A complete guide to JetBrains Claude Code: Features, pricing, and alternatives

AI coding assistants are everywhere these days. They're no longer just a neat gimmick; they're becoming a must-have in every developer's toolbox. If you're leading an engineering or support team, you're probably wondering which tool is the right fit. It's a tough call, you need something that boosts your developers' productivity without creating headaches for the rest of the company.

In this guide, we’ll take a close look at JetBrains Claude Code. We'll cover what it is, what it does, how much it costs, and how it fits into the bigger picture of your company's AI tools.

What is JetBrains Claude Code?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it helps to understand what we're actually talking about. AI assistants are becoming a standard part of coding, and Anthropic's Claude has made a name for itself, especially when it comes to tricky coding jobs. Let's piece together what people mean when they say "JetBrains Claude Code."

Understanding the components

• JetBrains IDEs: First, you have JetBrains, the company that makes all those powerful Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) developers love, think IntelliJ IDEA for Java, PyCharm for Python, or Rider for .NET. It's where your team spends their day writing, debugging, and building.

• Anthropic's Claude Code: Then you have Claude Code, an AI assistant from Anthropic that's built just for coding. It got popular as a command-line tool because it was surprisingly good at handling big, messy refactoring jobs that spanned multiple files, all while sticking to the project's style guide.

The three ways to use JetBrains Claude Code

"JetBrains Claude Code" isn't a single product you can just go out and buy. It's more of a combo of tools that has evolved, which has created a bit of confusion. Really, there are three main ways your team can use Claude's coding brain inside a JetBrains IDE.

Key features of JetBrains Claude Code

No matter how you set it up, the real value is in what Claude can do with your code. Its features are all about taking tedious work off your developers' plates so they can focus on the hard problems. For the business, that means getting new features out the door faster.

Advanced code generation and refactoring

One of the things that makes Claude Code stand out is its knack for handling big, multi-file projects. This isn't just about generating a quick code snippet. People are using it for huge tasks that touch dozens of files.

For instance, one developer on Reddit shared a story about asking it to add new fields to a database table in a big .NET project. Claude didn't just add the fields, it went ahead and created the right models, migrations, repositories, services, and API endpoints. It made sure everything compiled and matched the project's existing style. The whole thing took about 16 minutes, which would have been hours of work by hand. That ability to see the whole picture is what makes it so different.

...asking it to add new fields to a database table in a big .NET project. Claude didn't just add the fields, it went ahead and created the right models, migrations, repositories, services, and API endpoints. It made sure everything compiled and matched the project's existing style. The whole thing took about 16 minutes, which would have been hours of work by hand.

Reddit

Seamless IDE integration and workflow

You can use Claude from a terminal, but the experience gets a lot better when you use the plugin or the integrated agent. They add a few things that make life much easier.

• Diff Viewing: Instead of getting a wall of text in the terminal, your developers can see the suggested changes in the familiar diff viewer they already use. This makes it a breeze to review, tweak, and accept or reject changes one line at a time.

• Context Awareness: The AI automatically figures out what files or code you're working on. You don't have to constantly copy and paste everything to give it context. This means the suggestions it gives are way more accurate because it's working with the same info you are.

• Plan Mode & Approval: Before it touches a single line of code, the AI can show you a step-by-step plan of what it’s about to do. This gives developers the final say. They can approve the plan before anything changes, which helps prevent any weird or unwanted edits.

Where it fits (and where it doesn't)

Put simply, JetBrains Claude Code is a tool for developers. It's laser-focused on one thing: your codebase. It’s fantastic at reading, understanding, and writing code within that bubble.

But that strength is also its biggest weakness. All that deep knowledge about how your product works stays locked up with the engineering team. It's great for writing code, but it does nothing to help your support or sales teams understand the new features your developers just shipped. And that's where all that developer speed can grind to a halt.

JetBrains Claude Code: Setup, pricing, and limitations

Before you roll out any new tool, you have to know what you're getting into, both in terms of cost and potential headaches. Getting JetBrains Claude Code up and running isn't as simple as installing an app, so let's walk through the practical stuff.

The setup process

Getting a developer set up with Claude in their JetBrains IDE involves a few steps. First, they obviously need the IDE. Then, they need to sign up for one of Anthropic's paid plans (Pro or Max) to get access to Claude Code. Finally, they have to install and set up one of the three integrations we talked about. It's not exactly a single-click install, and juggling the different tools and subscriptions can get confusing when you're doing it for a whole team.

Pricing plans

The cost for the Claude subscription is totally separate from anything you pay for JetBrains products. To use Claude Code, your developers will need the Pro plan at a minimum.

Note: If you go for the most integrated option, the Claude Agent, the cost is bundled into the JetBrains AI subscription. This is separate from Anthropic's plans and gives you access to other AI models too.

Limitations and key considerations

JetBrains Claude Code is powerful, no doubt. But it has a few trade-offs you should think about, especially if you're trying to build a company-wide AI strategy.

• The setup can be a maze. As we mentioned, getting started isn't straightforward. This multi-step process is a world away from platforms like eesel AI, which is built to be completely self-serve. With eesel, you can connect your helpdesk, click a few buttons, and have a live AI agent ready to go in minutes.

• Budgeting can get tricky. The higher-tier Claude plans are priced based on usage, which can make your monthly bill a bit of a moving target. It’s hard to budget when you don’t know what your costs will be. For comparison, tools like eesel AI have straightforward pricing and never charge you per resolution, so you won’t get a surprise bill just because your support team had a busy month.

• It creates knowledge silos. This is probably the biggest catch from a business point of view. JetBrains Claude Code becomes an expert on your code, but all that expertise stays locked up with the engineering team. Your support, sales, and marketing folks can’t tap into it. So when your devs ship an awesome new feature, everyone else is left playing catch-up, trying to figure out how to explain it to customers.

Beyond JetBrains Claude Code: Creating a unified AI knowledge strategy

Making developers more productive is a great start, but it’s only half the story. The whole point of shipping features faster is to give customers a better experience. And for that to happen, knowledge needs to flow smoothly from the engineering team to everyone who talks to customers.

This is where a platform like eesel AI fits in. It’s designed to be the bridge between your technical and non-technical teams. While Claude Code helps your team build the product, eesel AI helps the rest of the company support it.

Here’s how eesel can round out your developer tools and create a single source of truth:

• It connects to all your knowledge: eesel AI can learn from the same developer docs your team writes in Confluence, project plans in Google Docs, and even past support tickets from helpdesks like Zendesk or Freshdesk. It pulls together knowledge from all the different places where your company's expertise is stored.

• It answers internal questions: When a support agent needs to know how a new feature works, they don't have to ping a developer and break their focus. They can just ask the eesel AI bot in Slack or Microsoft Teams and get an instant, accurate answer pulled from the official documentation.

• It automates customer support: eesel's AI Agent uses all this connected knowledge to answer customer questions automatically. This helps your support quality keep up with your development speed, so a new feature launch doesn't swamp your support team.

This video demonstrates the integration of Claude Code within JetBrains IDEs, providing a look at how it enhances the developer workflow discussed in the context of JetBrains Claude Code.

Choose the right AI for the right job

JetBrains Claude Code is a seriously powerful tool for making developers more productive. If you want to give your engineers a top-tier coding assistant, it's a great choice. But by design, its world begins and ends with the codebase.

A good AI strategy means having different tools for different jobs. You give your developers the best coding assistant, and you give your support and internal teams an AI platform built to connect scattered knowledge and handle their specific needs. By combining tools like JetBrains Claude Code and eesel AI, you create a system where fast-paced development actually leads to a fantastic customer experience.

Ready to close the knowledge gap between your engineering and support teams? See how eesel AI can bring all your company's knowledge together and automate support in just a few minutes.