Alternatives to Android Studio
Google's official IDE for building Android apps, based on IntelliJ. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Android Studio
Google's official IDE for building Android apps, based on IntelliJ.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Android Studio.
Visual Studio
Microsoft's integrated development environment for .NET, C++ and Windows development, with a free Community edition.
Visual Studio is Microsoft's Windows-only IDE focused on .NET and C++, with a free Community edition, and lacks Android Studio's official Jetpack Compose and Android tooling.
Apache NetBeans
An open-source IDE for Java, PHP, JavaScript, HTML and other languages from Apache.
Apache NetBeans is a free Apache-licensed Java and PHP IDE for Windows, macOS and Linux, without Android-specific layout previews, Device Streaming or Gemini assistance.
Theia IDE
An open-source IDE for desktop and browser from the Eclipse Foundation that runs VS Code extensions.
Theia IDE is a vendor-neutral Eclipse Foundation IDE for desktop and browser that runs VS Code extensions from Open VSX, without built-in Android tooling.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Android Emulator
Android Studio's emulator that runs Android system images as virtual devices for testing apps on a computer.
Android SDK Platform Tools
Official ADB and fastboot tools for talking to Android devices.
Kotlin
A concise, multiplatform programming language from JetBrains for backend, Android, web and desktop apps.
Gradle
An open-source build automation tool for Java, Kotlin and Android projects, with Kotlin and Groovy build scripts.
Genymotion
An Android emulator for desktop computers and the cloud, aimed at app development, testing and demos.
JetBrains Toolbox App
A free desktop manager for installing, updating and rolling back JetBrains IDEs and opening projects in them.
