Uncovering the Best Eclipse Che Alternatives for Cloud Development

Eclipse Che, an open-source project named after Cherkasy, Ukraine, has redefined cloud-based development with its innovative workspace concept. By leveraging containers and web services, Eclipse Che provides distributable, portable, and versionable development environments that are accessible via any browser. It supports a wide range of frameworks and programming languages, making it a powerful tool for organizations like Red Hat, Samsung, and SAP, as well as millions of individual developers. However, specific project requirements, team collaboration needs, or a desire for different feature sets often lead developers to seek out viable Eclipse Che alternatives.

Top Eclipse Che Alternatives

While Eclipse Che offers a robust and flexible cloud IDE, various other platforms provide unique advantages for different use cases. Here are some of the top alternatives worth exploring.

AWS Cloud9

AWS Cloud9 is a full-featured, browser-based IDE available as a commercial service or a locally hosted platform. It's an excellent Eclipse Che alternative for developers already integrated into the AWS ecosystem, offering robust cloud IDE capabilities, a built-in terminal, and extensive developer tools. Cloud9 also supports team collaboration and is extensible via plugins, making it suitable for a wide range of web development projects.

Eclipse Orion

Eclipse Orion is another open-source project under the Eclipse top-level project, offering a free and open-source web-based IDE. As an Eclipse Che alternative, Orion excels in providing a lightweight browser-based development experience with real-time collaboration features, making it ideal for teams looking for a free and highly collaborative web IDE without the overhead of a full-featured cloud environment.

Codenvy

Codenvy allows developers to contribute to projects in seconds without installing any software, providing a freemium cloud IDE experience. It's a strong Eclipse Che alternative for its focus on rapid project onboarding and its ability to modify, run, and debug code in the cloud or on-premise. Codenvy supports multiple languages, offers cloud coding, and facilitates online collaboration, making it particularly useful for Java IDE and NodeJS development, with SSH support for flexible access.

SLAppForge

SLAppForge is a free web-based visual application development toolkit specifically designed for quickly building serverless applications. As a unique Eclipse Che alternative, it works seamlessly with AWS Lambda and integrates with GitHub for a streamlined development workflow. Its focus on serverless architecture and Software as a Service (SaaS) makes it an excellent choice for developers focused on modern, event-driven applications.

Choosing the right cloud development environment depends heavily on your specific needs, existing infrastructure, and team preferences. Each of these Eclipse Che alternatives offers a distinct set of features and advantages, from commercial cloud IDEs to free open-source platforms and specialized serverless toolkits. We encourage you to explore them to find the best fit for your next project.