JetBrains WebStorm and Rider now free for non-commercial use

JetBrains offers software developers a wide range of integrated development environments (IDEs) for a variety of programming languages. Previously, JetBrains provided limited "community editions" of the Java and Kotlin IDE IntelliJ IDEA and the Python development environment PyCharm, but other JetBrains IDEs had to be purchased after a 30-day trial period.

But from now on, WebStorm, a JavaScript and TypeScript IDE, and Rider, "the world's most popular .NET and game development IDE" according to JetBrains, can be used free of charge for non-commercial purposes. JetBrains is lowering the barrier to entry for students, hobbyists and open source developers and making two more integrated development environments available to a broader user base. Compared to WebStorm and Rider, the community editions of IntelliJ and PyCharm can also be used for commercial projects, but have a reduced feature set.

According to various surveys like Stack Overflow, 68% of developers code outside of work as a hobby, and nearly 40% for professional growth or self-paced learning. This share is even higher for game and web development. For example, game developers often begin their careers by creating games as a hobby, using free game engines. This inspired our choice to apply the new licensing model to WebStorm and Rider

- says JetBrains in a blog post explaining the reasons for making WebStorm and Rider available for non-commercial use (buy JavaScript: The Definitive Guide on Amazon).