When comparing IntelliJ Rust vs Geany, the Slant community recommends IntelliJ Rust for most people. In the question“What are the best editors/IDEs for Rust?” IntelliJ Rust is ranked 1st while Geany is ranked 5th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro A fully featured IDE
Pro Constantly being updated
Pro Full power of IDEA engine
This plugin uses big part of Intellij IDEA features, including advanced code analysis and refactoring.
Pro Free/Libre (MIT)
Currently
Pro Many users
Has more users than the average plugin.
Pro The best VI shortcut plugin
For those that favor VI shortcuts, you can do nearly everything in IntelliJ that you would do in a VIM editor. Almost no conflicts out of the box, and those that are in conflict are easily resolved.
Pro Built-in user friendly terminal
Pro Has built-in Git support
Pro Nearly 100% of Rust code is interpretted by the IDE
The ability to trace variable definitions and references from within closures as well as understand smart pointers and macro code makes it the smoothest interface for writing Rust.
Pro Supports JS/TS frameworks
Pro Light and fast
Geany is very lightweight thanks to the smaller offering of features.
Pro Built-in plugin manager
Geany has a built-in plugin manager which can be used to install plugins and add new powerful features to the editor.
Pro Quick search on large files
In Geany you technically search once for a whole search query, unlike Gedit, where once you start typing, the file is searched for in accordance with each substring of what you're typing, all the while leading to terribly annoying lag.
Pro Cross platform
Geany is a cross platform editor, very similar to Notepad++ in Windows.
Pro Build in terminal
Press F5 and code will run without the need to switch between windows.
Pro Actively developed Free (as in freedom) Software
This software respects your freedom.
Pro Real syntax parsing (not just coloring)
Hence it is capable of showing the methods and inner classes of, e.g., a Java source file.
Pro Simple project management
Pro Native
It is a real app and not another frankenstein web/electron app. This means it runs great and doesn't extraordinary amounts of RAM.
Pro Options in the menu are easy to find
For example, there is an easy way to change the font and theme in the View menu. No need to search through several syntax styles like in Notepad++ just to be able to change the used font.
Cons
Con Debugger requires paid CLion / IDEA Ultimate
Debugger still won't work without IDE that includes native debugger support. The only known is proprietary and paid CLion or IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate with the native debugger plugin.
Con Intellij Rust being replaced by paid for IDE
Con Why would you pay for it if there is VSCode
Con Too many issues (currently, in May 2022)
The plugin mostly works but it has a staggering number of issues (1400+ reported as of today). Therefore it should not be used if tool stability is an issue.
Con From the website: "work-in-progress, expect bugs and missing features"
Con Slow compared to Rust analyzer
Con Difficult to work with substrate
Con Does not parse macros correctly
It seems that autocomplete does not work for macros at all.
Con Not very advanced
Although it has some IDE features, it is not as advanced as some other text editors that can be extended to contain IDE functionality.
Con Windows installer not digitally signed
Con Not many third-party plugins
Geany is not as popular as some other text editors with plugin support. As such it's understandable that it's missing lots of powerful plugins available in other editors.