Four months after the launch of the IntelliJ IDEA 2025.2 Early Access Program (EAP), JetBrains has announced the launch of the EAP for version 2025.3.
If you're not familiar with JetBrains's EAP, it's basically a free program that gives devs a sneak peek at pre release software. You can test out new features and give feedback, but you have to keep in mind that the builds might be unstable. Each build also has a 30 day validity period from its release date, so you cannot just use it forever as a free license.
In version 2025.3, JetBrains says it is moving to a unified distribution model. The company will no longer offer separate installers for its Community and Ultimate editions. Instead, there will be one download. Because of this, you will not find IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition EAP builds in the Toolbox App or from the IntelliJ Platform Gradle plugin.
For people who have no subscription at all, this is an upgrade because more features are becoming free. You will get wizards and basic support for languages like JavaScript, SQL, as well as frameworks like Spring. If you're a paying subscriber and your license expires, the IDE will revert to the free feature set instead of locking you out. Previously, many of these features were only available to users with an active IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate subscription.
In this EAP cycle, JetBrains promises improved Spring Data JDBC support and extends the capabilities of the Spring Debugger that was introduced in version 2025.2. The IDE will also have full support for Java 25, Spring Boot 4, and JUnit 6. Kotlin support continues to improve, with better code completion in K2 mode, and the IDE now gives better assistance for the Kotlin Routing DSL.
For Kotlin Notebook, JetBrains is improving stability and adding database integration. The Terminal is getting an injection of AI, starting with inline completion. Kubernetes users will see inlay quick actions in YAML files for faster port forwarding and resource status updates.
In terms of the UX, IntelliJ IDEA v2025.3 will be getting a visual refresh with a new "Islands" theme, which you can enable under Settings > Appearance & Behavior > Appearance > Theme. JetBrains is "looking into" making it the default theme in the future.
A new Welcome screen is also being introduced, designed to get you into the IDE with fewer clicks. The company is improving how the IDE communicates during indexing, with more transparent progress indicators.
You can learn more from the official announcement blog post.
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