging and Testing;HTML/CSS/JavaScript Editor;Cross-platform Experience;Support for all major PHP frameworks;VCS; SQL Editor; Unit Testing;	Smart Code Completion;On-the-fly Code Analysis;Advanced Refactorings;Database Tools;UML Designer;Version Control Tools;Build Tools	Coding assistance for JavaScript and TypeScript; Support for React and Angular; Built-in debugger for client-side JavaScript and Node.js; Integration with build tools, linters and test runners; UI for working with Git and other VCS including a visual merge tool;
Statistics
Stacks 14.4K	Stacks 44.2K	Stacks 13.6K
Followers 11.1K	Followers 36.9K	Followers 10.7K
Votes 1.6K	Votes 1.5K	Votes 985
Pros & Cons
Pros 287 Best ide for php 232 Easy to use 218 Functionality 166 Plugins 160 Code analysis Cons 14 Uses a lot of memory 10 Does not open large files 9 Slow 8 Uses Java machine 3 No way to change syntax highlight for files without ext	Pros 301 Fantastically intelligent 242 Best-in-class ide 190 Many languages support 158 Java 121 Fast Cons 20 Large footprint required to really enjoy (mem/disc) 16 Very slow 8 Bad for beginners 7 UI is not intuitive 5 Constant reindexing	Pros 187 Intelligent ide 128 Smart development environment 108 Easy js debugging 97 Code inspection 95 Support for the Latest Technologies Cons 4 Paid 1 Expensive
Integrations
Vagrant Google App Engine	Java	Apache Cordova Meteor Electron React Native Vue.js Node.js TypeScript React Ionic AngularJS

What are some alternatives to PhpStorm, IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm?

Visual Studio

Visual Studio is a suite of component-based software development tools and other technologies for building powerful, high-performance applications.

NetBeans IDE

NetBeans IDE is FREE, open source, and has a worldwide community of users and developers.

PyCharm

PyCharm’s smart code editor provides first-class support for Python, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, TypeScript, CSS, popular template languages and more. Take advantage of language-aware code completion, error detection, and on-the-fly code fixes!

Eclipse

Standard Eclipse package suited for Java and plug-in development plus adding new plugins; already includes Git, Marketplace Client, source code and developer documentation. Click here to file a bug against Eclipse Platform.

Android Studio

Android Studio is a new Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA. It provides new features and improvements over Eclipse ADT and will be the official Android IDE once it's ready.

RubyMine

JetBrains RubyMine IDE provides a comprehensive Ruby code editor aware of dynamic language specifics and delivers smart coding assistance, intelligent code refactoring and code analysis capabilities.

CLion

Knowing your code through and through, CLion can take care of the routine while you focus on the important things. Boost your productivity with the keyboard-centric approach (Vim-emulation plugin is also available in plugin repository), full coding assistance, smart and relevant code completion, fast project navigation, intelligent intention actions, and reliable refactorings.

Xcode

The Xcode IDE is at the center of the Apple development experience. Tightly integrated with the Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, Xcode is an incredibly productive environment for building amazing apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

Pharo

A pure object-oriented programming language and a powerful environment, focused on simplicity and immediate feedback.

Nuclide

A unified developer experience for web and mobile development, built as a suite of packages on top of Atom to provide hackability and the support of an active community.