phpstorm vs intellij idea ultimate

IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate actually includes all the features of PhpStorm, since PhpStorm is essentially a specialized version of IntelliJ for PHP. You won’t lose any PHP-specific tools by switching.

Thank you Davidjenkins7473 ! My biggest issue is that I read old posts and some not so old about people complaining that you Do miss some features or it is not the same.  I think it was specific features for laravel or symfony and others minor things. I would like to find an article updated that has any confirmation of what you mentioned. 

Hi MARCELLO VIEIRA,

All of PhpStorm’s capabilities can be added to IntelliJ IDEA through plugins (including Laravel IDEA and Symfony plugins): https://www.jetbrains.com/products/compare/?product=idea&product=phpstorm. 

To make things simple, IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate + PHP Plugin === PhpStorm + Java + other languages you might need. There are some minor UI differences, but nothing really serious.

Thank you Anastasiia! 

I am a little confused because PhpStorm is built for frameworks like Laravel, and I have never had to add any paid plugin (as stated in the link you sent Laravel and Symphony are paid plugins ). Additionally, the Laravel Idea plugin was not long ago made free. That's where my question lies regarding IntelliJ. Will everything that is in PhpStorm available to use and it will be working or should I expect to have missing features or have to pay for them?  

Hope this helps.

MARCELLO VIEIRA,

The Laravel Idea plugin is now also available to IntelliJ Ultimate users for free: https://blog.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/2025/07/laravel-idea-is-now-free/ . There is no difference in using the plugin in PhpStorm and IntelliJ IDEA.

Symfony plugin is compatible with both PhpStorm and IntelliJ IDEA: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7219-symfony-plugin . The list of paid features is the same for both IDEs, and can be found on the plugin developer's documentation page: https://espend.de/phpstorm/plugin/symfony.

source: https://blog.space waves/phpstorm/2025/07/laravel-idea-is-now-free/

There is no difference in using the plugin in PhpStorm and IntelliJ IDEA.

I wander that Why did JetBrains decide to make the Laravel Idea plugin free for PhpStorm users, and how do they plan to continue developing it?

Hi Duclonghuynht269765,

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