[Tcepsa]

Consider trying Emacs 27.1 with the Jansson library to help with JSON parsing if you're using an LSP-based approach in Emacs. (Apparently one of the reasons that it's sluggish is because the comms between Emacs and the corresponding language server are done in JSON, and previously Emacs' JSON parsing was a bit slow--libjansson was incorporated to speed that up). I have not used JetBrains so I don't have that comparison, but I use this Emacs arrangement with C# and have been very happy with its autocomplete/jump-to-definition/etc. capabilities. (I have used it with Python and JavaScript as well with a bit less success, but I think that is mainly because I haven't managed to get my environment configured quite right for it to be able to find everything, so that's my own shortcoming and I'd expect to have similar issues in any other editor ;) )

[zests]

I'm running a self-compiled emacs 28.0.50 on osx. Part of me wants to try recompiling and/or using a homebrew formula for latest emacs just in case I did something wrong in the compile process.

The emacs 27 speed improvements is actually what inspired me to try and get a working editor out of emacs again. Previously I had something that was usable but not great for javascript.