head to head · open source
Neovim vs intellij
Neovim has 102,398 GitHub stars, 7,117 forks, 1,900 open issues and last shipped today. intellij has 820 stars, 343 forks, 224 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Neovim leads on adoption by 12,388% (102,398 vs 820 stars). Neovim is written in Vim Script under a custom or non-standard licence; intellij is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Neovim has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, intellij 42%. Neovim was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Neovim | intellij | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 102K | ★ 820 |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Vim Script | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.1K | ⑂ 343 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Neovim if
- You weight community size — 102K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Vim Script
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick intellij if
- You want the intellij feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and intellij fits your workflow better
About Neovim
Neovim is a Vim fork text editor focused on extensibility and usability, built as a modern refactoring of Vim’s codebase. It lives in the developer tools ecosystem, specifically as a terminal based code editor that maintains compatibility with Vim’s core editing model while adding new capabilities.
read the full Neovim overview →
About intellij
Bazel for CLion is an Apache 2.0 Java plugin built from the master branch of the Bazel IntelliJ repository that adds Bazel build tool support to C++ projects in the CLion IDE, and it is intended for C++ developers whose codebases are built with Bazel.
read the full intellij overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Neovim or intellij more popular?
Neovim has 102,398 GitHub stars and intellij has 820. Neovim has the larger community by that measure.
Are Neovim and intellij free?
Both are open source. Neovim has no licence declared in this registry, and intellij is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Neovim and intellij?
Neovim is written in Vim Script and intellij in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Neovim or intellij?
Choose Neovim if you want the larger community (102,398 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose intellij if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.