Category guide230 tools documented
The best AI coding tools depend on how you work: in the terminal, inside an editor, or in a browser without writing much code. Our coding category lists 230 AI coding tools, from terminal agents and IDE assistants to browser-based app builders and testing add-ons. They solve different problems, so a single ranking only helps once you know your workflow. Claude Code is an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase and edits files, while GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant with code completions, chat and agent features, and OpenAI Codex also ships an IDE extension.
The biggest differences are pricing and how you pay. 179 of the 230 tools have a free plan or free tier, and 137 have a verified starting price. Some agentic AI tools are bundled into a subscription you may already hold, such as Claude Pro at $20 per month or ChatGPT Go at $8. Others charge per seat, per credit or per usage, and a few let you bring your own model keys. Usage limits apply on Claude Code and OpenAI Codex plans, and dedicated tools such as diffray and Git AutoReview handle AI pull request review.
Prices, plan names and limits come from each vendor's own US pricing page, recorded as published with the check date; unconfirmed prices are labelled. How we review.
Lowest fixed monthly price per pick, USD, as published by the vendor.
| # | Tool | Score | Pick it for | Models / engine | Starting price | Free tier | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  GitHub CopilotCompletions, code review and agents inside VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Xcode and github.com, from a free plan to Pro at $10 per month. |
9/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Lasting free plan; +1 API or integrations documented; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | Teams already on GitHub | Plans page lists Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT-5 mini through GPT-6.1 Sol, Google Gemini 3… | $10/mo (Copilot Pro) all plans |
Yes | Web, Desktop, Mobile |
| 2 |  ClineOpen-source agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the terminal with bring-your-own-model support, free or ClinePass at $9.99. |
9/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Lasting free plan; +1 API or integrations documented; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | Open source, own model keys | BYO provider: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Bedrock, Azure, Vertex, Ollama, DeepSeek, xAI | $9.99/mo (ClinePass) all plans |
Yes | Desktop |
| 3 | OpenAI Codex One coding agent across CLI, IDE, desktop app and cloud, included in ChatGPT plans from Go at $8 per month or billed by API. |
8/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Lasting free plan; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | ChatGPT subscribers | GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6 Luna, GPT-6 Sol; GPT-5.6 Sol/Terra/Luna during rollout | $8/mo (Go) all plans |
Yes | Web, Desktop, Mobile |
| 4 |  CursorAI editor with agents, cloud agents and code review, starting free on Hobby with Individual (Pro) at $20 per month. |
8/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Lasting free plan; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | AI-first editor, free start | Composer 2.5, Grok 4.7/4.6/4.5, Claude Fable 5.1, GPT-5.6 Sol, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Muse Spark | From $20/mo (Individual (Pro)) all plans |
Yes | Desktop |
| 5 | Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) AI IDE (now Devin Desktop) to manage local and cloud agents, with a free plan and Pro at $20 per month. |
8/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Lasting free plan; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | Agents inside a full IDE | SWE-2, Haiku, GPT 5.2 Mini, Claude, Gemini, SpaceXAI, open source models | $20/mo (Pro) all plans |
Yes | Desktop |
| 6 |  ReplitDescribe an app in chat and the agent builds, hosts and publishes it, with a free mode and Core at $20 per month. |
8/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Lasting free plan; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | Non-developers building apps | Replit Agent | $20 (Core) all plans |
Yes | Web, Desktop, Mobile |
| 7 |  Claude CodeEdits multiple files and runs commands from the terminal, IDEs, desktop or web, with plans from Pro at $20 per month. |
6/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | Terminal agent on Claude plans | Opus 5.5 default; Fable 5.1, Sonnet 5.5, Haiku 5.5 selectable; older Opus/Sonnet 4.x | $20/mo (Pro) all plans |
No | Web, Desktop |
| 8 | Factory Droid agents plan, build, review and ship code across desktop, CLI and web, with tiers from Pro at $20 to Enterprise. |
6/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | Governed team automation | GPT-5, Claude Opus, Claude Sonnet, Gemini, and other frontier and open-weight models | $20/mo (Pro) all plans |
No | Web, Desktop, API |
| 9 |  Augment CodeAgentic platform with a Context Engine, CLI and IDE tools, with a flat $20 Standard team price covering up to 50 seats. |
6/10+3 Verified USD price; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | Engineering teams, flat price | Claude Fable 5.1, Opus 5, GPT-6.1 Sol, Gemini 3.8 Flash, Grok 4.6, Kimi K3, GLM 5.3, Prism | $20/mo (Standard) all plans |
No | API |
| 10 |  Gemini CLIOpen-source terminal agent for Gemini that works with an API key, Vertex AI or a paid Google plan; unpaid-tier users were moved to Antigravity CLI on June 18. |
6/10+1 Price listed, not vendor-confirmed; +2 Lasting free plan; +2 Documented limits, setup and FAQ; +1 Checked in the last 30 days | Gemini via API key or Vertex | Gemini 3 family; Flash only on free API tier, Pro on paid | Not published all plans |
Yes | Desktop |
AI coding assistant from GitHub offering code completions, chat and agent features in editors, the terminal and GitHub.
Free stops at: 2,000 completions per month, Limited chat and agent usage (allowance of GitHub AI Credits)
Verified github.com (opens GitHub Copilot website in a new tab)
Free · paid from $10/mo US · checked Sep 30
Open-source coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, terminal and desktop, with bring-your-own-model support.
Free stops at: Inference billed at cost or via your own API keys
Free no paid plan listed
OpenAI's coding agent for the CLI, IDE extension, desktop app, web and iOS, included in ChatGPT plans or billed by API.
Free stops at: Desktop app only listed, Usage limits apply
Verified developers.openai.com (opens OpenAI Codex website in a new tab)
Free · paid from $8/mo US · checked Sep 29
AI code editor with agents, cloud agents and code review, offered with a free Hobby tier and paid plans.
Free stops at: Limited Agent requests
Free · paid from $20/mo US · checked Sep 29
AI coding IDE, formerly Windsurf, now Devin Desktop: manage local and cloud coding agents inside a full IDE.
Free stops at: Light quota for agent usage, resets daily and weekly, Limited model availability
Verified windsurf.com (opens Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) website in a new tab)
Free · paid from $20/mo US · checked Sep 29
AI app and website builder: describe an idea in chat and Replit's agent builds, hosts and publishes it.
Free stops at: Up to 30 hours of chat, Up to 60 projects
From $20/mo US · checked Sep 29
Anthropic's agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files and runs commands from the terminal, IDEs, desktop app or browser.
Watch out: Not included in the Free Claude plan, and usage on subscriptions is capped by plan limits.
Verified code.claude.com (opens Claude Code website in a new tab)
From $20/mo US · checked Sep 29
Agent-native software development platform whose Droid agents plan, build, review and ship code across desktop, CLI and web.
Watch out: No free plan; Pro starts at $20/mo; Teams capped at 10 seats; Enterprise features (SSO, ZDR) require Business…
From $20/mo US · checked Sep 29
AI coding platform with agents, a context engine, CLI and IDE extensions; Cosmos is its software delivery platform.
Watch out: No free plan is listed, and usage beyond the included dollar amount needs paid top-ups.
Verified augmentcode.com (opens Augment Code website in a new tab)
From $20/mo US · checked Sep 29
Open-source terminal AI agent from Google bringing Gemini to the command line; site notes unpaid and Google One users moved to Antigravity CLI.
Free stops at: Verify current availability
Verified geminicli.com (opens Gemini CLI website in a new tab)
Pricing US price unconfirmed
Cursor (Hobby), GitHub Copilot (Copilot Free), Windsurf (Free), Codex (Free) and Cline (Open Source) all list a $0 option. Of the 230 AI coding tools in our category, 179 have a free plan or free tier.
Individual paid plans in our data mostly start between about $8 and $20 per month: Codex Go is $8, GitHub Copilot Pro is $10 and Claude Pro, Cursor Individual (Pro) and Windsurf Pro are $20. Higher tiers reach $100 to $200 per month, for example Claude Max 20x at $200.
It depends on the plan you already pay for, since we have no head-to-head test. Codex is included in ChatGPT plans from Free and Go ($8 per month), while Claude Code is not in the Free Claude plan and starts with Pro at $20 per month. Both work in the terminal and IDEs.
App builders such as Replit and Lovable are aimed at non-developers. Replit lists a free mode and Core at $20 per month, and Lovable has a free plan with 5 daily build credits.
Yes, some tools allow it. Cline is an open-source agent with bring-your-own-model support, and Gemini CLI can authenticate with an API key or Vertex AI. Check each plan, because some features are limited when you use an API key.
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Related: Chat assistants · Research & search
Each pick is scored 0–10 from facts in its verified profile, not from popularity or payment. The score is shown in the table; hover it for the breakdown.
We have not benchmarked output quality; this ranks what each vendor publishes and how well we could verify it. No paid placements. How we review.
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