Sublime Text vs. IntelliJ IDEA

Comparison of Sublime Text and IntelliJ IDEA
Real cost
	Sublime Text A very fast and light editor for a one-time price. It has fewer built-in tools than an IDE. Swap this Tool Use MindNode instead	IntelliJ IDEA The smartest IDE for Java and Kotlin, with excellent refactoring. It is heavy and the full set costs money. Swap this Tool Use MindNode instead
Price	95 € One-time payment	170 € per year
Payment	One-time payment	Subscription
Trial	No trial	30-day trial
Free Tier	Can be tried for free without a time limit	Free core features for Java and Kotlin
Open Source	No	No
Features and limits
Main Features	Very fast, also with huge files Multiple cursors Go to anything Package ecosystem Low memory use	Deep code understanding and refactoring Strong Java and Kotlin support Built-in debugger and test tools Database tools Framework support
Limits	Fewer built-in tools than an IDE Smaller package ecosystem than VS Code	Heavy on memory The full feature set needs a subscription
Compatibility and trust
Supported Operating Systems	WindowsmacOS	WindowsmacOS
Verified on	26 Jul 2026	20 Oct 2026
Where to buy
Vendor	Go to vendor’s site: Sublime Text (opens in a new tab) One-time payment for a licence with three years of updates. Approximate list price in euros, check the vendor.	Go to vendor’s site: IntelliJ IDEA (opens in a new tab) Free core features; subscription for the full set. Approximate list price in euros, check the vendor.

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