JetBrains
JetBrains s.r.o. is a private software company founded in 2000 in Prague, Czech Republic, by Russian engineers Sergey Dmitriev, Valentin Kipyatkov, and Eugene Belyaev.[1][2] The firm specializes in creating intelligent tools for software developers, most notably integrated development environments (IDEs) like IntelliJ IDEA—the leading IDE for Java—and the Kotlin programming language, which has gained prominence for its conciseness and multiplatform capabilities, including official endorsement by Google for Android development.[3][4] Headquartered in Prague with over 2,200 employees across global offices, JetBrains has bootstrapped its growth to serve more than 15 million users and 287,000 business customers, earning over 115 international awards for its products without relying on venture capital funding.[5][6] Its defining characteristics include a focus on high-quality, productivity-enhancing software built using its own tools, fostering innovations in code analysis, refactoring, and cross-platform development.[5]
History
Founding and Early Development (2000–2005)
JetBrains was established in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2000 by three Russian software developers—Sergey Dmitriev, Valentin Kipyatkov, and Eugene Belyaev—who had previously collaborated at Together Soft, a company focused on visual modeling tools. Initially operating under the name IntelliJ Software, the founders bootstrapped the venture without external funding, driven by a goal to develop superior tools for Java programmers frustrated with existing IDE limitations in refactoring and code navigation. The company's headquarters remained in Prague, reflecting the founders' relocation from Russia to leverage the Czech Republic's business environment.[7][8][9] The core product, IntelliJ IDEA, emerged as the flagship offering, with its inaugural version released in January 2001 as a commercial Java IDE emphasizing intelligent code assistance, refactoring capabilities, and plugin extensibility—features that differentiated it from competitors like Eclipse. This early iteration supported JDK 1.3 and introduced automated code generation and navigation tools, addressing pain points in large-scale Java development. By mid-2002, JetBrains formalized its structure with the incorporation of JetBrains s.r.o. on January 2, while continuing to iterate on IDEA, such as version 2.6 in June 2002, which added JDK 1.4 compatibility.[10][11][12] From 2003 to 2005, the company concentrated on enhancing IntelliJ IDEA's stability and feature set, including improved debugging, version control integration, and UI customization, fostering adoption among professional developers despite the absence of a free edition until later years. Bootstrapped growth allowed full control over product direction, with revenue generated through perpetual licenses priced around $499 for professional use. This period solidified JetBrains' reputation for high-quality, paid developer tools, though it operated with a small team primarily in Prague before gradual office expansions.[13][14]Expansion and Product Diversification (2006–2015)
In 2006, JetBrains extended its product line beyond IDEs into continuous integration and build management with TeamCity, enabling automated build, testing, and deployment processes for development teams. The company also advanced its .NET tools, releasing ReSharper 2.5 in December, which added support for .NET Framework 3.0 and Windows Presentation Foundation, reflecting ongoing adaptation to evolving Microsoft technologies. These developments broadened JetBrains' focus from code editing and refactoring to encompass team-oriented workflow automation, supporting larger-scale software projects. Diversification accelerated in the late 2000s and early 2010s as JetBrains targeted emerging languages and paradigms. In January 2010, it announced a public preview of PyCharm, a Python-specific IDE, with version 1.0 released later that year to capitalize on Python's rising adoption in data science and web development. This was followed in 2011 by WebStorm for JavaScript, HTML, and CSS workflows, and AppCode for Objective-C and iOS/macOS development, establishing language-specialized IDEs as a core strategy. Additionally, JetBrains introduced YouTrack in 2010 as an issue tracker and project management tool, further filling gaps in the software lifecycle beyond coding. A pivotal innovation occurred in July 2011 with the unveiling of Project Kotlin, a pragmatic, statically typed programming language for the JVM designed to remedy Java's verbosity and null safety issues while ensuring full interoperability. Open-sourced under the Apache 2.0 license in February 2012, Kotlin integrated seamlessly with IntelliJ IDEA and laid groundwork for future ecosystem expansion. In 2009, JetBrains released the source code for IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition under Apache 2.0, fostering community contributions and wider adoption without compromising its commercial Ultimate edition. Company growth paralleled product expansion, with JetBrains relocating its headquarters to a larger Prague facility in October 2012 to support an increasing workforce amid organic, funding-free scaling. U.S. presence strengthened through offices in Foster City and Marlton, enhancing sales and support in key markets. By 2015, this period had transformed JetBrains from a niche IDE provider into a multifaceted vendor covering IDEs, build tools, trackers, and languages, serving millions of developers across diverse stacks.[6][15]Recent Growth and AI Focus (2016–Present)
In February 2016, JetBrains released Kotlin 1.0, the first stable version of its open-source programming language targeting the JVM and Android platforms.[16] Kotlin's momentum built further when Google announced official first-class support for the language in Android development on May 17, 2017.[17] These developments fueled product adoption and organizational expansion, with the company adding 110 new employees that year.[18] JetBrains maintained consistent double-digit revenue growth into the 2020s, reaching over 1,500 employees across nine global offices by 2020.[19] In 2022, revenue rose 11% year-over-year, alongside a 24% increase in user numbers.[20] By 2023, the active user base had expanded to 11.4 million, supported by 88 Fortune Global 100 companies among its customers, while the team grew to 2,245 members and revenue advanced 5.6%.[21] That year, JetBrains introduced five new products, including the RustRover IDE for Rust development.[22] From 2023 onward, JetBrains intensified its focus on AI to enhance developer productivity. The company launched JetBrains AI Assistant in December 2023, an in-IDE tool powered by large language models for tasks like code generation, explanation, testing, and chat-based assistance.[23] This became the fastest-growing product in JetBrains' lineup, with 2024 updates adding multimodal capabilities and expanded model support.[23] AI integrations extended to core IDEs, enabling features such as acting as an MCP server for third-party AI agents in IntelliJ IDEA 2025.2, alongside privacy-focused enterprise plans.[24] CEO Kirill Skrygan has highlighted AI's transformative impact on software development, urging developers to upskill amid evolving tools.[25] Specialized AI advancements include DataSpell's shift to an AI-first environment for data analysis in its 2025.2 release.[26] These efforts align with broader industry trends, as evidenced by JetBrains' 2024 Developer Ecosystem report documenting rising AI adoption among 23,000 surveyed developers.[27]Products and Technologies
Integrated Development Environments
JetBrains produces a family of specialized integrated development environments (IDEs) constructed on the IntelliJ Platform, which supplies foundational capabilities including context-aware code completion, automated refactoring, inline debugging, and seamless integration with version control systems like Git.[28] These IDEs target specific programming languages or workflows, offering out-of-the-box support for building, testing, and deploying applications while minimizing the need for external plugins through built-in tools for tasks such as database management and unit testing.[29] The platform's modularity enables shared enhancements across products, such as AI-assisted code generation introduced in recent versions.[24] IntelliJ IDEA serves as the cornerstone IDE, optimized for Java and Kotlin development, with features like advanced code navigation, Spring framework integration, and support for Java 25 as of 2025 updates.[30] It is available in a free Community Edition for core functionality and a paid Ultimate Edition that includes enterprise tools like web development plugins and database connectivity.[31] Surveys indicate that IntelliJ IDEA holds an 84% share among Java IDE users in 2025 and 78% preference among Java developers.[32][30] Other prominent IDEs include PyCharm for Python, featuring Jupyter notebook integration and scientific computing tools; WebStorm for JavaScript, TypeScript, and front-end frameworks like React; PhpStorm for PHP with Symfony and Laravel support; CLion for C and C++ with CMake integration; GoLand for Go programming; and Rider for .NET languages like C# and F#.[33] Each provides language-specific inspections, refactoring, and debugging tailored to its domain, with cross-IDE consistency in user interface and extensibility via the JetBrains Marketplace.[34] DataSpell targets data science workflows with R and Jupyter support, while DataGrip focuses on database querying and schema management across SQL dialects. Adoption of these IDEs stems from their performance in large codebases and productivity features, though they require more resources than lightweight editors like VS Code.[35] JetBrains maintains free tiers for select IDEs, such as PyCharm Community and IntelliJ IDEA Community, under open-source licenses, while professional editions operate on subscription models starting at approximately $149 annually per user as of 2025.[36] Recent innovations include Fleet, a polyglot editor emphasizing speed and remote development, still in beta with free access.[33]Programming Languages and Runtimes
Kotlin is the primary programming language developed by JetBrains, introduced as a modern, concise alternative to Java for the JVM while emphasizing full interoperability, null safety, and reduced boilerplate code.[4] Development of Kotlin began in 2010, with the first public preview released in July 2011 and the language open-sourced under the Apache 2.0 license in February 2012; its first stable release, version 1.0, arrived on February 15, 2016.[16][37] Kotlin's design prioritizes pragmatic features like extension functions, coroutines for asynchronous programming, and type inference, enabling it to compile to multiple runtimes while maintaining compatibility with existing Java codebases.[38] Kotlin targets the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) as its foundational runtime, producing bytecode that runs on any JVM-compliant environment, including standard OpenJDK or JetBrains' customized JetBrains Runtime, an OpenJDK fork optimized for IDE performance.[39] This JVM target supports server-side applications, Android development (where Kotlin has been Google's preferred language since 2017), and enterprise software, leveraging the mature JVM ecosystem for garbage collection, just-in-time compilation, and libraries.[40] For web development, Kotlin compiles to JavaScript via Kotlin/JS, allowing shared code between client-side browsers and server-side JVM backends, with access to npm ecosystems and frameworks like React.[40] In addition to JVM and JavaScript, Kotlin/Native enables compilation to native binaries using the LLVM compiler infrastructure, producing standalone executables that run without a virtual machine or garbage collector dependency on supported platforms such as Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, and embedded systems.[41] This runtime targets scenarios requiring high performance or small footprints, such as desktop apps via Kotlin Multiplatform or low-level systems programming, with interoperability to C libraries through Kotlin's foreign function interface.[41] Kotlin Multiplatform extends these runtimes by allowing a single codebase to share business logic across JVM, JavaScript, Native, and even WebAssembly targets, with platform-specific code handled via expect/actual declarations.[42] As of Kotlin 2.0 in May 2024, enhancements include improved stable IR (Intermediate Representation) for all targets, boosting compilation speed and cross-platform consistency.[42] JetBrains maintains Kotlin's core compiler and standard library, with ongoing optimizations like collaborations for JVM latency reductions.[43] No other full-fledged programming languages have been developed by JetBrains beyond Kotlin and its ecosystem extensions.[44]Team Collaboration and DevOps Tools
JetBrains offers a suite of tools designed to facilitate team collaboration and streamline DevOps workflows, emphasizing integration with its IDEs and support for agile practices. These include TeamCity for continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), YouTrack for issue tracking and project management, and Code With Me for real-time collaborative coding.[3][45][46][47] TeamCity, first released on October 2, 2006, serves as a Java-based CI/CD server that automates build, test, and deployment processes for software projects.[48] It supports flexible workflows through features such as build chain visualization, parallel execution on distributed agents, and configuration as code, allowing teams to manage pipelines via version control systems like Git.[49] Additional capabilities include out-of-the-box support for unit testing, code quality inspection, and deployment automation, with recent updates in 2025 introducing integrated pipelines for on-premises and cloud environments.[50][51] TeamCity integrates natively with JetBrains IDEs and other tools, enabling developers to trigger builds directly from code editors and monitor results in real-time, which reduces context switching in DevOps pipelines.[52] YouTrack functions as a browser-based issue tracker and project management platform, adaptable to various workflows including agile, Kanban, and Scrum.[53] It provides tools for task creation, agile boards, time tracking, Gantt charts, and reporting, with built-in support for handling large volumes of issues, attachments, and custom workflows via scripts or apps.[54] YouTrack emphasizes team collaboration through features like notifications, knowledge base integration, and customer support portals, allowing diverse teams to track progress and analyze performance metrics across 20 predefined report types.[55] Available in cloud and on-premises editions, it supports mobile access and integrates with version control systems for linking issues to code changes.[56] Code With Me enables pair programming and collaborative development by allowing users to share IDE sessions securely, with guests following edits, running code, and debugging in real-time without needing full IDE licenses.[47] It supports on-premises deployment for enterprise security needs and integrates with JetBrains Gateway for remote development environments.[47] JetBrains previously offered Space as an all-in-one platform combining code reviews, issue tracking, Git repositories, and team communication, launched on December 5, 2019.[57] However, due to limited adoption, JetBrains announced on May 27, 2024, the discontinuation of Space in its original form, pivoting to SpaceCode—a focused tool for Git hosting and code reviews—while migrating select features into other products.[58] Existing Space users received options for data export or transition to alternatives like TeamCity and YouTrack.[59]AI-Powered Developer Assistants
JetBrains AI Assistant, publicly released on December 6, 2023, integrates large language models directly into its integrated development environments (IDEs) to enhance developer productivity through features like context-aware code completion, generation of code snippets or entire functions, automated test creation, and explanatory commentary on code fragments.[60][61] The tool supports refactoring suggestions, documentation writing, commit message generation, and an in-IDE chat interface for querying codebases, debugging issues, or generating terminal commands, with responses tailored to the project's context and coding style.[62][63] It became generally available alongside the 2023.3 IDE updates for products including IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, and CLion, and extends to plugins for Visual Studio Code and Android Studio.[64] The AI Assistant leverages external models such as those from OpenAI and Anthropic— with Claude integration added in February 2025—alongside JetBrains' proprietary Mellum large language model, optimized specifically for code completion tasks and introduced in early 2025 to improve accuracy in generating syntactically correct code aligned with project conventions.[65][66] Access requires a subscription tier: a free limited version accompanies IDE licenses, while paid plans like AI Pro (10 credits per 30 days for $100 annually) and AI Ultimate (35 credits) enable heavier usage, with credits governing API calls to underlying models.[67][68] Enterprise editions provide additional controls for security, compliance, and on-premises deployment.[69] In January 2025, JetBrains announced Junie, an agentic AI coding agent designed for autonomous task execution within IDEs, capable of planning multi-step workflows, writing and refining code, running tests, executing commands, and iterating on changes to resolve errors or warnings without direct human intervention.[70][71] Unlike the reactive assistance of AI Assistant, Junie operates in "code mode" for independent implementation of developer-specified goals—such as building features or fixing bugs—and "ask mode" for collaborative brainstorming or querying, with built-in verification steps to ensure functional outcomes.[72] Initially launched in early access preview for macOS and Linux users of IntelliJ IDEA-based IDEs on January 23, 2025, it expanded via plugin to broader support, emphasizing test-driven development and integration with tools like version control systems.[73][74] Junie incorporates advanced models including GPT-5 for enhanced reasoning and has been positioned as a "coding partner" to accelerate complex tasks while maintaining developer oversight.[75]Additional Utilities and Frameworks
JetBrains offers a suite of specialized utilities that complement its core development tools, including the Toolbox App for streamlined management of software installations and updates, profiling instruments for performance analysis, and the Meta Programming System (MPS) for domain-specific language development.[33][76] The Toolbox App, launched on May 25, 2016, enables users to install, update, and configure multiple JetBrains IDEs and plugins from a centralized interface, supporting automatic updates, rollback options, and integration with project directories across different tools.[77][78] Profiling utilities such as dotTrace and dotMemory target .NET applications, providing detailed insights into performance bottlenecks and memory usage. dotTrace, a performance profiler, analyzes execution time for methods, SQL queries, HTTP requests, and unit tests, helping developers identify and resolve slowdowns in production-like environments.[79] dotMemory focuses on memory profiling, capturing snapshots to detect leaks, excessive allocations, and garbage collection issues, with built-in unit testing support for automated verification.[80] These tools integrate seamlessly with IDEs like Rider and ReSharper, forming part of the dotUltimate bundle, and include command-line options for CI/CD pipelines.[81] The Meta Programming System (MPS) serves as a framework for constructing custom domain-specific languages (DSLs) through projectional editing, where users define syntax, semantics, and generators without traditional parsing.[76] Introduced as an open-source project, MPS supports language-oriented programming by allowing modular DSL creation, code generation to target languages like Java or Kotlin, and interoperability with existing codebases via Java libraries.[82][83] It includes IDE features such as completion, refactoring, and error checking, facilitating rapid prototyping of tailored notations for complex domains like business rules or scientific modeling.[84] As of version 2025.2, MPS emphasizes extensible DSLs deployable immediately for model-to-text transformations.[76] Additional decompilation and coverage tools, such as dotPeek and dotCover, extend these utilities for reverse engineering and testing. dotPeek decompiles .NET assemblies into readable C# or IL code, aiding debugging and library inspection without source access. dotCover measures code coverage during unit tests, integrating with frameworks like NUnit and MSTest to report line, branch, and method metrics.[85] These components enhance developer workflows by addressing diagnostics and quality assurance outside primary IDE functionalities.[81]Open Source Contributions
Kotlin Ecosystem and Adoption
The Kotlin ecosystem comprises the language's core standard library, which extends Java utilities with null safety and extension functions; concurrency support through coroutines for lightweight asynchronous programming; and frameworks such as Ktor for asynchronous server and client applications, Exposed for type-safe SQL interactions, and Arrow for functional programming abstractions.[4] These components facilitate development on the JVM while maintaining full Java interoperability, with additional tooling for data science via Kotlin DataFrame and serialization libraries like kotlinx.serialization.[86] Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) extends the ecosystem by compiling to multiple targets including JVM, JavaScript, Native, and Android, enabling shared business logic and reducing platform-specific code duplication; it achieved stable status in November 2023.[87] Compose Multiplatform builds on this for declarative UI across desktop, mobile, web, and embedded systems, integrating with JetBrains IDEs for optimized workflows.[86] The open-source nature, governed partly by the Kotlin Foundation, fosters community contributions, though JetBrains maintains primary development and tooling integration.[4] Adoption expanded significantly after Google announced Kotlin as a first-class language for Android on May 17, 2017, during Google I/O, prompting widespread migration from Java due to its conciseness and reduced boilerplate.[17] By 2025, Kotlin supports over 2.5 million developers worldwide.[88] Among Kotlin users, 66% apply it to Android development, reflecting its dominance in mobile; JetBrains surveys indicate 76-79% of these users previously relied on Java, with rapid onboarding of newcomers comprising nearly 24% of the community.[89] [90] Server-side usage, often with Spring Boot or Vert.x, accounts for about 40% of Kotlin applications, showing steady but slower growth compared to mobile due to entrenched Java ecosystems in enterprise backends.[91] Multiplatform adoption accelerates for cross-platform logic sharing, with KMP usage up 65% year-over-year in some metrics.[92] Enterprises like Netflix, Uber, AWS, Atlassian, Philips, and Forbes deploy Kotlin for Android apps, backend services, and shared modules—Forbes shares over 80% of app logic via KMP—prioritizing its compile-time safety and performance over Java's verbosity.[4][4]Typography and Developer Fonts
JetBrains developed JetBrains Mono, a monospaced typeface optimized for programming and terminal use, released on January 15, 2020.[93] Designed in collaboration with type designers from the JetBrains team and external contributors, it emphasizes readability at small sizes through features like a high x-height for lowercase letters, reduced visual noise via simplified glyph forms, and balanced whitespace to minimize eye strain during extended coding sessions.[94] The font includes 142 programming-specific ligatures—such as combined forms for operators like!=, ==, and =>—that enhance code legibility without altering semantics, alongside contextual alternates for distinguishing similar characters like 0 and O, or l and 1.[95]
Distributed under the open-source SIL Open Font License 1.1 (OFL-1.1), JetBrains Mono permits free use in commercial and non-commercial projects, with modifications allowed under license terms.[96] It supports Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts, with version 2.2 adding full Cyrillic coverage; the family comprises eight weights (from Thin to ExtraBold) plus matching italics, and variable font formats for efficient web and app deployment.[97] Integrated into JetBrains IDEs since version 2019.3, it became a default option for code editors, contributing to its adoption in tools like Visual Studio Code via extensions.[96] Updates continue via GitHub releases, with version 2.304 issued on January 14, 2023, incorporating fixes for rendering and glyph consistency.[98]
Beyond core design, JetBrains Mono incorporates developer-centric optimizations such as slightly taller glyphs for better vertical rhythm in code blocks and subtle curves in terminals to reduce pixel aliasing on low-DPI displays.[99] Its open-source nature has fostered community contributions, including expanded ligature sets and script support, positioning it as a benchmark for monospaced fonts in developer workflows alongside competitors like Fira Code.[94] JetBrains maintains the project repository on GitHub, ensuring ongoing compatibility with evolving IDE features and hardware rendering advancements.[96]