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JetBrains IDEs vs Windsurf comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

JetBrains IDEs
Ranking in IDE
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windsurf
Ranking in IDE
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
AI Code Assistants (1st), AI Software Development (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the IDE category, the mindshare of JetBrains IDEs is 7.9%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windsurf is 6.9%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IDE Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Windsurf6.9%
JetBrains IDEs7.9%
Other85.2%
IDE
 

Featured Reviews

Souhardyya Biswas - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Long-term coding has benefited from intuitive UI and tools but now needs lighter performance
I am using the code completion feature in IntelliJ, and it helps me with my development processes. I use advanced debugging tools. The advanced debugging tools are useful for resolving code issues. The integration with version controls is seamless. GitHub is what I use. For my professional role, I need to use GitHub Enterprise, and the way it is set up in my enterprise, it does not allow linking it with IntelliJ. That is where I am stuck using the CLI. GitHub itself has a very robust CLI, so I have no complaints there. For personal use, GitHub integrates really well with IntelliJ. The UI is pretty good and very intuitive. I actually use the new UI which IntelliJ provides, and that is very intuitive and good.
DHARMA-TEJA - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Enginner at Sera AI
Feature workflows have become faster and context-aware development is now system-focused
Windsurf has become less of a tool and more of a core part of how I build. I do not think in terms of writing code line by line anymore; I think in terms of features, flows, and systems, and Windsurf helped me translate that into actual implementation across the codebase. It fits especially well when I am doing rapid prototyping, exploring new ideas or architectures, or iterating on existing features quickly. At the same time, one thing I have noticed in my workflow is around model switching. When I switch between models, the GPT generating agent models sometimes the deeper context regarding decision reasoning or intermediate steps does not fully carry over, so I end up re-establishing context manually every time. It is so much painfully manual; that is not a blocker, but since I work on fairly complex multi-step systems, having strong cross-model memory consistency would make it even more powerful. One thing I would really appreciate is stronger cross-model memory and context continuity. Right now, when I switch between models, the surface-level context is there, but the deeper reasoning regarding why certain decisions were made or how a flow evolved does not always carry over fully. Since I work on complex and multi-step agents, I end up re-establishing the context manually. If Windsurf could maintain a kind of shared memory layer across models where intent, decisions, and intermediate steps persist, it would make the whole experience much more seamless. Improving the memory continuity and control would take it from powerful to extremely reliable at scale. Overall, Windsurf is already a strong tool, but there are a few areas where improvements would make a big difference, especially for advanced workflows. The first is cross-model memory and context continuity. The second is better control over agent execution. Right now, when switching between models—for instance, if I am using a tier of models and then I reach a limit, and then I need to switch to a lesser limit model—the high-level context is there, but deeper reasoning is lost. A shared memory layer across models would make the experience much more seamless. Furthermore, while Cascade is powerful, for larger changes, it would help to have more visibility or control, such as previewing the execution plan and guiding steps before it runs. The UI and documentation provided are pretty good, though I think there is room for true visibility and feedback during agent execution. While the amount of time put into the design and documentation is great, figuring out things with the documentation can often be done without any third-party help. Some advanced use cases are not fully explored in the documentation, but the best practices for using agents effectively are very clear, such as how to structure prompts for multi-file changes and how to guide Cascade for better outputs. Real-world advanced examples are already implemented in there; that could be very helpful for us. The main advice I would give to others looking into using Windsurf is to not use it as a traditional code assistant. Windsurf really shines when you treat it as a feature-level or system-level tool, not just something for autocomplete or small snippets. So instead of thinking "write this function," think more toward "build this flow." Learn how to guide it properly. That is the main thing I would advise: learn how to guide it properly, how to prompt it properly, and start with real use cases, not toy examples.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The best features JetBrains IDEs offer include the many tools which are available inside the tool and how it makes you a faster Java developer by providing the right tools and code hinting."
"From the very beginning to the deepest thing I could possibly want to develop, I believe I could do it all using JetBrains IDEs."
"The best features offered by JetBrains IDEs include a super attractive set of language-specific tools including debuggers, symbol monitors, and the extensions that come with it, which helps me get a much more in-depth view of my code rather than relying on print or log statements."
"Having the complete development environment in Linux in the same way as in Windows is already the best."
"Good support for refactoring."
"Fast, and I never had a crash."
"It seems to me as one of the best IDEs in the market, they are always releasing new versions with positive improvements, and in my opinion, I recommend it in its entirety."
"The UI is pretty good and very intuitive."
"Overall, Windsurf is a great tool, fitting the current AI journey that individual organizations are looking to join, and it is really helping employees and developers accelerate their code generation lifecycle."
"Windsurf has absolutely impacted my day-to-day work by making things faster, mainly through autocomplete."
"As we're experimenting with different AI IDEs, Windsurf has positively impacted my organization by providing options."
"Previously, the development was very slow, and after using Windsurf, my development speed increased by 70 to 80 percent."
"Overall, Windsurf is a very good tool for engineering productivity and coding sessions."
"I think Windsurf is the one that offers the most consistent experience."
"Windsurf has positively impacted my organization in that writing code is very fast and easy."
"Windsurf has created a personal impact on my productivity, allowing me to typically meet deadlines in one week instead of two."
 

Cons

"I have noticed that when I switch to less powerful machines, IntelliJ seems to use up the RAM and the machine gets really slow and really hot quite quickly, which is not the case with Visual Studio."
"One of the main issues with JetBrains IDEs is that it is very heavy, taking a lot of time to load and using a lot of memory."
"One of the most important things to improve is the consumption of resources, mainly memory."
"Sometimes, plugins (from third parties) are not updated."
"Sometimes, plugins (from third parties) are not updated."
"I see as a disadvantage the high prices of the license purchase that is almost $ 500 per year since this limits the use of IDE and especially for those developers who work on their own since it requires a large investment."
"One thing I think could be improved in JetBrains IDEs is the integration with ChatGPT, which I feel could be deeper."
"Sometimes, Windsurf is not able to develop the feature that we want and hallucinates a lot."
"From an accuracy perspective, Windsurf sometimes hallucinates and deviates from the expected results."
"In terms of productivity, there has not been any notable improvement; it was more pleasant at a usage level, but in terms of pure productivity as such, there has not been improvement."
"Windsurf can be improved in several ways, such as enhancing response times and better handling of massive codebases when dealing with over 100K plus files, along with improved security controls."
"Overall, Windsurf is a powerful tool, but one key area is the accuracy and consistency of suggestions."
"It is so much painfully manual; that is not a blocker, but since I work on fairly complex multi-step systems, having strong cross-model memory consistency would make it even more powerful."
"Currently I am not seeing Windsurf to have deep research capability for any of the products."
"Windsurf can improve by making sure to ask the user if they are talking about the same context where the request started."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Wholesaler/Distributor
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JetBrains IDEs?
I am aware of the pricing and licensing of JetBrains IDEs, which I believe is around ninety-nine dollars for a year. I find that to be a very reasonable rate.
What needs improvement with JetBrains IDEs?
One thing I think could be improved in JetBrains IDEs is the integration with ChatGPT, which I feel could be deeper. Some of it is a bit sketchy; it would be great to be able to follow the same thr...
What is your primary use case for JetBrains IDEs?
I use JetBrains IDEs for building applications with Python as the backend. I use JetBrains IDEs as my IDE for really everything, including for database management. I connect through my database the...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Windsurf?
Time saved is very evident. Because time has been saved, if I am completing a task in five days rather than ten days, I can pick another task in the remaining five days. The product team can now de...
What needs improvement with Windsurf?
Overall, Windsurf is a powerful tool, but one key area is the accuracy and consistency of suggestions. While it is very helpful, sometimes the generated code or fixes need manual validation, especi...
What is your primary use case for Windsurf?
I have been using Windsurf for a few months now, mainly as part of my development and productivity workflow. During this time, I explored its capabilities for code assistance, faster debugging, and...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Citi, Siemens, Salesforce, Twitter, HP, New York Times, Pintrest, Airbnb, Expedia, Samsung, Volkswagen, Wikipedia, NASA
Dell, Anduril, MongoDB, Zillow, Atlassian
Find out what your peers are saying about JetBrains IDEs vs. Windsurf and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.