The Definitive Guide to AI Coding Tools

Formerly Codeium, now a full IDE. Cascade AI agent sits in sidebar—generates modules, sets up configs, refactors code. Users say UX beats Cursor for beginners. "Built an app with 1 prompt."

ByteDance's free AI IDE. Unlimited access to GPT-4 AND Claude 3.5—no rate limits, no cost. Full IDE features, GitHub integration. The timing (right after Cursor's pricing backlash) is... convenient.

Open-source Cursor alternative. Fork of VS Code with AI built-in. Use your own API keys (Claude, GPT-4, local models). Full codebase context, inline edits, chat mode. Privacy-focused—your code never leaves your machine.

From the creators of Atom. Built in Rust—insanely fast. AI assistant built-in with GPT-4, Claude. Real-time collaboration like Google Docs. "Feels like editing on metal." Free during beta.

Browser-based IDE with autonomous AI agent. Describe an app, Agent builds it—sets up environment, installs packages, writes code, deploys. "Built a SaaS in 20 minutes." Includes hosting.

Prompt-to-full-stack-app in your browser. AI writes code, you see it run in real-time. Instant preview, npm install, file system—all in-browser. No setup. Went viral for good reason.

Standalone IDE from Codeium. Before it became Windsurf, this was the free autocomplete everyone used. Still free, still great. 70+ languages, unlimited usage. The generous free tier that started it all.

Formerly GPT Engineer. AI builds React apps with Supabase backend, auth, payments. Editable in UI or code. One-click deploy. Best for MVPs and startups shipping fast.

AI generates React components with Tailwind and shadcn/ui. Type what you want, get production-ready code. Copy-paste into your Next.js app. Best for UI components, not full apps.

AI pair programmer from ex-GitHub/Stripe engineers. $500M funding. Focus on software engineering workflows—not just code completion. Currently in private beta, launching 2025.

AI IDE built for refactoring and debugging. Understands your entire codebase history. Like having a senior engineer review every change. Strong at migrations and large refactors.

GitHub's answer to Cursor. Task-based IDE—point it at a GitHub issue, it plans solution, writes code across files, creates PR. Deeply integrated with GitHub workflows. Early preview access.

ByteDance's cloud IDE with AI. Like Replit meets VS Code. Code in browser, AI assistant built-in, instant dev environments. Popular in Asia, expanding globally.

Open-source AI pair programmer in your terminal. Works with any LLM (Claude, GPT-4, local models). Git-aware—automatically commits changes. Pay only for the API you use. Highly customizable.

Reinvented terminal with AI built-in. Command suggestions, error explanations, natural language to bash. Blocks-based editing—edit previous commands like a doc. Modern UI that doesn't sacrifice power.

IDE-style autocomplete for your terminal. Tab-complete for 800+ CLI tools (git, npm, aws, docker). Shows inline docs. Now part of Amazon Q—same great tool, AWS backing.

Natural language to terminal commands. Type what you want to do, get the command. Explains what commands do. Part of GitHub Copilot subscription—no extra cost.

AI for your command line. Pipe anything to any LLM. Use GPT-4, Claude, local models. Create custom templates. "Explain this log" | mods. Simple, powerful, Unix-style.

Command-line productivity tool powered by AI. Generate shell commands, code snippets, comments. Works with OpenAI, Claude, local models. Chat mode for conversations.

AI assistant for PowerShell and Command Prompt. Understands Windows commands, Active Directory, Azure CLI. Built for Windows admins and devs.

The original AI coding assistant. Tab-complete on steroids. Works in VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, everywhere. Now has Copilot Chat and Agent mode. 2K free completions/month. The safe, mature choice.

VS Code extension that turns Claude into an autonomous agent. Creates files, runs commands, commits code. Uses your API key—you see exactly what each task costs. Like Claude Code, but in VS Code.

Open-source Copilot alternative. Connect any model—Claude, GPT-4, Ollama local models. Tab completion, chat, edit mode. Self-hostable for enterprise. Full control over your data.

Built by the creator of Tabnine. Claims to be the fastest autocomplete—1M token context window. Free tier is genuinely usable. Pro adds GPT-4 and Claude for chat. Speed is the differentiator.

Privacy-first AI code completion. Runs locally or in private cloud—your code never trains public models. All major IDEs. Enterprise favorite for security-conscious teams.

AWS's AI coding assistant. Excellent for AWS services—generates IaC, explains cloud patterns. VS Code, JetBrains, and AWS consoles. Free tier is generous for AWS users.

AI assistant that reads your entire codebase. Uses Sourcegraph's code search to give context-aware answers. Choice of LLM (Claude, GPT-4, etc). Strong for large codebases.

AI-powered snippet manager with context. Remembers where you found code, suggests when to reuse it. Local-first—runs on your machine. Chat, search, organize snippets intelligently.

AI search engine for developers, now with VS Code extension. Ask coding questions, get answers with sources. Fast model (3 seconds), citations from Stack Overflow, docs, GitHub.

AI coding assistant with autocomplete, chat, and code search. Works in VS Code and as a Chrome extension—autocomplete in any browser tab. Generous free tier.

AI generates documentation as you code. Highlight a function, get docstrings. VS Code extension. Supports 10+ languages. From the team behind beautiful dev docs.

AI assistant with focus on code review and PR descriptions. Generates unit tests, explains code, writes commit messages. VS Code, JetBrains, CLI. Good for teams.

Built-in AI for IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc. Code completion, chat, refactoring. Deeply integrated with JetBrains' IDE features. Uses OpenAI and JetBrains models.

AI for generating meaningful tests and improving code quality. Focus on test generation, not just autocomplete. VS Code and JetBrains. "Developers love our tests."

VS Code extension for chatting with AI and executing suggestions. Works with any OpenAI-compatible API. Simple, focused, does one thing well.

Cloud development platform with AI. Write cloud apps in Wing language, AI helps with infra. VS Code extension + cloud platform. Preview cloud resources locally.

VS Code extension with AI chat and agents. Use GPT-4, Claude, or custom models. Create custom agents for specific tasks. Popular with 500K+ installs.

AI chat in VS Code with templates for common tasks. Generate tests, explain code, find bugs, write docs. GPT-4 powered. Free tier includes 30 requests/month.

Automated code documentation and API reference. Highlights code, generates plain-English explanations. VS Code extension + API. Great for onboarding and knowledge sharing.

AI for production-quality code. Autocomplete, multi-file edits, test generation. Trained on high-quality open source. VS Code and JetBrains plugins.

AI code reviewer for GitHub and GitLab. Reviews every PR automatically—finds bugs, suggests improvements, checks best practices. "Like having a senior engineer review every PR." 1000+ teams using it.

AI-powered security scanning. Finds vulnerabilities, suggests fixes, explains security issues. Learns from 1M+ open source repos. VS Code, JetBrains, CLI. Trusted by enterprises.

Automated code quality and security reviews. AI suggests fixes for code smells, security issues, duplications. Integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket.

Industry-standard code quality tool, now with AI. Suggests fixes for bugs and code smells. Self-hosted or cloud. 7M+ developers use SonarQube.

AI finds logical bugs and security issues traditional tools miss. Uses graph neural networks trained on millions of bug fixes. VS Code, JetBrains, GitHub Actions.

AI PR agent that reviews code, suggests improvements, auto-improves PRs. Works on GitHub. "We saw a 30% reduction in review time." Learns your team's coding style.