JetBrains Toolbox App
Drop-in replacementFreeJetBrains' own installer for Linux. Use it to install IntelliJ IDEA and keep it updated.
Your files: Projects and settings carry over untouched, and sign-in syncs your setup.
Does IntelliJ IDEA run on Linux?
Verdict: Yes
Yes. JetBrains support IntelliJ IDEA on Linux properly, and list Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian and Amazon Linux in their own system requirements.
JetBrains treat Linux as a first-class system here. The install page lists Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04, Fedora 43 and 44, Debian 13 and Amazon Linux 2023, on either the Gnome or KDE desktop, and the requirements are the same as on Windows: a four-core processor, 8 GB of memory and 10 GB of disk.
There are three ways in. The JetBrains Toolbox app is the one they recommend, because it installs and updates every JetBrains tool for you. You can also take a plain archive and extract it, or install the Snap package, which JetBrains note can be slower.
Your work comes across. Projects open as they are, and signing in syncs your settings, keyboard shortcuts, plugins and theme so the window looks the way you left it.
On licensing, the core of IntelliJ IDEA is free, and a paid Ultimate subscription adds the advanced tooling with a 30-day trial. Whatever you had on Windows applies on Linux too.
IntelliJ IDEA on Linux, and alternatives
Visual Studio Code
Different way of workingFreeA lighter free editor that does a lot of the same work through extensions. Not the same tool, and Java refactoring is weaker.
Your files: Opens the same project folders, but IntelliJ run configurations do not carry across.
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