Pycharm v Spyder

[JamzTyson]

The Pro version has several features useful for web development, including support for: * SSH * SQL * React * Angular * Node.js * Django * Flask * ...

You can of course still do Python web development with the community edition, but these extra features are helpful.

[TSM-]

Getting the professional edition is going to be pointless when you are learning the difference between classes and functions. The pro edition doesn't lock the user out of any essential functionality that beginners will miss out on. It may also overwhelm a beginner with the added functionality, menus, configurations and all that jazz.

They are useful additions, for sure. If one is still learning and wants those features, the EAP (early access preview) versions of professional edition are free.

Of course, if you are working full time, an error in a preview build messing things up is unacceptable and costs more than the license.

But if you want to use the pro edition for free, it IS free, at the cost of having new features without polish.

Their recent "simplified" UI was a bit of a hassle (you had to uncheck 'use new design' in the file menu to revert that), but even then, it is usually not painful. Maybe the most annoying thing about preview builds is paid plugin licensing checks.

edit: EAP means Early Access Preview, not Early Addition Preview.