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🧰 What IDE Stack Does Google Use Internally? VS Code, IntelliJ, or Something Else?
Forget the memes about 1,000 tabs of Vim. What IDEs and dev tools do Googlers actually use in 2025? Let’s take a deep dive into the code editors, environments, and build systems Google engineers swear by.
When you think of Google, you might imagine engineers wielding cutting-edge AI tools and custom IDEs built in-house. And you wouldn’t be wrong.
In 2025, as development tooling continues to evolve, developers everywhere are asking:
“Do Google engineers really use VS Code or IntelliJ like the rest of us? Or do they have their own secret sauce?”
This article breaks down the internal IDE stack used at Google, including lesser-known in-house tools, and why Google’s engineering workflows are so unique.
💡 TL;DR: Google Uses Its Own Tools — Mostly
While VS Code and IntelliJ IDEA are incredibly popular across the developer community, Google’s internal engineering workflow is based on custom-built tooling to support their massive monorepo, scale, and security needs.
Let’s explore what those tools look like — and where open-source favorites do sneak in.
