When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. JetBrains makes CLion free for non-commercial use David Uzondu Neowin · May 7, 2025 13:05 EDT If you enjoy coding in C or C++ or have been meaning to give these powerful languages a try but were discouraged by the cost of tools, there’s now one less barrier. JetBrains has announced that CLion, its popular C and C++ IDE, is now free for non-commercial use, joining other IDEs like RustRover, Rider (for .NET), and WebStorm (for JavaScript), which received the same treatment last year. The change was announced just days after JetBrains shared what to expect in CLion 2025.2, the next major version of the IDE. Who exactly qualifies for this free pass? If you are using CLion for learning, contributing to open source projects without getting paid for those contributions, creating content (like tutorials or streams), or just working on personal hobby projects, you can now use the full version of CLion without paying. The key distinction is "commercial use," which means developing products or activities where you earn commercial benefits. If you are doing that, the existing paid licensing still applies. If you use CLion for both commercial and non-commercial work, you need the paid license. JetBrains explained its reasoning for this change, stating it aims to make its IDEs more accessible. The company hopes this will lower the barrier for people to learn, improve their skills, and be creative using their tools. The free non-commercial license gives you access to the complete version of CLion. It includes all the coding features, analysis tools, debugger capabilities, and everything else that makes CLion a powerful development environment. The only noted limitation is that the collaborative coding feature, Code With Me, is limited to the Community version. There is one condition for the free license: you cannot opt out of sending anonymized usage statistics to JetBrains. The company states this data helps improve the product by showing which features are used. The data collected is limited to anonymous information about feature usage and actions taken within the IDE; it does not include personal data. If you prefer to opt out of sending any usage statistics, you would need to switch to a paid subscription or one of the other complimentary license options JetBrains offers. Getting the free non-commercial subscription is straightforward. Just install CLion version 2025.1.1 or newer. When the license dialog pops up on startup, choose the "Non-commercial use" option. You will need to log in or create a JetBrains account and accept the non-commercial agreement. If you are already using a trial or paid version, you can switch by going to Help | Register, removing your current license, and then selecting the non-commercial option. Tags Report a problem with article Follow @NeowinFeed