Comparison

Emacs vs IntelliJ IDEA

On the evidence we track, IntelliJ IDEA leads this comparison with a composite score of 53/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Emacs full profile →IntelliJ IDEA full profile →

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Emacs36

★IntelliJ IDEA53

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Emacs	IntelliJ IDEALeader
Vioscale score	36 / 100medium · 53%	53 / 100medium · 53%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	-
Modelpricing.model	open_source	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	-
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	-
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	2	9
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	3.2	4.4
Soc2security.soc2	-	✓
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Femacs-mirror%2Femacs&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=com.intellij%3Aannotations&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	-	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	0	890
Github starsadoption.github_stars	5,170	20,488
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	-	1
Historyrelease.history	-	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	GPL-3.0	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Emacs Lisp	Java

Score

Vioscale score

Emacs36 / 100medium · 53%

IntelliJ IDEA53 / 100medium · 53%

Pricing

Free tier

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA–

Model

Emacsopen_source

IntelliJ IDEAcommercial

Price level

Emacsfree

IntelliJ IDEA–

Transparent

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA–

Integrations

Count

Emacs2

IntelliJ IDEA9

Security

Disclosure policy

Emacs–

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Gdpr

Emacs–

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Scorecard

Emacs3.2

IntelliJ IDEA4.4

Soc2

Emacs–

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Vulnerabilities

EmacsCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Femacs-mirror%2Femacs&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

IntelliJ IDEACount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=com.intellij%3Aannotations&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

Emacs–

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

Emacs0

IntelliJ IDEA890

Github stars

Emacs5,170

IntelliJ IDEA20,488

Activity

Commits last 30d

Emacs100

IntelliJ IDEA100

Release

Cadence days

Emacs–

IntelliJ IDEA1

History

Emacs–

IntelliJ IDEA20 items

License

Spdx

EmacsGPL-3.0

IntelliJ IDEA–

Language

Primary

EmacsEmacs Lisp

IntelliJ IDEAJava

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for ides & code editors. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for IDEs & Code Editors
Capability	Emacs	IntelliJ IDEA
Core
Type	Terminal editor	Full IDE
Language scope	Polyglot	-
Deployment
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platform support
OS support	GNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Android	-
Base platform	Original	Original
Extensibility
Extensibility	Plugins	Plugins
DX
LSP / DAP support	✓	-
Remote / dev-containers	✗	✓
Integrated debugger / profiler	✓	✓
Code intelligence depth	LSP-grade	IDE-grade
Built-in git integration	✗	-
AI
Built-in AI	None	Native
Licensing
Openness	Open-source	Open-core
Pricing
Pricing model	Free	-

Core

Type

EmacsTerminal editor

IntelliJ IDEAFull IDE

Language scope

EmacsPolyglot

IntelliJ IDEA-

Deployment

EmacsDesktop

IntelliJ IDEADesktop

Platform support

OS support

EmacsGNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Android

IntelliJ IDEA-

Base platform

EmacsOriginal

IntelliJ IDEAOriginal

Extensibility

EmacsPlugins

IntelliJ IDEAPlugins

LSP / DAP support

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA-

Remote / dev-containers

Emacs✗

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Integrated debugger / profiler

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Code intelligence depth

EmacsLSP-grade

IntelliJ IDEAIDE-grade

Built-in git integration

Emacs✗

IntelliJ IDEA-

Built-in AI

EmacsNone

IntelliJ IDEANative

Licensing

Openness

EmacsOpen-source

IntelliJ IDEAOpen-core

Pricing

Pricing model

EmacsFree

IntelliJ IDEA-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Emacs

A free and open-source text editor built on a Lisp interpreter that enables extensive customization through Lisp code. It combines core text editing with broader functionality including project planning, email and news reading, debugging, calendar, and IRC capabilities.

Independently observed

IntelliJ IDEA

Leader

An IDE that accelerates software development through smart code editing, debugging, and analysis tools, enhanced with native AI capabilities for code completion and suggestions.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Emacs

Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source

as of 2026-08-13verify ↗

IntelliJ IDEA

Leader

Pricing not documented yet.

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Emacs	IntelliJ IDEA
AndroidPlatforms	✓	✗
macOSPlatforms	✓	✓
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	-

Platforms

Android

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA✗

macOS

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Windows

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA✓

Linux

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA✓

CLI

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA✗

Deployment

Self-hosted

Emacs✓

IntelliJ IDEA–

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Emacs

2 total

Tree-Sitter
EditorConfig

Independently observed

IntelliJ IDEA

Leader

9 total

Claude
GPT
Gemini
Grok
GitHub Copilot
Cursor
Junie
Claude Agent
Codex

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.