JetBrains' integrated development environment (IDE) Rider is now available for free for the first time.
After testing non-commercial free licenses with other products like RustRover and Aqua, JetBrains has introduced a similar option for Rider. It also says that this is a permanent situation and not a temporary initiative.
In a blog post announcing the change, JetBrains' Ekaterina Ryabukha acknowledges that there are numerous cases where people use an IDE without any commercial intent, for example hobbyists, open source developers, and teachers or students. She also cites a Stack Overflow survey showing that 68 percent of professional developers “code as a hobby outside of work.”
Rider has always been a bit niche, but is often loved by those who use it. Making it free could vastly expand its user base, and it could also make it more popular in the long run, as students can start without paying an annual fee, and some students will go pro.
It's also good news for some macOS developers, as Microsoft not long ago opted to end support for Visual Studio on that platform. Yes, you can use VS Code,
There is one drawback that may matter to some: users working in Rider with the Non-Commercial Free license “cannot opt out of collecting anonymous usage statistics.”
There are some edge cases that are in a bit of a gray area when it comes to using a free license versus a paid license. Sometimes projects that start without commercial intentions can later become commercial. JetBrains simply says that “if your intentions change over time, you should reassess whether you still qualify for non-commercial use.”
