Arduino IDE vs PyCharm
Arduino IDE
arduino.cc
PyCharm
jetbrains.comSide by side
| Figure | Arduino IDE | PyCharm |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · IDE Software | 9.1 (#3) | 8.9 (#6) |
| Spec score · Integrated Development Environment Ide Software | 9.1 (#2) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Company founded | LinkedIn lists Arduino as founded in 2005. | JetBrains was founded in 2000. |
| Company size | LinkedIn lists Arduino at 51–200 employees. | LinkedIn lists JetBrains in the 1,001–5,000 employee range. |
| Extensibility | Arduino IDE 2 debugging uses an open framework that lets core maintainers add debugger support for boards. | The IntelliJ Platform exposes more than 1,700 extension points for adding tool windows, settings pages, language support, and other IDE behavior. |
| Headquarters | Arduino's privacy policy gives its registered office as Via Andrea Appiani 25, Monza, Italy. | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| License | Arduino IDE 2 source code and executable distributions are licensed under GNU AGPLv3; bundled third-party components use compatible GPLv2, MIT and BSD-3 licenses. | The open-source PyCharm build consists of open-source software governed by the Apache 2.0 license; proprietary Pro functionality is distributed separately. |
| Purpose | Arduino provides software for creating projects with electronic devices that interact with the physical world. | PyCharm is an IDE built for web, data, and AI/ML professionals. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.5 out of 5 from 144 reviews | 4.6 out of 5 from 788 reviews |
| Rating on GetApp | 4.6 out of 5 from 51 reviews | 4.7 out of 5 from 370 reviews |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 2.9 out of 5 from 19 reviews | 2.6 out of 5 from 102 reviews for JetBrains |
| Security | Arduino says it applies security practices across planning, design, building, testing, release, operation, and monitoring. | Remote development connections use end-to-end TLS 1.3 encryption with SSH security and host-fingerprint verification. |
| Support | Arduino links to documentation, a Help Center, and a support request channel. | PyCharm lists a community forum, bug and issue tracker, plugin repository, and PyCharm blog as support resources. |
| What it does | Arduino IDE is a desktop environment for writing, compiling, debugging and uploading sketches to Arduino-compatible boards. | PyCharm is JetBrains' integrated development environment for Python programming, combining code analysis, debugging, testing, refactoring, project navigation, databases, version control, and collaboration tools. |
Plans
PyCharm
- PyCharm coreFree
- PyCharm FreeFree
- PyCharm Pro personal annual first year$100 a year
- PyCharm Pro$200 a year
- PyCharm Pro commercial annual$200 a year
In their own words
Arduino IDE
Arduino IDE is a free desktop environment for building projects with electronic devices that interact with the physical world. The software page lists version 2.3.10, with downloads for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its editor provides autocompletion, code navigation, and a live debugger; documentation also covers debugging, the Serial Monitor, and the Serial Plotter. Arduino CLI offers a text-based environment to build, compile, and upload sketches, and manage libraries and boards. Documentation describes synchronizing sketches between IDE 2 and Arduino Cloud through a Remote Sketchbook. Arduino IDE 2.0 is open source, with source code hosted on GitHub. Listed targets include Arduino AVR, megaAVR, SAMD, SAM, Mbed OS Nano, and Mbed OS Portenta. Nightly builds preview incoming releases with updated features and bug fixes. Arduino describes its ecosystem as serving students, makers, and professional developers. The software page states that downloads are provided as is and disclaims express and implied warranties.
PyCharm
PyCharm is an IDE for web, data, and AI/ML professionals, with tools for Python development. It provides code completion, PEP 8 checks, inspections, and refactoring, alongside debugging and testing. The IDE includes an integrated terminal, package managers, Docker integration, and support for Pipenv, conda, virtualenv, and Poetry. Version control includes Git, GitHub, GitLab, Subversion, Mercurial, and Perforce; database tools cover MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Redis, and other providers. Local AI code completion can run local LLMs without sending code over the internet. Remote development supports several listed services, and remote connections use end-to-end TLS 1.3 with SSH security and host-fingerprint verification. PyCharm runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its free plan costs nothing and includes one month of Pro. The listed Pro plan costs $200 a year, billed per user per year. PyCharm Ultimate can be evaluated free for 30 days before purchase and license activation are required.