Eclipse IDE vs IAR Embedded Workbench
Eclipse IDE
eclipseide.org
IAR Embedded Workbench
iar.comSide by side
| Figure | Eclipse IDE | IAR Embedded Workbench |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · IDE Software | 8.9 (#5) | 8.5 (#10) |
| Company headquarters | LinkedIn lists headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. | IAR lists its headquarters in Uppsala, Sweden. |
| Documentation | The documentation site provides HTML help for Eclipse IDE 2026-09 (4.41) and earlier quarterly releases. | IAR’s documentation portal covers most releases after June 30, 2025, while older product documentation is supplied in installed software. |
| Extensibility | Users can add plug-ins and products from the Eclipse Marketplace, including through the Marketplace Client inside Eclipse. | The IDE supports custom build tools, external tools, custom argument variables and adding IAR Visual State. |
| Founded | 2004 | 1983 |
| Headquarters | Brussels, Belgium | Uppsala, Sweden |
| Purpose | Eclipse IDE is an open, industry-backed, community-driven IDE and platform. | IAR Embedded Workbench is an embedded development toolchain with an optimized compiler, debugger, and analysis tools. |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.3 out of 5 from 205 reviews | 5.0 out of 5 from 1 review. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.3 out of 5 from 3,221 reviews | The G2 discussion listing shows 0 ratings for IAR Embedded Workbench. |
| Support | The site points users to community chat, issue reporting, documentation, and the Eclipse IDE Working Group mailing list for help. | IAR provides customer portal access to technical support, technical articles, and customer support, plus self-service online training through IAR Academy. |
| What it does | Eclipse IDE is an open, community-driven development environment and platform. | IAR Embedded Workbench combines an IDE, optimizing C/C++ compiler, assembler, linker, libraries, project manager and C-SPY debugger for embedded software development. |
Plans
IAR Embedded Workbench
- IAR Embedded Workbench evaluationFree
- IAR Platform subscriptionPriced on request
In their own words
Eclipse IDE
Eclipse IDE has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
IAR Embedded Workbench
IAR Embedded Workbench is an embedded development toolchain with an IDE, optimizing compiler, linker, assembler, and debugger. It supports over 20 architectures, including Arm, RISC-V, 8051, MSP430, AVR, and several Renesas families. The C-SPY debugger provides real-time trace, code coverage, function profiling, and RTOS awareness. IAR C-STAT offers static analysis; IAR C-RUN detects runtime errors and is available for Arm and RX. The toolchain works with VS Code and Eclipse, supports CMake builds, and can integrate with CI/CD pipelines. Supported debug probes include I-jet, I-jet Trace, J-Link, PE Micro, and ST-LINK. Built-in plugins provide RTOS awareness for systems including PX5 RTOS and Zephyr RTOS. The IDE runs natively on Linux and Windows. A 14-day evaluation is available for non-commercial use, but excludes runtime library source code, C-STAT, and MISRA C support and includes limited technical support. Paid subscription pricing is available by request; the subscription combines named-user licenses and build capacity for automated builds and CI/CD.