Best Minecraft Mod Development Tools in 2026
Updated
In short: Gradle is ranked #1 of 31 as of 3 October 2026, ahead of ModDevGradle and Architectury Loom. The best-ranked option with a free plan is ModDevGradle. The lowest first paid tier on this page is IntelliJ IDEA at $8.33/mo.
Minecraft mod development tools cover different stages of building and maintaining mods, from managing dependencies and debugging code to packaging artifacts. Compared on Minecraft versions, supported loaders and platforms, the entries also account for visual editors, free plans and paid starting prices. That makes it easier to consider both your target environment and preferred development workflow. Gradle, ModDevGradle and Architectury Loom appear first, followed by ForgeGradle and IntelliJ IDEA. The ranking provides an order to explore, while the listed criteria help you assess compatibility, tooling depth and whether a free or paid option fits your setup.
31 minecraft mod development tools ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
| # | Platform | Score | Why | From | Free plan | Paid from | Supported loaders | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gradle | 8.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 2 |  ModDevGradle | 7.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | NeoForge; Minecraft Forge | View |
| 3 |  Architectury Loom | 7.0 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, Quilt | View |
| 4 |  ForgeGradle | 6.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | Forge, FML | View |
| 5 | IntelliJ IDEA | 6.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $8.33/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 6 | Visual Studio Code | 6.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 7 | Minecraft Forge | 6.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 8 | NeoForge | 6.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 9 |  Quilt Loom | 6.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | Quilt | View |
| 10 | Blockbench | 6.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 11 | Recaf | 6.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 12 | Minecraft Development | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | Spigot, Paper, Sponge, Forge, NeoForge, Fabric, Architectury, Mixins, BungeeCord, Waterfall, Velocity | View |
| 13 | Fabric | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 14 |  Minecraft Development MCP Server | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | Fabric, Quilt, Forge, NeoForge | View |
| 15 | Eclipse IDE | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 16 |  MCreator | 5.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 17 |  McDeob | 5.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 18 |  Neo-Loom | 5.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | NeoForge, MinecraftForge | View |
| 19 |  Tiny Remapper | 5.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | Fabric | View |
| 20 |  SpongePowered Mixin | 5.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | Forge, ModLauncher, LegacyLauncher | View |
| 21 |  Parchment | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | Forge, Fabric, Quilt | View |
| 22 |  MixinExtras | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | Fabric, Quilt, Forge, NeoForge | View |
| 23 |  Retrom | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 24 |  ForgeFlower | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 25 |  CurseForge Gradle Publish Plugin | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | Fabric, NeoForge | View |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which minecraft mod development tool is ranked first on Inferse?
Gradle is ranked #1 of 31 with a score of 8.2. ModDevGradle is second and Architectury Loom third.
How many of these have a free plan?
7 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, IntelliJ IDEA has the lowest first paid tier we found: $8.33/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it. Paid placements never change a rank.