# Apache NetBeans Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Apache NetBeans the right Integrated Development Environment (IDE) solution for you? Explore 231 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/178681/Apache-NetBeans/reviews --- Apache NetBeans 4.3 (231) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/178681/Apache-NetBeans/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Apache NetBeans Ease of use 4.2 Customer Service 3.8 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews CN CLARIS N Finacle consultantComputer Software, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It also seamlessly integrates with build tools like Apache Maven and Apache Ant which simplify project management, dependency management, and building, allowing developers to focus on coding.“ November 7, 2023 WI Wassim I Associate ProfessorComputer Networking, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The performance is not as efficient as other competing IDEs such as Visual Studio. But this is totally understandable as Netbeans is developed in Java and this would definitely make it relatively slower than natively-developed IDEs“ June 14, 2023 MS Maha S Assistant ProfessorComputer Software, 501 - 1,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Netbeans has a very user friendly interface with a specialized palette containing the different Swing GUI components that can be added to the application in a Drag-and-Drop fashion making the desktop GUI development very simplistic and rapid.“ August 1, 2023 Andrés Darío B Software engineerGovernment Administration, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It is heavy and de user GUI isn't actual and simple.“ May 6, 2024 AM Alex M Software DeveloperBanking, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Apache NetBeans provides excellent features where you can create your project using different categories such as maven, ant, Gradle, PHP and so on.“ September 28, 2023 Katia m Software development engineer Computer Software, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “The most challenging aspect was when I attempted to connect Arduino with Apache NetBeans, as it posed some complications.“ September 18, 2023 joel k CEOInformation Technology and Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “its language versatility, i.e. it supports a wide range of programming languages and programming types such as object-oriented, Web, sequential, etc.“ December 22, 2023 CN CLARIS N Finacle consultantComputer Software, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The IDE can be slow to start which is usually frustrating when you need to quickly open and edit a file.“ November 7, 2023 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 231 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Vasilis K. Web Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "I very decent IDE for large Java projects" December 25, 2024 4.0 My overall experience with Netbeans is positive. When it comes to large Java projects I often choose it as my IDE. Although, I'm sure there are better alternatives out there. Pros What I like most is the built-in debugger with variable inspection. Cons Sometimes indexing takes a lot of time and it eats up too much RAM memory. Switched from [Visual Studio Code](https://www.capterra.com/p/186634/Visual-Studio-Code/) A lot better code debugging for larger Java projects. Review Source Mohammad M. Technical Office Engineer Civil Engineering Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Best-in-class open-source IDE for desktop & mobile app development" January 8, 2023 5.0 Overall, I'm very much satisfied with this IDE thanks to its out-of-the-box compatibility with numerous languages I'm familiar with that's helped in facilitating my project development requirements. Pros The intuitive user interface, the variety of supported languages & library imports & the unparalleled ease of integrating iOS & Android emulators (on my MacBook) to test out my applications prior to publishing my builds makes NetBeans a truly fascinating piece of software that's genuinely made my workload easier. As to my latest project using NetBeans, I've recently developed a punch-in/punch-out web app system that runs on desktop & mobile for our company's employees. Cons I remember once encountering an issue when initially setting up my first Java project on the IDE (build 12.5 if I recall correctly) where I was unable to install the nb-javac plugin for my project. Turns out the issue was an outdated JDK which was quickly resolved with an update, though I really wish NetBeans would've notified me of the solution rather than figuring it out myself eventually. Alternatives considered [Visual Studio Code](https://www.capterra.com/p/186634/Visual-Studio-Code/) Reason for choosing Apache NetBeans I've had colleagues who've advised me against using VS Code due to its heavy reliance on plugin requirements for projects to compile properly, which ultimately made me steer towards NetBeans since most of the required plugins required to build project apps were baked into the software, thus saving time & effort. Switched from [Eclipse IDE](https://www.capterra.com/p/205298/Eclipse-IDE/) The sluggish performance & festered compilation issues that stem from the IDE itself rather than the written code is what compelled me to switch to NetBeans. Review Source Andrés Darío B. Software engineer Government Administration Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Deploy PHP in Netbeans" May 6, 2024 3.0 My experience with NetBeans is good for develop PHP, but the plugins that install in an older version not run in a new version or broke the IDE. Pros search of code in a project is simple, useful and simple. Breakpoint is a good tool for the deployment and find bugs Cons It is heavy and de user GUI isn't actual and simple. Have many options, that is difficult to find in a large menu. Review Source Hasan S. T24 Technical Analyst Banking Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best IDE for Web, Desktop and Mobile Apps" June 27, 2021 5.0 It's been more than 3 years I am working on NetBeans and I am very satisfied. It helped me in developing multiple projects and especially integration with Ant, SVN, JEE servers and Maven. It is highly recommended to new developers. Pros NetBeans is very well organized in terms of code development and java web development. It works on different platforms like Windows and Linux. The best part of NetBeans is that it has visual web pack feature. It comes with a lot of useful features such as debugging, code completion, multiple programming language support, integration and plugins. It's integration is awesome with other tools. The best feature of this product is source control management like GitHub and other version control tools. Cons Sometimes NetBeans crash when used for a long period, which is frustrating. It does not come with any professional support but one can easily join different groups or take help from seniors or from different forums. While working on big projects it consumes a lot of memory space and slow down other system processes. Review Source Omar Eduardo A. SAP Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Surpassed by the competition" June 3, 2021 5.0 Apache NetBeans is a good IDE, with good integration with Java. I would recommend it specifically to people that develop Java GUI applications with Swing. Its Swing integration is very intuitive, fully-featured and very reliable. Compared to Eclipse, working with Swing applications with NetBeans is a great option. Pros NetBeans is easy to use and install. I used it mainly on the Windows platform, and I used it mainly to develop Java software and Java GUI Applications with Swing. Compared to other tools on the market, I think NetBeans has the best Swing support of all the IDEs I have tried (Eclipse tools have more bugs, Visual Studio Code does not natively support them). Its debugging tools are easy to use and very functional. Cons NetBeans is usually slow to load and can be a resource hog. When working on my Mac laptop, battery drains quickly. I had many bugs using NetBeans v12 on Mac. I kept from updating to the newest version because I felt they were more stable for my workflow. Alternatives considered [Eclipse IDE](https://www.capterra.com/p/205298/Eclipse-IDE/) Reason for choosing Apache NetBeans I did not choose Apache over the other tools. Review Source Kirk H. Software Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Netbeans - Excellent IDE for PHP development " December 30, 2022 5.0 Pros There are lots of editors out there for PHP, but Netbeans is one of the best out there for debugging Cons Despite relatively simple requirements and few open pages, memory usage seems to quickly grow to where 3 gigs of RAM can be consumed. I'm not sure what all is in there. Switched from [Zend Studio](https://www.capterra.com/p/233238/Zend-Studio/) Cost. Switching to open source was a huge benefit. Review Source Ashley E. Support engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The perfect IDE for java and network development" April 11, 2020 5.0 A great introduction to IDEs and compilers letting me start my programming career in Java. Pros Netbeans gives me great syntax highlighting which really saves me time when it come to programming in java. It quickly highlights any errors and lets me correct them. You can also have free version for those unsure. This really let me try all the features before getting involved in the premium version. Cons Comparing net beans to some newer software IDEs can make it feel a little less customisable in terms of themes and feel. But if you don’t normally change your theme or colour scheme then this won’t worry you. Switched from [Eclipse](https://www.capterra.com/p/2540/Eclipse/) We wanted something a little different compared to eclipse and it could feel slow at times in comparison. Review Source Eutimio A. Student of National University of Loja Computer Software Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "A software design student's perspective on using netbeans." July 11, 2021 3.0 After having used it for about 1 year, this tool is very intuitive and easy to use if you know the programming language, thanks to the ease of writing code and the help it provides at the time of doing the same. Pros Netbeans is a tool that allows software development in an easy and efficient way if you know well the programming language in which you are working. It includes plugins that fulfill its function of facilitating the use of the IDE. Cons Netbens has some problems when cleaning and debugging, as well as some problems with the installation of libraries that are not in the IDE. Switched from [Visual Studio Code](https://www.capterra.com/p/186634/Visual-Studio-Code/) Netbeans has more possibilities when developing software. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer System Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Good" July 15, 2019 4.0 Pros The ease of creating programs with graphical interface. Cons Slowness and difficult to create bigger projects. Review Source BY Barry Y. Research Associate Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Netbeans is excellent for novice and experienced developers alike." October 14, 2025 5.0 Pros It's powerful and easy to use but it's also free which makes it excellent for use in the setting I work in. Cons It can sometimes be a little overwhelming to find exactly the feature you're looking for sometimes I suppose. Review Source IS Iftekhar S. Senior Administrator Computer & Network Security Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Apache NerBeans Review" October 27, 2024 4.0 Very good Satisfactory app with all the indudtry used features Pros Bug free and meets expectation.its has all the good features Cons Good product with awesome features.Nicely built in UI Review Source WI Wassim I. Associate Professor Computer Networking Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Apache NetBeans: A complete IDE for Series Java Programmers" June 14, 2023 5.0 Excellent features that supported all my application development needs in Java. Pros Apache Netbeans is time-tested and improving to support Java developers with a complete IDE platform for any 3-tier application development whether on the client-side, Application Server side or on the DBMS side. I've used Netbeans to develop end-to-end applications using the Java platform. It supported seamless integration with J2EE application servers and several database management systems using JDBC such as Oracle and MySQL.Other development platforms such as C++/PHP/Javascript/... are supported as well, but still Netbeans goes very well with Java development over other development platforms. Cons The GUI is not very modern but intuitive. The performance is not as efficient as other competing IDEs such as Visual Studio. But this is totally understandable as Netbeans is developed in Java and this would definitely make it relatively slower than natively-developed IDEs Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Technical Lead Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A very good IDE for Developers" February 14, 2023 5.0 Overall I am happy as a user of NetBeans. It fulfills all of my requirements as an IDE. I mostly code in Java and PHP and it supports both languages very well. Pros I mostly liked the auto-suggestion, code compilation at code writing time, and find and replace features. It supports a lot of shortcuts which makes coding easy and fast. We can integrate other software easily like Tomcat and MariaDB. Cons The only thing is when we try to open a big project in NetBeans, One can feel the little slowness. Review Source JW Jeffrey W. Professor Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Java IDE with Horrible Gradle Support" February 12, 2022 4.0 I like the clean and reliable integration of the Java environment that Netbeans supplies. However, I've been trying to use it with Gradle managed projects lately and it utterly fails at this. There's no documentation concerning gradle that is relevant to current versions. The features (such as renaming a class) is buggy and applies renaming wrong. If something goes wrong with the gradle wrapper/version there is no fixing it other than create a new project and copy source files over to it. The gradle project creation creates supper projects for multiple sub-apps but then doesn't supply any ability to create/delete/modify subapps. Basically, Apache touts that 12.6 supports gradle 7.3 but it doesn't do so in any meaningful way. If you don't need a modern build management system like gradle and can live with Ant then Netbeans is my favorite IDE. If you need Gradle look elsewhere until it becomes an actual goal of the project to support it well. Pros The features/plugins that are available are well integrated and reliable. Cons Gradle support is almost impossible to use unless you abandon the IDE and work with gradle from the command line. Largely just Java focused. Other languages, especially for embedded devices, is often lacking or non-existent. Difficult for community to develop and extend additional features. Review Source SS Stuart S. Electronic Design Engineer Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Reasonably good IDE" May 16, 2019 4.0 I have used NetBeans in the form of MPLAB X from Microchip. I find it to be a competent IDE with all the expected features, but let down by its Java-based nature causing sluggish performance and high memory consumption. When running on a a laptop on battery I find navigation laggy and compiling and debugging is far slower than usual. Overall a decent, well-though out IDE but there are better options for Java development (unfortunately for Microchip microcontrollers there is no choice). Pros Simple, logical layout and wide range of preferences for tweaking the UI to taste. Built in support for SVN makes it easy to see what has changed since previous versions of a file. Largely conforms to standard key bindings, GUI layout etc. making transition from other software relatively painless. Being able to have many projects loaded and quickly switch between is very convenient, although can be confusing as source file tabs are not visually distinguished between projects. Cons Startup time is slow and it takes little while to fully load open projects. CPU and RAM usage during normal operation is high. It often gets stuck running a background process which means it will not close down without nagging the user and giving a semi-scary data-loss warning (it is almost always OK). Real time code checking frequently fails leaving red or yellow underlining for non-existent (or fixed) problems. Seemingly-related is the intelligent code navigation (ctrl-clicking on variables and functions to jump to the declaration) which also fails at the same time. USB connection to debugging tools is also temperamental, often requiring either an unplug-replug of the tool or a restart of the IDE to fix. Review Source RV Ramgopal V. Embedded Software Developer Staffing and Recruiting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent and versatile IDE for Java GUI projects" January 22, 2023 4.0 Pros NetBeans IDE has several shortcuts that reduce workload. It also offers a task management space that displays your work, as well as a good view so you can always see what you're working on. Netbeans features an appealing user interface that makes it simple to use. It is simple to install and use, and it interacts easily with Git, Mercurial, and Subversion. Netbeans has Controls that may be dragged and dropped onto a designer page and used to build an application. Cons The main disadvantage is that the view offered here is a single-type view IDE that lacks the ability to compile several snippets in a single file at the same time. It is hefty, and if you are using a low-end machine, it may hang. In the navigation window, the dark theme is not available. Review Source Bishal D. Backend Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Very good IDE for Java" December 19, 2023 4.0 Pros I loved its smart code completion features and suggestion features of classes, methods and variables in Java. Its Gui builder is also very good and easy to use. Its built-in debugger was also good and was really useful for me. Cons I think it is taking too many resources and feels laggy sometimes when running heavy projects. Using it feels heavy than using other lighter IDE. Review Source Sourav K. Administrator Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Most reliable IDE, been using it for years" April 23, 2019 5.0 Pros I have using this since my High School, College and University days. It is an awesome IDE which mainly runs Java but I use it actively for C++, C and sometimes even for interpreted languages like Php. It has a great interface which is easy to work with and is very stable. One of the perks of using this is that its and open source software so you do not really need to pay anything for using it. Cons It does tend to be a little slow and heavy to start up especially if you are running an older PC running a processor like Intel i3. But yes even on those machines once it starts up, you will notice no problems. Apart from that its an aweosme tool and there are absolutely no complaints. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Sr. Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Apache Netbeans is a good to have IDE for a programmer" January 1, 2019 5.0 At the beginning I found difficult to write code and building projects with this, but later on I was pretty good to use this tool, it's not difficult as I thought in my early days. I used to write java codes with Netbeans IDE, and it provides many features that makes my coding exercise interesting, I like the content assist feature of this tool. Overall my experience with Apache Netbeans is awesome. Pros I used to write java codes with Netbeans IDE, and it provides many features that makes my coding exercise interesting, I like the content assist feature of this tool. Cons At the beginning I found difficult to write code and building projects with this, but later on I was pretty good to use this tool, it's not difficult as I thought in my early days. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer student Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The easiest ,quickest and brilliant way to code" July 1, 2019 5.0 Almost all the functions are available at NetBeans. It is very much useful in web designing and programming. Now I have more than two years’ experience with NetBeans and I can highly recommend NetBeans for you. Pros NetBeans IDE is a very good coding option which is free and open source. I prefer NetBeans because it is the easiest and brilliant way to code that I’ve ever found. There is no big deal with downloading and installing NetBeans. It is platform independence also.( Can be installed on LINUX,Windows,OS X and UNIX based OS etc. ) At first I thought it was just a java IDE. But it is facilitate some other languages like PHP,C,C++,JS etc. Beginners for coding can learn easily through NetBeans as it is well organized. Using visual debugger, one can identify the errors in the program. Cons NetBeans IDE is just perfect. But here some issues I had with NetBeans, • It is uncomfortable to use some libraries in NetBeans. • Becomes slow when running many projects. • There are some paid versions of tools. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer CTO Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Everyday tool for the developer" July 22, 2019 4.0 I'm using Netbeans since at least 10 years, I could solve all my PHP web server development needs with it, except when dealing with mixed and more complex projects having client side Angular framework, when had to use a different IDE. Generally Netbeans is a good option for newcomers, too. Pros The ease of use, nothing too fancy, extensibility with plugins, configurable shortcuts, integration with build tools, package (dependency) managers, built-in terminal, navigator, debugger support... a full featured IDE. Cons Updates are rare, refactorings for PHP are not many, javascript framework support is weak (take angular for example - can't jump in source code to definition) Review Source Petr V. Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The only robust IDE for PHP that is free" April 25, 2019 5.0 NetBeans is probably the only IDE that has direct support for the most popular PHP framework in the Czech Republic - nette. That's why i love it. Pros It is open-source and multi-platform, running on both Windows and Linux. Version 10 supports PHP 7.3 and various frameworks, including Czech nette! Great integration of version control tools and a very clear comparison of code history changes. Support for a large number of syntaxes, intellisense and the ability to install all kinds of plugins. Localization of the environment into many languages, including Czech. Cons It's cumbersome, big, running under Java, so it needs more RAM. Review Source KT Keith T. Sr Software Engineer Computer & Network Security Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good for Java and some other mobile languages" November 7, 2022 3.0 I would try it again and it was good for the java world and development Pros Great product that was fast at compiling and giving me answers to questions, great at picking out errors and very prompt and thorough about it. Cons Not that great with startup or switching environments or even switching jve, jvm Switched from [Microsoft Visual Studio](https://www.capterra.com/p/80230/microsoft-visual-studio/) better development environment for java Review Source Andre L. System Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The ideal alternative" August 27, 2021 5.0 It surpassed my expectations, since until entering college I only knew your competitor. Pros Much lighter than its competitor Eclipse, NetBeans has the same functionality. Serves you very well with regard to programming. It doesn't have frequent crashes and consequently doesn't demand as much from the computer. Cons During the period I used it, I didn't have any problems. It was while I was in college. It was the default tool for JAVA development. Review Source CHMC Carlos Hugo Martin C. Consultor Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Experience with Apache NetBeans" April 10, 2022 4.0 It was used for the development of web and desktop applications, both as a freelancer and as part of a work team. Pros It is an IDE that allows you to generate projects easily and efficiently, so that you have control of the application that is going to be generated. Cons Integration with other tools can become complex, and resource consumption can be high for what is being done. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Integrated Development Environment (IDE)](https://www.capterra.com/ide-software/)[Application Development](https://www.capterra.com/application-development-software/)