What's New in CLion 2025.1.1

CLion turns 10 this year, and we’re planning to make it a year to remember. We kicked things off in 2025.1 with improvements to the CLion Nova language engine, along with updates for debugging, embedded development, and project formats. And now, we have one more change to announce – we’re making CLion free for non-commercial use!

Key updates

New free license

The IDE is now free for non-commercial use, following a similar model implemented for WebStorm, Rider, and RustRover. This change aims to make CLion more accessible to students, hobbyists, and open-source contributors, allowing them to learn and explore without the burden of licensing fees.

Non-commercial use includes personal projects, learning, and content creation, while commercial use still requires the standard licensing.

Learn more

Remote Docker toolchain

Previously, CLion's Docker toolchain only allowed you to work with containers locally. In this release, we've added support for a remote Docker toolchain, allowing you to work with remote containers via an SSH connection.

To configure your remote Docker toolchain:

  1. Go to Build, Execution, Deployment | Toolchains. Click + and select Docker, then click ⚙️ next to Server.
  2. In the server configuration window, click + and select the SSH option.
  3. Select your remote configuration from the drop-down list or create a new one.

Bundled Qt renderers

For this release, we've simplified the configuration of Qt renderers by removing the need to download them. They're now bundled and enabled by default. This allows you to debug a Qt application and instantly view variables in a human-readable form.

If you don't need Qt renderers, you can disable them in Settings | Build, Execution, Deployment | Debugger | Data Views | C/C++ | Renderers.

Other updates

  • The Resync with Remote Hosts option now works again on macOS 15.4 and later.
  • CLion's Zephyr West integration now supports the use of the nRF SDK with the Remote Host toolchain.
  • The environment variables in the CMake run configuration are no longer overridden by CMake preset variables after a project reload.
  • CLion now provides code insights for Yocto projects that use the Meson build system.
  • Auto-inserting paired {} brackets in CLion Nova now also works when { is already present and you press Enter.

To learn more about other updates in the 2025.1 release, read our blog post.