TL;DR: Visual Studio Code is the most used IDE in 2026: 75.9% of developers use it, according to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025. Visual Studio (29%), Notepad++ (27.4%), IntelliJ IDEA (27.1%) and Vim (24.3%) complete the top five. Cursor is the highest-ranked AI-native editor, sixth at 17.9%.
Cursor was not on Stack Overflow's IDE list in 2024. A year later it placed sixth, ahead of PyCharm, Android Studio and Xcode, and on 14 August 2026 it became part of SpaceX. Terminal-based Claude Code entered the same list at 9.7%.
- 1Neovim is the most admired editor at 74.4%: three in four of its users want to keep using it.
- 2Among professional developers who use AI, Cursor reaches 21.7% and Claude Code 11.3%.
- 351% of professional developers use AI tools every day.
- 4Eclipse fell from 9.4% to 7.1%, and only 32.9% of its users want to keep it.
The 18 Most Used IDEs and Code Editors in 2026
The 18 most used IDEs in 2026, in order, are VS Code, Visual Studio, Notepad++, IntelliJ IDEA, Vim, Cursor, PyCharm, Android Studio, Jupyter, Neovim, Nano, Sublime Text, Xcode, Claude Code, WebStorm, Zed, Rider and Eclipse. The ranking is the IDE question of the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, answered by 26,143 developers.
| IDE | All devs | Pros using AI | Admired |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. VS Code | 75.9% | 77.7% | 62.6% |
| 2. Visual Studio | 29% | 29% | 51.8% |
| 3. Notepad++ | 27.4% | 26% | 54.7% |
| 4. IntelliJ IDEA | 27.1% | 29.1% | 58.2% |
| 5. Vim | 24.3% | 23.3% | 59.3% |
| 6. Cursor | 17.9% | 21.7% | 46.7% |
| 7. PyCharm | 15% | 14.7% | 52.9% |
| 8. Android Studio | 15% | 15.2% | 43.2% |
| 9. Jupyter | 14.1% | 12.7% | 53.8% |
| 10. Neovim | 14% | 13.5% | 74.4% |
| 11. Nano | 12.2% | 11% | 51.2% |
| 12. Sublime Text | 10.5% | 10.8% | 50.1% |
| 13. Xcode | 10% | 11% | 41.3% |
| 14. Claude Code | 9.7% | 11.3% | 52.5% |
| 15. WebStorm | 7.6% | 8.8% | 59.1% |
| 16. Zed | 7.3% | 7.9% | 57% |
| 17. Rider | 7.1% | 8.1% | 60.8% |
| 18. Eclipse | 7.1% | 6.3% | 32.9% |
1. Visual Studio Code: 75.9%
48.9% of all developers say they want to work in VS Code next year, more than double the share for any other editor. Stack Overflow notes it has been the most used IDE five years running. It rose from 73.6% in 2024 to 75.9%.
Microsoft's answer to the AI editors was to open its own. In June 2025 it open-sourced the GitHub Copilot Chat extension under the MIT license, the first step in making VS Code an open-source AI editor. Cursor and Windsurf are both built on VS Code's open-source core, so a VS Code user can switch to either without relearning the basics.
The 42% in that summary applies to Java developers only, from Perforce's 2025 Java Developer Productivity Report; the IntelliJ entry below has the detail. Our IDE statistics roundup covers pricing and extension numbers.
2. Visual Studio: 29%
Visual Studio, the full Microsoft IDE for .NET and C++, is a different product from VS Code, and it still ranks second. Microsoft made Visual Studio 2026 generally available on 11 November 2025. Its share went from 29.3% in 2024 to 29%, which fits a tool chosen by platform rather than taste: Windows desktop and enterprise .NET work.
3. Notepad++: 27.4%
A free Windows text editor sits above IntelliJ IDEA. Notepad++ rose from 23.9% in 2024 to 27.4%, the biggest gain of any tool in the top five. It runs only on Windows, and its authors release it under the GNU General Public License.
4. IntelliJ IDEA: 27.1%
IntelliJ IDEA ranks fourth overall but first in Java, and it is the second most wanted IDE after VS Code. The size of its lead depends on the survey. Perforce's 2025 Java Developer Productivity Report found 84% of Java developers use IntelliJ, 31% VS Code and 28% Eclipse, with 42% using more than one Java IDE.
- 84% of Java developers use IntelliJ IDEA
- 42% use more than one Java IDE
- 72% of Java developers use IntelliJ IDEA
- 5,000+ Java developers surveyed
JetBrains' own State of Java 2025 puts IntelliJ at 72%. In 2025 JetBrains also merged Community and Ultimate into one installer; Ultimate features still need a subscription.
5. Vim: 24.3%
One developer in four uses Vim, up from 21.6% in 2024. It runs in any terminal, including a remote server over SSH where a graphical IDE will not start, and its users are loyal: 59.3% want to keep using it, a higher share than Visual Studio or Notepad++ get.
6. Cursor: 17.9%
Cursor is the only AI-native editor in the top 10, and it is far more popular with working developers than with learners: 21.7% of professionals who use AI, against 11.3% of people learning to code. It is a fork of VS Code that adds an agent able to plan and edit across many files. Cursor became part of SpaceX on 14 August 2026, completing a deal that started in April.
Satisfaction lags the hype. Only 46.7% of Cursor users want to keep using it, below the survey's big editors. Windsurf, its closest VS Code-based rival at 4.9%, agreed to be acquired by Cognition in 2025. Our Cursor statistics and Cursor vs GitHub Copilot comparison cover pricing and usage.
7. PyCharm: 15%
PyCharm is more popular with people learning to code (21.8%) than with professionals (14.2%). JetBrains made PyCharm one unified product in 2025: the core, including Jupyter notebook support, is free, and a Pro subscription adds the rest. Its share was flat, 15.1% in 2024 against 15% in 2025.
8. Android Studio: 15%
Android Studio is one of the least loved tools on the list: only 43.2% of its users want to keep using it. It is Google's official IDE for native Android apps, which leaves Android developers few alternatives. Its share slipped from 16.1% in 2024 to 15%, and learners use it more than professionals (21.9% against 14.8%).
9. Jupyter Notebook and JupyterLab: 14.1%
Almost one learner in four uses Jupyter (22.9%), against 12% of professionals. A Jupyter notebook mixes live code, equations, text and charts in one web document, which suits data analysis and model building. You run a cell, check its output, then run the next.
10. Neovim: 14%
Neovim has the most loyal users of any tool in the survey: 74.4% want to keep using it. It is also far more common among learners (23.7%) than professionals (13.6%). The current major version, Neovim 0.11, shipped in March 2025. With language-server plugins it behaves like a full IDE inside the terminal.
Emacs, the other long-lived terminal editor, was used by 4.2% of developers in 2024 and did not make the 2025 chart.
11. Nano: 12.2%
Nano rose from 9.2% to 12.2%, a bigger jump than Vim's. GNU nano is a small terminal editor with no plugins or modes to learn, which makes it the quick option on a server. Learners use it more than professionals, 18% against 11.3%.
12. Sublime Text: 10.5%
A Sublime Text licence costs $99, a one-off price rather than a subscription. It still holds a tenth of developers, against 10.9% in 2024, and half its users (50.1%) want to keep it.
13. Xcode: 10%
Xcode is the only real option for iOS and macOS apps, and it has the second-lowest admiration score among the top 18 at 41.3%. Apple added coding agents in February 2026: Xcode 26.3 lets developers run Anthropic's Claude Agent and OpenAI's Codex inside the IDE. Its share edged up from 9.3% to 10%.
14. Claude Code: 9.7%
Claude Code is the only tool in the top 18 without an editor window. It is an AI agent that runs in the terminal, reads a project, and makes changes across files that the developer then reviews. Anthropic made it generally available in May 2025, with integrations for VS Code and JetBrains IDEs.
The same Stack Overflow survey found 84% of developers using or planning to use AI tools. Our Claude statistics track Claude Code's growth since.
15. WebStorm: 7.6%
WebStorm is JetBrains' JavaScript and TypeScript IDE. In October 2024 JetBrains made WebStorm and Rider free for non-commercial use. Usage held steady at 7.6%, against 7.5% in 2024, and its users rate it well: 59.1% want to keep it.
16. Zed: 7.3%
Zed is the one AI editor on the list that is not a VS Code fork. Its team wrote it in Rust and made it open source under the GPL, including its agent panel. Zed was not in the 2024 question and entered at 7.3%, with a higher admiration score (57%) than Cursor's.
17. Rider: 7.1%
Rider, JetBrains' .NET IDE, grew from 5.7% to 7.1% and has the third-highest admiration score in the top 18 (60.8%). It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, where Visual Studio is Windows-only.
18. Eclipse: 7.1%
Eclipse lost the most ground of any tool on the list, from 9.4% to 7.1%, and only 32.9% of its users want to keep it. It remains in large enterprise Java systems, and the Eclipse Foundation still ships regular releases: the current one is Eclipse IDE 2026-09.
Editor, IDE, Terminal or AI Agent
The 18 tools fall into five types. Most developers use more than one, switching by task rather than by brand.
| Tool type | Examples | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Lightweight editor | VS Code, Notepad++, Sublime Text | Scripts, configs, many languages |
| Full IDE | IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio, PyCharm | Large typed codebases, refactoring |
| Terminal editor | Vim, Neovim, Nano | Remote servers, low resource use |
| AI editor or agent | Cursor, Zed, Claude Code | Multi-file changes, AI pair programming |
| Notebook | Jupyter | Data science and analysis |
Hiring Engineers Who Work in These Tools
An engineer's editor matters less than how they use it, including AI tools. We match senior full-stack engineers, AI and machine learning engineers and mobile app developers across Asia, tested on real coding tasks in real tools. Read how Second Talent works, or Tell us what you are building.
Tell us what you are building →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most used IDE in 2026?
Visual Studio Code is the most used IDE, used by 75.9% of developers in the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025. Visual Studio is second at 29%.
What is the best IDE for Java?
IntelliJ IDEA is the most used Java IDE: 84% of Java developers in Perforce's 2025 survey and 72% in JetBrains' State of Java 2025. VS Code and Eclipse follow.
Which AI code editor is most popular?
Cursor, at 17.9% of all developers, followed by Claude Code (9.7%), Zed (7.3%) and Windsurf (4.9%). GitHub Copilot is an extension inside VS Code and JetBrains IDEs rather than a separate editor; see our GitHub Copilot statistics.
Is there a 2026 Stack Overflow survey yet?
Not as of September 2026. The 2025 edition is still the latest one Stack Overflow has published.
Image credits: editor screenshots are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the licenses noted in each caption. VS Code (Microsoft, public domain), Visual Studio (Hwi.padam, public domain), Notepad++ (Delta83, CC BY-SA 4.0), IntelliJ IDEA and PyCharm (VulcanSphere, Apache 2.0), Vim (SyfulAakash, CC BY-SA 4.0), Neovim (VulcanSphere, Apache 2.0), Android Studio (Google, CC BY 2.5), Sublime Text (MJ500, CC BY-SA 4.0), Xcode (HtetPyae, CC BY-SA 4.0), Jupyter (Andrey Yakimchik, CC BY 4.0), Eclipse (Linux Screenshots, CC BY 2.0), and Emacs (Henrik Lissner, MIT).
![EU AI Act Vendor Compliance Checklist. EU AI Act Vendor Compliance Checklist for Outsourcing Teams [2026], by Second Talent.](https://www.secondtalent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/eu-ai-act-vendor-compliance-featured-v2-768x403.jpg)