16 tools · editorial
Best AI tools for coding
Editors, terminal agents, and autocomplete for people who write and ship software.
SDefault
AStrong
88Claude CodePeople who already like Claude and want an agent in the terminal or IDE.Paid87GitHub CopilotTeams already on GitHub who want the least new editor to learn.Freemium86CodexBuilders who want one OpenAI agent in chat, the terminal, and the cloud.Freemium83ReplitBuilding and hosting a small app entirely in the browser.Freemium82ClinePeople who want an IDE agent without a subscription to the agent itself.Free82DevinTeams that want to delegate a task and review the pull request later.Freemium
BSolid
79AiderTerminal-first developers who want commits, not a new IDE.Free79ContinueEditors who want open-source chat and autocomplete with their own keys.Free77Augment CodeDevelopers in large existing repos who want codebase-wide context.Freemium76Gemini Code AssistGoogle Cloud shops that want Gemini inside an existing IDE.Freemium76ZedPeople who want a fast editor and light AI, not a full agent subscription.Freemium71Amazon Q DeveloperTeams building on AWS who want the assistant close to those APIs.Freemium70JetBrains AI AssistantIntelliJ, PyCharm, and WebStorm users who want AI without leaving the IDE.Freemium
CSituational
Head-to-heads
Questions
Which AI coding tool should you open on Monday?
Cursor is the top-ranked pick at 92. Builders who want a VS Code-like editor with a repo-wide agent. The score is editorial, not a measured benchmark.
Which AI coding & IDEs tools are free to start?
Cursor (freemium), GitHub Copilot (freemium), Codex (freemium), Replit (freemium), Cline (free), Devin (freemium). Dollar prices say “check site” unless the software itself costs nothing to run. Confirm the current plan before you commit.
How does this ranking work?
Capability is 40% of the score, ease 25%, value 20%, and momentum 15%. S is 90 and above, A is 80 to 89, B is 70 to 79, and C is under 70. A sponsored label, if you see one, does not change the number.