JetBrains has announced a change in the licensing of their 2 IDEs – WebStorm (JavaScript/TypeScript) and Rider (Unreal), making them free for non-commercial use.
Previously, JetBrains had released new IDEs like RustRover (Rust) and Aqua (QA/Test Automation) with non-commercial licenses. They have now extended the same licensing to include WebStorm and Rider as well.
The reason for expanding the licensing to these two IDEs is because JetBrains believes that many programmers start out as hobbyists. For example, game developers often begin by trying to create games using free engines. Therefore, JetBrains wants to encourage the development of self-taught software developers, both in game development and web development, where the self-learning aspect is higher than average.
JetBrains stated that there has been a high demand from users for a Community Edition of the IDE that reduces features in exchange for free use, similar to what is offered in IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition. However, the company found it difficult to separate the Community Edition due to the tight integration of features with the IDE. Therefore, they have decided to make all features available for free but limited to non-commercial use only, with the choice given during the initial application launch.
TLDR: JetBrains has made WebStorm and Rider IDEs free for non-commercial use to support self-taught software developers.
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