JetBrains Enhances AI Capabilities in Latest IDE Update
JetBrains has declared its Junie AI coding agent production-ready, updated its AI Assistant with support for new models, and introduced a free tier for users of its latest 2025.1 IDEs. The company is offering two distinct AI tools that it considers complementary. AI Assistant provides code-related help and suggestions, while Junie is a more advanced agent capable of multi-step tasks such as writing code and running tests.
The availability of Junie is currently limited to IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, PyCharm Pro, WebStorm, and GoLand, with more IDEs planned for future support. AI Assistant has been enhanced with support for new AI models, including Anthropic Claude 3.7 Sonnet and Google Gemini 2.5 Pro. A new edit mode allows for multi-file edits directly from the chat interface, improving the user experience.
The move comes as JetBrains faces competition from other AI-powered development tools like Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code with GitHub Copilot, and newer entrants such as Cursor and Windsurf. While JetBrains’ tools are well-regarded by developers, its AI Assistant has received criticism, currently holding a two-star rating out of five on the official plugin page despite over 21 million downloads. Users have reported issues such as ‘Oops’ errors and poor autocomplete functionality.
In contrast, early feedback on Junie has been more positive, with some users praising its ability to provide more complete answers and fewer bugs compared to competitors. However, there have been reports of crashes and concerns about quota usage.
The introduction of a free tier for JetBrains’ AI features is seen as a response to the competitive landscape, following a similar move by GitHub for Copilot in late 2024. The free option includes unlimited code completion and local AI capabilities, along with a limited cloud credit quota. The exact availability of AI features varies across different IDEs, making it important for users to consult the FAQ for specific details.
One significant advantage of JetBrains’ offering is the option for local AI processing using tools like Ollama or LM Studio, which is valuable for developers concerned about sending their code to the cloud. However, some features, like local code completion, are not available in the Community Edition of IntelliJ IDEA or in PyCharm without a Pro subscription.
