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Contents
The Best PHP Editor 2017 and 2018
Disclaimer
Best PHP IDE 2018 and 2017 List
The Best PHP IDE Windows Versions
The Best PHP IDE Mac Versions
Linux Best PHP IDE Open Source and Commercial Versions for Ubuntu, Fedora, Redhat, Mint, OpenSuSE, CentOS
PHP Code Editor Features
PHP Editor Version Control Support
Other Supported Languages
PHP Framework Support
Supported JavaScript Libraries
Other Features
PHP IDE Tutorials in this site
Best Free PHP IDE: Where to find the Best PHP IDE Free Downloads?
Where to find the price and buy the commercial PHP IDEs?
PHP IDE Discount Coupon Codes
Change Log
Conclusion
The Best PHP Editor 2018 and 2019
What makes an IDE the prefect tool for one developer may not meet the needs of another. A set of features, the look and feel are all subjective to the user as to what makes the best IDE. The primary goal with these comparisons is to provide just the facts, without bias, so that you can make a decision based on your own needs.
Great effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of these charts by not only doing our own research but also inviting the developers to review them and provide their own feedback for consideration.
Due to the extensive list of features being compared, the charts are broken down into several categorized tables. Some of these tables are wide, so use the horizontal scroll to ensure you are not missing out on some of the data.
This is a live article. This means that the article will be updated once and republished here again once there are relevant updates to the features of the currently listed IDEs or others that may not yet be listed.
Disclaimer
This article was composed in collaboration with the producers of several PHP IDEs, some commercial, some free. The production of this article was not sponsored in any form by any of the IDE producers.
Producers of IDEs being actively developed but currently are not listed here, are invited to contact the site to have your PHP IDE included in a future edition of this article.
Best PHP IDE 2018 and 2019 List
1. Codelobster
Developed by: Codelobster
2. Eclipse PDT: PHP Development Environment (Eclipse PHP IDE)
Developed by: Eclipse
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3. Komodo IDE
Developed by: ActiveState
5. Nuclide for Atom
Developed by: Facebook
7. PHPStorm
Developed by: JetBrains
8. PHP Tools for Visual Studio
Developed by: Devsense
9. Visual Studio Code
Developed by: Microsoft
10. Zend Studio
Developed by: Zend
Notice: PHP Tools from DevSense requires a version of Microsoft Visual Studio. It works with either Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2012, VisualStudio 2013,Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio 2017.
| Version | Release date | License | Min PHP | Max PHP | Debugger | FTP | |
| Codelobster | 1.4.0 | Feb 27, 2019 | Free | 4 | 7.1 | Xdebug | Yes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse PDT | 5.3 | Mar 21, 2018 | EPL | 5.1 | 7.1 | Xdebug/Zend | No |
| Komodo IDE | 11 | Sep 26, 2017 | Commercial | 4.4 | 7.1 | Xdebug | Yes |
| Netbeans | 8.2 | Oct 3, 2016 | CDDL/GPL | 4 | 7.0 | Xdebug | No |
| Nuclide | 0.366 | Nov 2, 2018 | FPL | Xdebug | Yes | ||
| PHPEd | 18.025 | Jan 30, 2017 | Commercial | 4.3 | 7.1 | DBG | Yes |
| PHPStorm | 2019.1 EAP 5 | Feb20, 2019 | Commercial | 5.3 | 7.1 | Xdebug/Zend | Yes |
| PHP Tools | 1.27 | Apr 11, 2018 | Commercial | 5.4 | 7.1 | Xdebug | Yes |
| Visual Studio Code | 1.22 | Mar 1, 2018 | MIT | Xdebug | No | ||
| Zend Studio | 13.6 | Apr 20, 2017 | Commercial | 5.1 | 7.1 | Zend/Xdebug/Z-ray | Yes |
Licenses:
CDDL = Common Development and Distribution License Best encryption software for mac 2018.
EPL = Eclipse Public License
GPL = GNU General Public License
FPL = Facebook Public License
The Best PHP IDE Windows Version
The following IDEs are available under Windows, so you can evaluate and determine which one is the best for you looking at the comparison tables below: Codelobster, Eclipse PDT, Komodo IDE, Netbeans, PHPEd, PHPStorm, PHP Tools, Visual Studio Code and Zend Studio.
The Best PHP IDE Mac Versions
The following IDEs are available under Mac, so you can evaluate and determine which one is the best for you looking at the comparison tables below: Eclipse PDT, Komodo IDE, Netbeans, Nuclide, PHPStorm, Visual Studio Code and Zend Studio.
Linux Best PHP IDE Open Source and Commercial Versions for Ubuntu, Fedora, Redhat, Mint, OpenSuSE, CentOS
All PHP IDEs that work on Linux support the most popular distributions. The following IDEs are available under Linux, so you can evaluate and determine which one is the best for you looking at the comparison tables below: Eclipse PDT, Komodo IDE, Netbeans, Nuclide, PHPStorm, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio Code and Zend Studio.
PHP Code Editor Features
| Auto Complete | Highlighting | Folding | Hinting | Refactoring | Mapping | File Compare | |
| Codelobster | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse PDT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Komodo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Netbeans | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nuclide | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| PHPEd | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PHPStorm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PHP Tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Visual Studio Code | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Zend Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Auto Complete = Code suggestions presented and completed, relevant to the current context
Highlighting = Code colorized to simplify locating specific elements
Folding = Code blocks can be expanded and contracted (hidden)
Hinting = Similar to Auto Complete, properties are also displayed for functions and methods
Refactoring = Restructuring code for better readability and complexity
Mapping = Display of declarations used, mapped to their origin
File Compare = Comparing 2 or more files and highlighting the differences in them
PHP Editor Version Control Support
| GIT | GIT Flow | Github | SVN | CVS | TFS | Mercurial | ClearCase | Perforce | Bazaar | |
| Codelobster | Plugin | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse PDT | Yes | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin |
| Komodo | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Netbeans | Yes | Plugin | No | Yes | Plugin | No | Yes | Plugin | No | No |
| Nuclide | Yes | No | Plugin | Plugin | No | Plugin | Yes | No | Plugin | No |
| PHPEd | Plugin | No | Plugin | Plugin | Yes | No | Plugin | No | No | Plugin |
| PHPStorm | Yes | Plugin | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plugin |
| PHP Tools | Yes | No | Yes | Plugin | Yes | Yes | Plugin | No | Plugin | No |
| Visual Studio Code | Yes | No | No | No | No | Plugin | No | Plugin | No | Plugin |
| Zend Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin |
Plugin indicates that support is provided by installing external code, either directly from the developer or a third party.
Other Supported Languages
| HTML | Javascript | CSS | LESS | SASS | Hack, HHVM | |
| Codelobster | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse PDT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plugin | No | No |
| Komodo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Netbeans | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plugin | Plugin | No |
| Nuclide | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plugin | Plugin | Yes |
| PHPED | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| PHPStorm | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plugin | Plugin | No |
| PHP Tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Visual Studio Code | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Zend Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Plugin | No | No |
Plugin indicates that support is provided by installing external code, either directly from the developer or a third party.
PHP Framework Support
| CakePHP | Codeigniter | Drupal | Joomla | Laravel | Phalcon | Prado | Smarty | Symfony | Twig | Wordpress | Yii | Zend | |
| Codelobster | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Yes | No | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse PDT | No | No | Plugin | No | No | No | No | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | No | Plugin | Plugin |
| Komodo | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Netbeans | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Nuclide | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | No |
| PHPED | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| PHPStorm | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | Yes | Plugin | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| PHP Tools | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Visual Studio Code | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Zend Studio | No | No | Plugin | No | No | No | No | Plugin | Yes | Plugin | No | Plugin | Yes |
Plugin indicates that support is provided by installing external code, either directly from the developer or a third party.
Supported JavaScript Libraries
| AngularJS | BackboneJS | extJS | Flow | Jquery | KnockoutJS | Meteor | React | |
| Codelobster | Plugin | Plugin | Plugin | No | Plugin | No | Plugin | No |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eclipse PDT | Plugin | No | Plugin | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Komodo | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Netbeans | Yes | No | Plugin | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Nuclide | Plugin | No | No | Yes | No | No | Plugin | No |
| PHPEd | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| PHPStorm | Yes | No | Plugin | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| PHP Tools | Yes | No | Plugin | No | Yes | No | No | Plugin |
| Visual Studio Code | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Zend Studio | Plugin | No | Plugin | No | Plugin | No | No | No |
Plugin indicates that support is provided by installing external code, either directly from the developer or a third party.
Other Features
PHP IDEs have many features that are not yet listed here for side by side comparison. Eventually those features will be added later on a future edition of this article.
Therefore PHP IDE producers were invited to describe some of the most important features of their PHP IDEs that they consider important for the PHP developers.
Visual Studio For Mac
Nusphere PHPEd
The built in DBG debugger provides:
1. Ability to debug PHP console or Web applications
2. Ability to debug in embedded browser or one in a regular browser window
3. Ability to profile code in terms of performance, memory consumption, the time SQL queries take to execute
4. Support for secure debug connections to the servers
5. Conditional breakpoints, starting the debugger on errors and exceptions, ability to change current execution line, etc.
Additional features include:
1. Embedded SSH Client
2. Built in phpUnit support
3. phpUnit support integrated with debugger for remote debugging
Komodo
1. Komodo is based on Mozilla, like Firefox, and so it is not based in a Java editor
2. Has a Regex tool, which allows you to write regular expressions easily and see how it matches as well as provides various shortcuts to make writing regular expressions easier.
3. Has built-in code collaboration, letting you work on code with your colleagues simultaneously
4. Has a code profiling tool.
5. Has a HTTP inspector which lets you inspect HTTP traffic from the IDE to the Web sites
6. You can quickly test code by selecting a code section and hitting the 'Run Code in-Line' button.
7. You can easily find documentation on common PHP functions by selecting them and invoking the documentation tool.
8. The user interface was designed to be simple and straight forward. It provides a lot of useful functionality despite it does not show too many buttons on the window.
9. It provides a field called 'Go to Anything' that provides quick access to any feature.
Zend Studio
1. Can debug using either Xdebug and Zend Debugger
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3. Debug sessions can be triggered from Z-Ray, browser toolbars or a special URL.
4. It automatically downloads the source code being debugged from the server if not available in the IDE
5. The profiler provides detailed reports.
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6. It can perform static code analysis using a rich set of rules for finding issues in your code as you type it. It has a special set of rules to help migrating your existing code to PHP 7.
7. It can be used for mobile development. It has integration with Apigility for easy developing of REST services, as well with Cordova for cross-platform mobile application development.
8. It has Zend Server integration for deployment and application monitoring.
PHP IDE Tutorials in this site
Codelobster Tutorial
PHPEd Tutorials
PHP Tools for Visual Studio Tutorials
Using Microsoft Visual Studio as PHP IDE with the PHP Tools extension: Part 3 Debugging
Best Free PHP IDE: Where to find these PHP IDE Free Downloads?
Some commercial IDEs have free versions. Others have trial versions that you can use for free during a given period.
Here follow the pages with free download versions of each PHP IDE:
Codelobster (limited feature set)
Eclipse PDT (Open Source)
Komodo IDE (21 day trial)
Netbeans IDE (Open Source)
Atom Nuclide (Open Source) Install Nuclide from Atom
PHPEd (14 day trial)
PHPStorm (30 day trial)
PHP Tools for Visual Studio (30 day trial)
Visual Studio Code (Open Source)
Zend Studio (30 day trial)
Note: for PHP Tools for Visual Studio you need a working version of Visual Studio. There are also free versions of Visual Studio Community Edition. Here are free download versions of each edition:
Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 (Release Candidate all versions)
Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 (community edition)
Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 (community edition)
Where to find the price and buy the commercial PHP IDEs?
Codelobster 2017
Komodo IDE 2017
PhpEd 2017
PhpStorm 2017
PHP Tools for Visual Studio 2017
Zend Studio 2017
PHP IDE Discount Coupon Codes
Since several of the listed PHP IDEs are commercial, their producers were kind enough to share codes that allow you to buy their IDEs with a discount. Here follow the coupon discount codes for each of the PHP IDEs.
Codelobster
20% off: 20aeb
Komodo IDE
PhpEd
10% off: ALL-OTH-10-O-F9FEC (expired in 2017)
PHP Tools for Visual Studio
10% off: PHPCLASSES777 (expired March 31, 2017)
Change log
2019-02-28 PHPStorm bumped to 2019.1 EAP #5, Nuclide bumped to 0.366 CodeLobster IDE 1.4.0 Free
2019-01-08 PHP Storm bumped to 2018.3.2, CodeLobster 1.4.0
Visual Studio 2018 Community Download
2018-03-17 Nuclide Atom bump to 0.288, PHP Storm 2018.1, CodeLobster 5.14, Komodo IDE 11, PHP Tools 1.26
2018-01-08 Nuclide Atom bump to 0.273, Eclipse PDT 5.2, PHP Storm 2017.3.3 EAP
2017-07-23 Nuclide Atom bump to 0.241, PHP Storm 2017.2, Eclipse PDT 5.0
2016-12-16 Eclipse PDT 4.2 release
2016-12-13 Listed the most popular Linux distributions that most PHP IDEs support
2016-11-22: Listed Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 RC as possible free IDE to use the PHP Tools for Visual Studio
Conclusion
The goal of this article is to let you evaluate the different PHP IDEs so you compare and find which ones are more suitable for your needs.
Since these PHP IDEs are always evolving, this article will be updated with latest developments.
Special thanks for the developers of the organizations and companies of each the the listed PHP IDEs for their collaboration.
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If you have questions or find inaccuracies, post a comment here.
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