CLion

About CLion

CLion is a cross-platform integrated development environment for C and C++ development, produced by JetBrains. It supports major toolchains and compilers (GCC, Clang, MSVC), build systems (CMake, Makefiles, Bazel, Meson), and testing frameworks such as Google Test, along with version control integration through Git. The IDE includes code completion, on-the-fly static analysis, automated refactoring tools, and navigation features designed to work across large codebases, with support for templates, constexpr, and recent C and C++ language standards.

The IDE includes an integrated debugger supporting GDB and LLDB, with memory and disassembly views, variable inspection, and core dump debugging. Code analysis features include data flow analysis, Clangd-based checks, and Clang-Tidy, plus integration with Google Sanitizers and Valgrind for catching runtime errors. CLion supports remote development through thin clients, full remote mode with source synchronization, Docker containers, and WSL toolchains, and it offers embedded development features including support for GCC ARM, IAR, and custom toolchains, GDB server integration for on-chip debugging, and built-in support for PlatformIO, STM32CubeMX, Zephyr, and FreeRTOS.

CLion integrates AI coding assistance, offering access to models including Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok, or a locally hosted model, along with multi-agent support (Junie, Claude Agent, Codex, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor via ACP), next-edit suggestions, and code completion. It is aimed at individual developers, teams, and organizations working in C and C++, including those doing embedded development or learning the languages, and it is free for non-commercial use with subscription-based licensing for organizations and individuals, plus free licenses available for students and teachers.

Key features

• Context-aware code completion, on-the-fly analysis, and automated refactorings for C and C++
• Integrated debugger supporting GDB and LLDB with memory, disassembly, and core dump views
• Remote development via thin client, full remote mode, Docker, or WSL
• Embedded development support for GCC ARM, IAR, PlatformIO, STM32CubeMX, and Zephyr
• Natively integrated AI with Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, and multi-agent tools like Junie and Copilot

Frequently asked questions