diff --git a/devtools/debug.py b/devtools/debug.py
index 9438595..d7e471c 100644
--- a/devtools/debug.py
+++ b/devtools/debug.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import sys
 from collections.abc import Generator
 from types import FrameType
-from typing import Any, TextIO
+from typing import Any, TextIO, cast
 
 from .ansi import sformat
 from .prettier import PrettyFormat
@@ -133,9 +133,19 @@ def format(self, *args: Any, frame_depth_: int = 2, **kwargs: Any) -> DebugOutpu
         return self._process(args, kwargs, frame_depth_)
 
     def breakpoint(self) -> None:
+        """
+        Start the IPython debugger if IPython is installed, otherwise `pdb`.
+        """
         import pdb  # noqa: T100
 
-        pdb.Pdb(skip=['devtools.*']).set_trace()
+        pdb_class: type[pdb.Pdb]
+        try:
+            from IPython.terminal.debugger import TerminalPdb  # pyright: ignore[reportMissingImports, reportUnknownVariableType]
+        except ImportError:
+            pdb_class = pdb.Pdb
+        else:
+            pdb_class = cast('type[pdb.Pdb]', TerminalPdb)
+        pdb_class(skip=['devtools.*']).set_trace()
 
     def timer(self, name: str | None = None, *, verbose: bool = True, file: TextIO | None = None, dp: int = 3) -> Timer:
         return Timer(name=name, verbose=verbose, file=file, dp=dp)
diff --git a/docs/usage.md b/docs/usage.md
index 05a0978..91cf289 100644
--- a/docs/usage.md
+++ b/docs/usage.md
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ The debug namespace includes a number of other useful functions:
 
 * `debug.format()` same as calling `debug()` but returns a `DebugOutput` rather than printing the output
 * `debug.timer()` returns an instance of *devtool's* `Timer` class suitable for timing code execution
-* `debug.breakpoint()` introduces a breakpoint using `pdb`
+* `debug.breakpoint()` introduces a breakpoint using IPython's debugger if IPython is installed, otherwise `pdb`
 
 ```py
 --8<-- "examples/other.py"
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index b32ca8f..deab352 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import re
 import sys
+import types
 from collections.abc import Generator
 from pathlib import Path
 from subprocess import run
@@ -248,13 +249,36 @@ def test_inspect_error(mocker: MockerFixture):
     assert str(v) == "<unknown>:0  (error parsing code, call stack too shallow)\n    'x' (str) len=1"
 
 
-def test_breakpoint(mocker: MockerFixture):
-    # not much else we can do here
+def test_breakpoint_pdb(mocker: MockerFixture, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+    # a `None` entry in sys.modules makes the import raise ImportError whether or not IPython is installed
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, 'IPython.terminal.debugger', None)
     mocked_set_trace = mocker.patch('pdb.Pdb.set_trace')
     debug.breakpoint()
     assert mocked_set_trace.called
 
 
+def test_breakpoint_ipython(mocker: MockerFixture, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch):
+    ipython_set_trace = mocker.MagicMock()
+    constructed_with: list[list[str]] = []
+
+    class FakeTerminalPdb:
+        def __init__(self, skip: list[str]) -> None:
+            constructed_with.append(skip)
+
+        set_trace = ipython_set_trace
+
+    fake_module = types.ModuleType('IPython.terminal.debugger')
+    fake_module.TerminalPdb = FakeTerminalPdb  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, 'IPython.terminal.debugger', fake_module)
+    mocked_pdb_set_trace = mocker.patch('pdb.Pdb.set_trace')
+
+    debug.breakpoint()
+
+    assert ipython_set_trace.called
+    assert constructed_with == [['devtools.*']]
+    assert not mocked_pdb_set_trace.called
+
+
 @pytest.mark.xfail(
     sys.platform == 'win32' and sys.version_info >= (3, 9),
     reason='see https://github.com/alexmojaki/executing/issues/27',