This is an unofficial guide. The official PyCharm site is jetbrains.com/pycharm.
Editions
PyCharm Community vs Professional
- Community
- Free and open source. Python, Django basics, Git, debugger, scientific mode. Best for most developers.
- Professional
- Paid ($99/year). Adds web development (Django/Flask full), databases, remote interpreters, Jupyter notebooks.
All guides
PyCharm Windows guides
| Guide | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Download guide | Community and Professional download |
| Install guide | Step-by-step install walkthrough |
| Community vs Professional | Which edition to choose |
| Windows 11 | Windows 11 specific setup |
| Conda setup | Anaconda/Miniconda environments |
| Virtual environments | venv and virtualenv setup |
| WSL setup | Python in WSL2 from PyCharm |
| Git integration | GitHub, GitLab, commit, push |
| Plugins | Best plugins for PyCharm |
| Django setup | Django project on Windows |
| Data science | Jupyter, pandas, matplotlib |
| Shortcuts | Keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet |
| Beginners guide | First Python project |
| Troubleshooting | Fix install and runtime errors |
| Not opening | Startup crash fixes |
| PyCharm slow | Speed up PyCharm on Windows |
| vs VS Code | IDE comparison |
| Update guide | Update to latest version |
| FAQ | Common questions answered |
FAQ
Quick answers
Is PyCharm free?
PyCharm Community Edition is completely free and open source. It covers Python development, basic Django, Git, debugging and scientific mode. PyCharm Professional is paid ($99/year or $24.90/month) and adds full web development, database tools and remote interpreters. For most Python developers, Community is sufficient.
PyCharm vs VS Code — which is better for Python?
PyCharm is purpose-built for Python with deeper code intelligence, refactoring and debugging out of the box. VS Code is more lightweight and flexible. See the full comparison.