JetBrains overview
JetBrains builds software for programmers. Its integrated development environments (IDEs) parse the code in a project into a model of its classes, functions and references, which lets them point out errors while code is being typed, suggest completions and restructure code safely across a whole codebase. The flagship product, IntelliJ IDEA, is aimed at Java and Kotlin developers, and the same IntelliJ Platform underlies a family of language-specific IDEs that includes PyCharm for Python, WebStorm for JavaScript, Rider for .NET, CLion for C and C++, GoLand for Go and RustRover for Rust. Google’s Android Studio is built on the IntelliJ Platform as well.
Sergey Dmitriev, Valentin Kipyatkov and Eugene Belyaev, three programmers from Russia, started the company in a rented Prague apartment in February 2000 under the name IntelliJ Software. Their first product, IntelliJ Renamer, was a refactoring tool for Java, and IntelliJ IDEA followed in January 2001. Renamed JetBrains, the company went on to build ReSharper for Visual Studio users, the TeamCity build server and the YouTrack issue tracker, and in 2011 it unveiled its own programming language, Kotlin. Google made Kotlin its preferred language for Android apps in 2019.
JetBrains grew without outside investors, paying for its expansion from product sales. For years many of its developers worked in offices in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Novosibirsk. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the company suspended sales and research work in Russia, closed those offices and moved more than 800 employees and their families to Amsterdam, Munich and Berlin and to new hubs in Cyprus, Serbia and Armenia. JetBrains now lists its headquarters in Amsterdam, where its parent company, JetBrains N.V., is based.
Kirill Skrygan, who joined JetBrains in 2010 and later ran its IntelliJ department, became CEO in February 2024. The company has since put much of its effort into AI: JetBrains AI Assistant reached general availability in December 2023, the Junie coding agent arrived in 2025, and Air, an application for running several AI coding agents in one workspace, launched as a public preview in March 2026. In 2025 JetBrains also merged the free and paid editions of PyCharm and IntelliJ IDEA into single products with free tiers. For that year it reported more than 2,600 employees, 12.5 million recurring active users and revenue growth of about 26 percent.
Software by JetBrains
3 products profiled, from IntelliJ IDEA (2001) to Kotlin (2011).
- IntelliJ IDEAJetBrains’ flagship IDE for Java, Kotlin and other JVM languages Developer Tools 2001 Freemium
- PyCharmJetBrains’ Python IDE for web development, data science and AI Developer Tools 2010 Freemium
- KotlinA concise, null-safe language for Android, servers and multiplatform apps Developer Tools 2011 Free and open source
JetBrains history and milestones
- 2000
Sergey Dmitriev, Valentin Kipyatkov and Eugene Belyaev found IntelliJ Software, later renamed JetBrains, in Prague.
- 2001
The company releases IntelliJ IDEA, a Java IDE built around code analysis and automated refactoring.
- 2004
ReSharper launches as a code analysis and refactoring extension for Microsoft Visual Studio.
- 2009
JetBrains publishes the IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition as open source under the Apache 2.0 license.
- 2010
PyCharm, WebStorm and PhpStorm launch, bringing the IntelliJ Platform to Python, JavaScript and PHP.
- 2011
JetBrains unveils Kotlin, a statically typed programming language for the Java virtual machine.
- 2012
Oleg Stepanov and Maxim Shafirov take over as chief executives from co-founder Sergey Dmitriev.
- 2017
Google announces first-class support for Kotlin on Android at its I/O developer conference.
- 2022
JetBrains suspends sales and R&D in Russia, closes its offices there and relocates more than 800 employees.
- 2024
Kirill Skrygan succeeds Maxim Shafirov as CEO on February 1.
- 2025
PyCharm and IntelliJ IDEA become unified products with free tiers, and the Junie AI coding agent launches.
- 2026
JetBrains releases a public preview of Air, an application for running several AI coding agents in one workspace.
Who founded JetBrains?
Sergey Dmitriev
Co-founder; CEO until 2012
Sergey Dmitriev studied at Saint Petersburg State University and co-founded JetBrains in Prague in 2000 with Valentin Kipyatkov and Eugene Belyaev. As chief executive until 2012, he led the company as it grew from a single Java IDE into a family of tools for Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby and .NET developers, before handing the CEO role to Oleg Stepanov and Maxim Shafirov.
Forbes lists Dmitriev as the company’s president and counts him among the world’s billionaires. He renounced his Russian citizenship in 2023 and lives in Cyprus.
Valentin Kipyatkov
Co-founder
Valentin Kipyatkov graduated from Saint Petersburg State University and worked in the late 1990s for TogetherSoft, a maker of software modeling and development tools, moving to its Prague office in 1999. The following year he joined Sergey Dmitriev and Eugene Belyaev in starting the company that became JetBrains.
Forbes includes Kipyatkov on its billionaires list and attributes his fortune to JetBrains. Like Dmitriev, he gave up his Russian citizenship in 2023 and now lives in Cyprus.
Eugene Belyaev
Co-founder; early president and CTO
Eugene Belyaev, whose first name is also written Evgeny, was a senior developer and project manager on TogetherSoft’s Together ControlCenter before co-founding JetBrains in 2000. By the mid-2000s he was serving as the company’s president and chief technology officer.
Belyaev later turned to other ventures. In 2012 he founded Delightex, a Munich company whose software lets students build 3D scenes, animate them with code and explore them in virtual and augmented reality.
How JetBrains makes money
JetBrains earns most of its revenue from subscriptions to its desktop tools. Individuals and companies pay monthly or yearly for single products, such as IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate or PyCharm Pro, or for the All Products Pack, which bundles the IDEs and .NET tools and includes the AI Pro plan. Customers who pay for a full year receive a perpetual fallback license for the version that was current when the subscription began, a concession JetBrains introduced in 2015 after customers objected to its switch from perpetual licenses to subscriptions. Team products such as TeamCity and YouTrack are sold as cloud services or for self-hosting.
Alongside its paid products, JetBrains gives away a great deal. The core versions of IntelliJ IDEA and PyCharm are free, WebStorm, Rider, CLion, RustRover and RubyMine are free for non-commercial use, and students, teachers and many open-source projects can get free licenses. Kotlin is free and open source. AI is a newer source of income: a free tier provides a small monthly allowance of AI credits, while paid AI Pro, AI Ultimate and AI Enterprise plans offer larger quotas for AI Assistant and the Junie agent.
Who owns and runs JetBrains?
Kirill Skrygan has been CEO of JetBrains since February 1, 2024. He joined the company in 2010, most recently led its IntelliJ department, and succeeded Maxim Shafirov, who had been chief executive for eleven and a half years, initially alongside Oleg Stepanov. JetBrains is privately held and has never raised outside capital. Its parent company, JetBrains N.V., is based in Amsterdam and does not publish a shareholder list, but Forbes counts co-founders Sergey Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov among the world’s billionaires and attributes their wealth to JetBrains.
- Kirill SkryganCEO (since 2024)
- Sergey DmitrievCo-founder; CEO until 2012
- Valentin KipyatkovCo-founder
- Maxim ShafirovFormer CEO (2012 to 2024)
JetBrains: frequently asked questions
Who founded JetBrains?
JetBrains was founded in Prague in February 2000 by Sergey Dmitriev, Valentin Kipyatkov and Eugene Belyaev, three programmers from Russia. The company was originally called IntelliJ Software, and its first products were a Java refactoring tool called IntelliJ Renamer and, in 2001, the IntelliJ IDEA development environment.
Who owns JetBrains?
JetBrains is a privately held company that has never taken venture capital or other outside investment. Its Amsterdam-based parent company, JetBrains N.V., does not publish its shareholders, but Forbes attributes the billionaire fortunes of co-founders Sergey Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov to their holdings in JetBrains.
Who is the CEO of JetBrains?
Kirill Skrygan has been the CEO of JetBrains since February 1, 2024. He joined the company in 2010 and led its IntelliJ department before taking over from Maxim Shafirov, who had been chief executive for more than 11 years after co-founder Sergey Dmitriev stepped down from the role in 2012.
Where is JetBrains headquartered?
JetBrains lists its headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where its parent company, JetBrains N.V., is based. The company was founded in Prague, Czech Republic, which remains home to its international sales operation, and it runs research and development centers in countries including Germany, Cyprus, Serbia, Armenia and the United States.
What software does JetBrains make?
JetBrains makes IDEs including IntelliJ IDEA for Java and Kotlin, PyCharm for Python, WebStorm, Rider, CLion, GoLand, PhpStorm, RubyMine, RustRover and DataGrip. It also makes ReSharper for Visual Studio, the TeamCity CI/CD server, the YouTrack project tracker, AI tools such as AI Assistant and the Junie coding agent, and the Kotlin programming language.
Is JetBrains a Russian company?
No. JetBrains was founded in Prague, Czech Republic, and is headquartered in Amsterdam. Its founders came from Russia and for many years it employed large numbers of developers in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Novosibirsk, but after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine it suspended sales and R&D there, closed those offices and relocated more than 800 employees.
Is JetBrains a public company?
No. JetBrains is privately held and has never listed its shares on a stock exchange or raised venture capital, funding its growth from sales of software subscriptions. In its annual highlights for 2025, the company reported revenue growth of about 26 percent, more than 2,600 employees and 12.5 million recurring active users.
Sources
- JetBrains company contacts and offices jetbrains.com
- JetBrains CEO Transition, The JetBrains Blog blog.jetbrains.com
- JetBrains Annual Highlights 2026 jetbrains.com
- Update on JetBrains’ Statement on Ukraine blog.jetbrains.com
- Sergey Dmitriev, Forbes forbes.com
- JetBrains, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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