15 Best Web Development IDE You Should Pick in 2023 [Updated]

Our team found our favorite web development IDE. After evaluating several of the most popular HTML and CSS code editors, we narrowed our choices to the following list. Ready to find a reliable integrated development environment (IDE) for your workflow?

We considered several factors in our evaluation. A reliable web development IDE allows you to code, edit, test, and debug. Advanced options also allow for automation, visualization, and customization. Read on for our recommended web development IDEs.

Best Web Development IDE

Dependability, availability, and community support served as additional considerations in our choices for the best web development IDE. We looked at some of the most commonly-used tools in the industry and compared the strengths of each. Of course, your needs will vary depending on the type of web development project you plan to work on. Here are our top choices.

1. Visual Studio Code

Deemed the best JavaScript IDE for Windows, Mac, and Linux by TMS Outsource and voted the most popular in a 2018 survey by the State of JS, Visual Studio Code is a powerful source code editor that comes with a range of tools for JavaScript development. The IDE comes with built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js. It also has plenty of extensions for other languages (such as C++, C#, Python, and PHP). Developed by Windows, Visual Studio Code is great for new programmers as it explains everything from HTML tags to syntax and error handling.

Features include:

Syntax highlighting
Autocomplete with IntelliSense based on variable types
Function definitions
Imported modules
The ability to debug code from the
Custom hotkeys
Templates and boilerplates
Integrating with GitHub
Intellisense, which provides smart completions based on variable types
Customizable themes

2. Atom by GitHub

Atom is a fantastic IDE for JavaScript programming. Because it’s created by GitHub, it means that there is a thriving community to turn to if you run into any issues. It works with Mac, Windows, and Linux and ships with a package manager for installing new packages. The app is highly customizable, but can also be used well without configuring or customizing anything.

Features include:

Find, preview, and replace text as you type in a file across all projects
Easily browse and open files and projects in one window
Teletype tool - enables collaboration with other developers from within the editor
Very customizable/hackable
Package manager

3. Sublime Text 3

Sublime Text 3 is a flexible, free IDE for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It supports a number of different programming and markup languages, including Python, C, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. The interface is known to be clutter-free and fast.

Features include:

Code autocompletion - snippets and macros
Can be tweaked to boost productivity
Enhanced pane management
Go to definition
Go to symbol
Multiple selections
Command palette
Split editing
Instant project switch
Customizable key bindings, menus, snippets, and more

4. PyCharm

PyCharm is a decent free IDE for web development in a number of languages, including Python, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Node.js, and more. The IDE is compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux and has a paid sister software you can purchase if you’d like something more reliable. According to some users, the free version of PyCharm can be buggy, especially the autocomplete feature.

Features include:

Easy integration with Git, Mercurial, and SVN
Customizable interface with VIM emulation
JavaScript, Python, and Django debuggers,
Supports Google App Engine

5. IntelliJ IDEA

IntelliJ IDEA is a Java-centric IDE that is designed to maximize productivity. One of the best features of this IDE is its ability to automatically add handy tools that are relevant to the context. As well as supporting Java languages, it supports HTML, PHP, Python, Ruby, and more. It’s free but has a paid counterpart with a fuller suite of development tools.

Features include:

Test runner UI
Code coverage
Git integration
Supports multiple build systems
Extensive database editor and UML designer
Supports Google App Engine, Grails, GWT
Deployment and debugging tools for most application servers
Intelligent text editors for HTML, CSS, and Java
Integrated version control
Automates repetitive programming tasks
Advanced code completion
Built-in static code analyzers

6. PHPStorm

PHPStorm is a great coding environment for those who work with PHP frameworks like WordPress, Drupal, Magento, and others. It has an interface that is both great to look at and easy to use. It’s compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux and supports a number of different front-end programming languages like HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and more. The IDE can be customized with themes and extensions to enhance your programming experience.

Features include

Visual debugger
Automatic code completion
Error highlighting
Remote deployment
Databases/SQL
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript editor
Command-line tools
Smart code navigator
Refactoring and debugging tools
Docker
REST Client
Composer
Unit testing

7. Webstorm

Webstorm is a slick IDE that’s feature-rich and user-friendly. It’s designed to produce state-of-the-art web apps and supports languages like HTML, JavaScript, CSS, React, and more. The IDE is compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Features include:

Intelligent code completion
Multi-line todos
Automatic refactoring
Debugger
Syntax error detection
Unit testing
Integration with VCS
Cross-platform features
Powerful navigation
Parameter hints
Seamless tool integration
Git integration

8. NetBeans

NetBeans is a free, easy-to-use IDE that works well with JavaScript, HTML, PHP, C, and C++. As well as supporting a number of different programming languages, it also is available in English, Brazillian Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese. NetBeans isn’t ideal for those just starting programming, as the package can be tricky to set up.

Features include:

Line indentation
Word and bracket matching
Source code highlighting
Code refactoring
Coding tips, templates, and generators available
Modifiable workspace

9. Komodo Edit

Komodo Edit is a free and open-source counterpart to the paid Komodo IDE. It is a great programming environment for JavaScript which allows you to work with different frameworks and languages. The IDE works well across Mac, Windows, and Linux and is a great way to test the Komodo platform before committing to Komodo IDE.

Features include:

Customizable UI (split view and multi-window editing)
Python and PHP code profiling
Code collaboration for multi-user editing
Autocomplete
Refactoring
Many available add ons

10. RJ TextEd

Released as freeware, RJ TextEd is a full-featured text and source editor with Unicode support. It supports JavaScript, PHP, ASP, HTML, and CSS.

Features include:

Auto-completion
Code-folding
Column mode
Multi-edit and multi-select
Document map
Annotation bar
Advanced sorting
ASCII and binary files
CSS and HTML wizards
Highlighting colors in CSS/SASS/LESS.
Advanced color hint that can convert between color formats.
Dockable panels.
FTP and SFTP client with synchronization.
File explorer, text clips, code explorer, project manager.
Convert between code pages, Unicode formats and text formats.
Unicode and ANSI code page detection.
Open/Save UTF-8 encoded files without a signature (BOM).
Unicode file paths and file names.
HTML validation, format, and repair.
Tools available like syntax editor, color picker, charmap

11. Brackets

Created for web designers by web designers (FWDBWD?), Brackets is a powerful, but lightweight editor that comes with a set of great visual tools and preprocessor supports that allow for easy designing in the browser. The open-source project is free of charge and has a thriving community that is always there to lend a hand. The iDE offers live HTML, CSS, and JavaScript coding and supports programming in Perl, Ruby, Java, Python, and many other languages.

Features include:

Inline editors
Live preview
Split view
Preprocessor Support
Quick edit and Live Highlight with LESS and SCSS files
Easy-to-use UI
Integration with Theseus (an open-source JavaScript debugger)
Fast automatic code completion feature
Plenty of useful extensions available (e.g Autoprefixer, code-folding, markdown preview, smart highlighting, and snippets)

12. AWS Cloud9

Released in 2010, AWS Cloud9 is a proprietary IDE only available to those with an AWS account. AWS Cloud is great for developing JavaScript programs – it also supports development for C, C++, Go, Node.js, Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby projects.

Features include:

An inbuilt terminal that supports npm and basic Unix commands
Code completion
Real-time language analysis
Simultaneous editing
Variable/function name refactoring
Syntax highlighting
Functionality can be extended by using plugins
Variety of themes to customize the look of the IDE
Tabbed file management
Debugger

13. Bluefish

Bluefish is a cross-platform, lightweight IDE that can be used with Windows, macOS, Solaris, and many Linux distros. It supports a variety of different programming languages, including HTML, CSS, Perl, SQL, Ruby, PHP, Python, and more.

Features include:

Syntax highlighting
Code auto-completion
Auto-recovery
Code folding

14. Code::Blocks

Code::Blocks is a lightweight, yet powerful cross-platform IDE that can be used in Windows, Solaris, and various Linux distros. It supports C, C++, PHP, HTML, and JavaScript programming. The open-source IDE ships with multiple compilers, including GCC, Microsoft Visual C++, and Digital Mars, amongst others.

Features include:

Code refactoring
Syntax highlighting
Code folding
Auto code completion
Customizable – plugins and extension support available

15. Light Table

Light Table is a “new” IDE. It has a reactive work surface which enables the creation and exploration of apps and programs. With Light Table, you can move things around, delete clutter, and move information to places you need it the most. The unique IDE runs on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Features include:

Embedding anything
Customizable
PrintIn Watches
Inline evaluation
Plugin manager
Language documentation pane
Autocomplete

Here's a video demo of the Light Table IDE.

If this information was helpful, we also covered a detailed evaluation of this year's best SEO tools.

Conclusion

There are plenty of great IDEs out there for web development. Your choice depends on what you want to accomplish. Select a web development IDE based on your preferred programming languages and development strategy.

Want to learn web development? The Web Developer Bootcamp course by Udemy can be a great asset for your learning journey.

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15 Best Web Development IDE You Should Pick in 2023