This is the 4th post in the 5 part series:
- VScode – leader of the pack
- NeoVim – modal editing experience
- VSCode with Vim – the allure of vim bindings in VSCode
- WebStorm – the premium editing experience
- Zed – the newcomer
A Premium IDE Experience
WebStorm represents the premium end of the IDE spectrum—a polished, feature-rich environment specifically designed for web development. When working with TypeScript, CSS, and related technologies, WebStorm offers a level of maturity that immediately stands out.
The IDE excels at providing built-in validation across multiple technologies. For example, CSS errors are flagged automatically without requiring additional extensions. Its IntelliSense capabilities are faster and more comprehensive than alternatives, and the entire user interface feels thoughtfully designed.
Superior Git Integration
WebStorm’s Git integration deserves special mention. While VS Code also offers extensive Git functionality, WebStorm’s implementation is more refined. The UI for managing Git operations is intuitive and powerful, providing a seamless experience for managing your version control workflow.
One of the standout features is the integration with CI/CD pipelines. Each commit in your history displays a small indicator showing whether the associated GitHub Actions succeeded or failed. Clicking this indicator reveals a detailed list of all actions and their status. While VS Code plugins can provide similar information, they lack this tight integration with the commit history view.
Thoughtful Feature Design
WebStorm consistently impresses with well-considered features that enhance productivity:
- Enhanced comparison tools: Beyond the standard “compare active file with clipboard” functionality (which VS Code also offers), WebStorm allows you to compare just a selected portion of a file with your clipboard contents. This proves invaluable when porting code between frameworks or working with files that aren’t in the same repository.
- Inline editing in search results: After performing a project-wide search, WebStorm allows you to edit text directly within the search results view—no need to open individual files. This is particularly useful for bulk renaming operations across multiple files.
- Fold imports: WebStorm automatically folds imports at the top of files, making it easier to focus on the code. This feature is configurable, allowing you to customise the behaviour to suit your preferences.
Performance and Stability Concerns
Despite its impressive feature set, WebStorm does have drawbacks that consistently lead me back to VS Code:
- Resource utilization: WebStorm tends to consume significant memory and can occasionally feel sluggish during operation.
- Stability issues: I’ve experienced periodic crashes with WebStorm—something I rarely encounter with other IDEs discussed in this series.
- Caching bugs: WebStorm maintains a cache to improve performance, but this can occasionally lead to frustrating bugs. For instance, text searches might fail to display known results until you invalidate the cache and restart the project.
- Test runner inconsistencies: I’ve encountered strange bugs when running Playwright tests in WebStorm that don’t appear when running the same tests in VS Code.
- Framework support: While WebStorm has significantly improved its support for Svelte (including Svelte 5 features), but still lags behind VSCode. For instance, TypeScript is not supported inside the markup section of the Svelte component in WebStorm.
AI Integration
The most significant factor that consistently drives me back to VS Code is AI integration quality. While WebStorm’s paid version includes support for GitHub Copilot and other AI models, the implementation feels noticeably slower than VS Code’s.
With AI-assisted coding, speed is crucial — suggestions need to appear before you’ve already moved on to the next task. When you start typing, VS Code updates its suggestions quicker, creating a more fluid and productive coding experience.
Conclusion
WebStorm offers a premium IDE experience with thoughtfully designed features and a polished interface that often exceeds VS Code’s capabilities. For developers who prioritise a refined UI and comprehensive built-in functionality, WebStorm presents a compelling option. However, its performance limitations, occasional stability issues, and less responsive AI integration create some drawbacks.
