When comparing Eric Python IDE vs PythonAnywhere, the Slant community recommends PythonAnywhere for most people. In the question“What are the best cloud IDEs for Python?” PythonAnywhere is ranked 3rd while Eric Python IDE is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose PythonAnywhere is:
It's literally a matter of minutes to get a Python-backed website up and running.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Integrated python debugger
Eric has a python debugger built-in.
Pro Good project management
Pro Integration with version control software
Integrates with various VCS.
Pro Integrated class browser
With Eric you can easily browse all classes in your current Python project and display the methods for a given class.
Pro Easy setup
It's literally a matter of minutes to get a Python-backed website up and running.
Pro Easy scaling
You pay for a number of "Workers" for your web app (to handle requests), or CPU seconds for code that you run outside a web app, and you can get more workers or CPU seconds by upgrading your plan any time.
Pro Excellent customer service
Really fast turnaround, friendly.
Pro Free option
You can run a website at USERNAME.pythonanywhere.com for free, and it's good enough for a light-traffic website -- it runs 24/7. You get a free MySQL or SQLite database too.
Pro Flexible payments
You can pay monthly and cancel any time, or pay for a year up front to get a discount.
Pro Not too expensive
A basic site with no custom domain is free. $5 a month will afford the user enough power for a typical 100,000 hit a day website.
Cons
Con Complex interface
Eric has a very complex UI. It overwhelms you with sections and windows and doesn't let you focus on code. Every tool is displayed on the top bars (there are 3) with no logical grouping or structure whatsoever.
Con Auto completion is not very good
The auto completion is not top-notch compared to other IDEs and text editors. In fact, many people recommend installing a third-party plugin to improve the auto completion found in Eric.
Con Python-only on the server side
Obviously you can put JavaScript in your web pages and so on, but you can't use Rails or Node.
Con No WebSocket support
