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Coding · Buying Guides
The Best AI Coding Assistant
GitHub Copilot is the best AI coding assistant for most people: it has a real free plan, works in VS Code and nearly every other major editor, and its business plans keep your code out of AI training. Cursor is the best AI-first editor, and Claude Code is our pick for agentic coding in the terminal.
The Research Score rates each product on its own merits. Our picks also weigh price and who the product is for, so a pick can rank above a higher-scoring product. How we score
“AI coding assistant” now covers three different jobs. There’s the assistant inside your editor that completes lines, answers questions and edits files. There’s the agent you hand a whole task to, often from the terminal, which plans the change, edits many files, runs tests and comes back with a diff. And there are app builders that let someone who has never written code describe an app and get a working one. The best tool depends on which job you need done, and on how much you care about where your code ends up.
For most people, we recommend GitHub Copilot: it has a usable free plan, a $10-a-month Pro plan, and works in VS Code and most other major editors. Cursor is the best AI-first editor. Codex comes with ChatGPT, Claude Code is our pick for big agentic tasks in the terminal, and Lovable turns plain-English prompts into apps for non-developers.
One warning before you pick: several personal plans now use your code and prompts for AI training unless you switch it off. We cover each vendor’s setting below.
For this guide, we researched nine AI coding tools, from editor assistants to terminal agents and no-code app builders. We read official pricing pages, product documentation and data-use policies, all checked in October 2026, and we looked at independent benchmark trackers. We did not test these tools hands-on. Every price, limit and feature below comes from a page we opened while researching, and those pages are listed in the sources. We rate each pick with our published Research Score, which weighs features, value, privacy, compatibility and support. How we research.
Who this is for
This guide is for three kinds of people:
Developers who want AI help in their editor: completions, chat and multi-file edits.
Developers and technical leads who want to hand whole tasks to an agent, often from the terminal, and review the result.
Non-developers, such as founders, marketers and small-business owners, who want to build a simple app or prototype without writing code.
How we picked
We looked for tools that do these things well:
Fit the job: strong editor integration for an IDE assistant, reliable multi-step work for an agent, or a gentle learning curve for an app builder.
Work where you work: support for VS Code and other popular IDEs, the terminal, and the platforms you use.
Honest pricing: a free tier you can actually use, and clear paid tiers. Usage-based limits count against a tool when they aren’t spelled out.
Code privacy: a clear answer on whether your code and prompts train AI models, how to opt out, and what changes on business plans.
We considered: GitHub Copilot, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, Lovable, Replit, Windsurf (now Devin Desktop), Gemini Code Assist and Google Antigravity.
Code privacy at a glance
Tool
Personal plans
Business plans
GitHub Copilot
May train on your data since April 24, 2026; opt out in settings
Business and Enterprise data not used for training
Cursor
Trains only if Privacy Mode is off
Admins can enforce privacy settings team-wide
OpenAI Codex
Not spelled out on the Codex pages we read
No training on business data by default
Claude Code
Trains if the “improve” setting is on (5-year retention)
No training under commercial terms; 30-day retention
Lovable
Opt out per account
Business workspace data excluded by default
Top pick · The best AI coding assistant for most people
GC
GitHub Copilot
8.8/10
A real free plan, a cheap Pro tier and support for almost every editor, plus a coding agent that works from GitHub issues.
Copilot wins because it fits into the way most people already work. GitHub’s plans page lists support for Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Vim, Neovim, Zed and Eclipse, and agent mode (where Copilot edits several files and runs commands for you) is listed for VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse and Xcode. Copilot also runs as Copilot CLI, on the web, on mobile and inside GitHub. For VS Code users, it’s the safe answer: no new editor required.
The free plan is genuinely useful for personal projects. According to GitHub’s documentation, Copilot Free includes up to 2,000 inline completions a month, limited chat and agent usage, and automatic model selection. Agent mode and Copilot CLI are included. Verified students get Copilot Student for free, and GitHub says verified teachers and maintainers of popular open source projects may be eligible for free Copilot Pro.
Paid plans are priced in AI credits, where one credit equals $0.01. Pro costs $10 a month and includes 1,500 credits, Pro+ costs $39 a month with 7,000 credits, and Max costs $100 a month with 20,000 credits. From Pro up, you can assign an issue to Copilot’s cloud agent, which researches, plans and writes the code in the background. Pro+ and Max can also hand tasks to third-party agents, including Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI Codex (listed as a preview). For teams, Copilot Business costs $19 per seat per month and Enterprise $39 per seat per month; Enterprise requires GitHub Enterprise Cloud.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
The biggest change this year is about privacy. GitHub’s documentation says that starting April 24, 2026, it may use interactions with Copilot Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max, including inputs, outputs and code snippets, to train AI models. You can turn this off under “Allow GitHub to use my data for AI model training” in your Copilot settings. GitHub says it doesn’t use Copilot Business or Enterprise customer data for training. You can also block suggestions that match public code on GitHub.
The free plan doesn’t include the cloud agent, full Copilot code review or custom instructions, and AI credits make it hard to predict how far a month’s allowance will go.
Who it’s for
Developers who want AI help in the editor they already use, especially VS Code, and teams that already host code on GitHub.
Who should skip it
You want the most AI-centered editor experience, or you can't accept personal-plan training defaults and won't change the setting.
Pros
Free plan with 2,000 completions a month, agent mode and Copilot CLI
Pro costs $10 a month
Works in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Neovim, Zed and Eclipse
Business and Enterprise data is not used for training
Cons
Personal plans may be used for AI training unless you opt out
Free plan has no cloud agent or code review
Usage is metered in AI credits, which takes some learning
Research Score
8.8/10
Features (30%)9
Value for money (25%)9
Privacy & security (20%)7
Compatibility (15%)10
Docs & support (10%)9
Free plan; Pro $10/month; Pro+ $39/month; Max $100/month; Business $19 per seat/month; Enterprise $39 per seat/month (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Runner-up · The best AI-first code editor
C
Cursor
7.7/10
An editor built around AI agents, with cloud agents on higher tiers and a Privacy Mode that keeps your code out of training.
Copilot adds AI to your editor; Cursor is an editor designed around AI agents. That suits developers who spend more time describing changes and reviewing diffs than typing code.
Cursor’s pricing has several tiers. The free plan includes limited AI usage, agent requests and chat requests. Plus costs $8 a month but, according to the pricing page, uses Grok models only. Premium, at $30 a month, gives four times the Plus usage and adds cloud agents, which work on tasks without tying up your machine. Super ($100) and Ultra ($200) raise usage to 15 and 50 times Plus. For companies, Teams starts at $30 per user per month with pooled usage. Cursor says the allowance refreshes weekly, and you can buy top-ups when you run out.
Privacy is a strength if you turn the right setting on. Cursor’s data-use page says that with Privacy Mode enabled, customer data isn’t used for training by Cursor, and that Cursor has zero data retention agreements with all of its model providers.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
With Privacy Mode off, Cursor says it may keep and use codebase data, prompts, editor actions and code snippets to improve its AI features and train its models. The data-use page doesn’t say what the default is for team accounts, so check the setting yourself. Cursor also notes that data may be retained for investigation if prompts trigger abuse detection.
The pricing page describes usage only as multiples of the Plus plan, so it’s hard to know in advance whether a tier is enough.
Who it’s for
Professional developers who are willing to switch editors to get AI agents at the center of their workflow.
Who should skip it
You're happy in JetBrains, Xcode or another IDE, or you want a predictable monthly limit.
Pros
Privacy Mode: no training by Cursor or its model providers
Zero data retention agreements with model providers when Privacy Mode is on
Cloud agents included from Premium
Team-wide privacy controls on business plans
Cons
Usage limits aren't spelled out in numbers
Without Privacy Mode, Cursor may train on your code
Means adopting a new editor
Research Score
7.7/10
Features (30%)9
Value for money (25%)7
Privacy & security (20%)8
Compatibility (15%)6
Docs & support (10%)7
Free plan; Plus $8/month; Premium $30/month; Super $100/month; Ultra $200/month; Teams from $30 per user/month (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Budget pick · The best choice if you already pay for ChatGPT
OC
OpenAI Codex
7.7/10
OpenAI’s coding agent is included with ChatGPT plans, from the free tier up, and runs on the web, in the terminal, in your IDE and on your phone.
If you already pay for ChatGPT, you already have an agentic coding tool. According to OpenAI’s Codex pricing page, Codex is included on every ChatGPT plan. The free plan is described as a way to explore Codex on quick coding tasks. Go ($8 a month) covers lightweight coding tasks, Plus ($20 a month) is pitched for a few focused coding sessions each week, and Pro (from $100 a month, with $200 and $500 tiers) is for heavy use. Business costs $20 per user per month billed annually for two or more users, or $25 billed monthly.
Codex runs in more places than most rivals. OpenAI says Plus includes Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension and on iOS, and the Codex app has merged into the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS and Windows. Cloud tasks run in OpenAI-hosted environments, so you can hand off a job and check the result later.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Usage limits are vague. For Plus and Business, OpenAI gives estimated ranges of local messages per five-hour period that vary widely by model, and it says these estimates aren’t fixed limits. Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit, but that is the $100-and-up tier. The pages give no limits for Free or Go.
On privacy, the Codex pricing page says Business includes no training on your business data by default, and Enterprise adds data retention and residency controls. The Codex pages we read don’t describe training for Free, Go, Plus or Pro, so check your ChatGPT data settings before you connect a private repository.
Who it’s for
ChatGPT subscribers who want an agentic coding tool without paying for another subscription.
Who should skip it
You want clear, published usage limits on personal plans or a detailed training policy for them on the Codex pricing page.
Pros
Included with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro and Business
Web, CLI, IDE extension, iOS and the ChatGPT desktop app
Business: no training on your business data by default
Cons
Free and Go access is described only as light use
Plus limits are estimates per five-hour window
Personal-plan training terms aren't spelled out on the Codex pages
Research Score
7.7/10
Features (30%)8
Value for money (25%)8
Privacy & security (20%)7
Compatibility (15%)8
Docs & support (10%)7
Included with ChatGPT Free; Go $8/month; Plus $20/month; Pro $100, $200 or $500/month; Business $20 per user/month billed annually ($25 monthly) (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Upgrade pick · The best agentic coding tool for the terminal
CC
Claude Code
8.0/10
An agent you hand whole tasks to, from bug fixes to multi-day migrations, in your terminal, IDE, desktop app, browser or Slack.
Claude Code is built for the second job: handing off a whole task. Anthropic describes it as a tool you give “a bug fix, test, or multi-day migration,” and says you can steer and review its work from your terminal, IDE, Slack or the web. It also has a desktop app, iOS and Android apps, GitHub integration and native extensions for VS Code and JetBrains.
You get it with a Claude subscription. Anthropic’s pricing page says Claude Code is included in all paid plans: Pro costs $20 a month or $17 a month billed annually ($200 up front), Max starts at $100 a month, and Team standard seats cost $20 per seat per month billed annually ($25 monthly). Developers who prefer pay-as-you-go can use a Claude Console account, where Claude Code consumes API tokens at standard API prices.
Anthropic’s documentation on data use is the most detailed we found. Under commercial terms (Team, Enterprise and the API), Anthropic says it doesn’t train generative models on code or prompts sent to Claude Code, and standard retention is 30 days. Qualified Enterprise customers can get zero data retention. Independent trackers such as Epoch AI include Claude Code, alongside Codex, in their SWE-bench Verified results, but scores shift with each model release, so we don’t rank tools on a single benchmark number.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
On Free, Pro and Max, your data trains future Claude models when the “improve” setting is on, and Anthropic keeps that data for five years. With the setting off, retention is 30 days. You can change it at any time in Claude’s privacy settings. Claude Code also stores session transcripts in plain text on your computer for 30 days by default so you can resume sessions.
It isn’t on the free Claude plan, and subscription plans have usage limits, so long agentic sessions can push you toward Max.
Who it’s for
Developers who want to delegate large, multi-file tasks and are comfortable reviewing an agent's work from the command line.
Who should skip it
You mainly want inline autocomplete, or you need Claude Code on a free plan.
Pros
Included with Claude Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise
Terminal, VS Code and JetBrains extensions, desktop, web, mobile and Slack
Commercial plans: no training on your code
Detailed, public data-usage documentation
Cons
Not available on the free Claude plan
Consumer plans train on your data if the setting is on
Usage limits apply on subscription plans
Research Score
8.0/10
Features (30%)9
Value for money (25%)7
Privacy & security (20%)7
Compatibility (15%)8
Docs & support (10%)9
Included with Claude Pro ($20/month, or $17/month billed annually); Max from $100/month; Team standard seat $20 per seat/month billed annually ($25 monthly) (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Also great · The best AI app builder for non-developers
L
Lovable
6.6/10
Describe an app in plain English and Lovable builds it, with a free tier to try it and a Business plan that keeps workspace data out of training.
The third job is building software when you can’t code. Lovable is designed for that: you describe what you want and it generates the app. For a personal project or a quick prototype, the free plan is enough to see whether it works for you. Lovable’s documentation says Free includes five build credits a day, up to 30 a month, plus small monthly grants of Cloud and AI credits.
Pro starts at $25 a month for 100 credits ($250 a year), and Business starts at $50 a month for 100 credits ($500 a year). Both scale up to 10,000 credits a month. Business adds single sign-on, role-based access, a security center, workspace publishing, the Lovable API and priority support.
Lovable is clear about training. Its plans page says Business workspace data is excluded from AI model training by default, while Free and Pro users can opt out per account.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Credits add up quickly once you build seriously: the top Pro tier, 10,000 credits, costs $2,250 a month. Monthly plan credits expire two months after they’re issued, and daily build credits don’t roll over.
Who it’s for
Founders, marketers and other non-developers who want a working prototype or simple web app without writing code.
Who should skip it
You're a developer working in an existing codebase, or you need predictable costs for heavy building.
Pros
Free plan with 5 daily build credits (up to 30 a month)
Business plan excludes workspace data from AI training by default
SSO and role-based access on Business
Cons
Credit-based pricing gets expensive at higher volumes
Free and Pro users must opt out of training individually
Not a tool for working on an existing codebase
Research Score
6.6/10
Features (30%)7
Value for money (25%)7
Privacy & security (20%)7
Compatibility (15%)5
Docs & support (10%)6
Free plan; Pro from $25/month (100 credits) or $250/year; Business from $50/month (100 credits) or $500/year (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Other good options
If you want an all-in-one browser IDE: Replit combines an editor, an AI agent and hosting. Its pricing page lists Core at $20 a month ($18 billed annually) with $20 of credit for more powerful models, and Pro at $100 a month ($90 billed annually) with $100 of credit and 10 parallel agents. The page doesn’t list a standalone free plan, and it doesn’t address model training, so read Replit’s privacy policy before using it with client code.
If you liked Windsurf: Cognition has renamed the Windsurf editor Devin Desktop. Its page says only the name and branding are changing and current plans stay the same. Listed prices are Free, Pro at $20 a month, Max at $200 a month, and Teams at $80 a month plus $40 per full seat. Windsurf for JetBrains remains available.
If you’re in Google’s ecosystem: Google’s Antigravity family (app, extensions, CLI, IDE and SDK) has a $0 plan for individuals with unlimited Tab completions and basic weekly rate limits. Business plans through Google Cloud start at $30 per seat per month.
The competition
Gemini Code Assist: Google stopped serving its IDE extensions and Gemini CLI to individual, Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra accounts on June 18, 2026, and now points consumers to Antigravity. Standard and Enterprise subscriptions are handled through Google Cloud and aren’t covered by that notice, but the change makes it a poor pick for individuals.
Replit and Devin Desktop: Both are credible, but neither pricing page addresses model training or team data retention, so we couldn’t rate their privacy against our picks.
What to look forward to
GitHub lists delegating tasks to third-party agents, including Claude and OpenAI Codex, as a preview on Copilot Pro+ and Max. Several models on GitHub’s list are also labeled as previews. Expect plans and limits to change as these features leave preview.
FAQ
What is the best free AI coding assistant?
GitHub Copilot Free is the strongest free option for most people: 2,000 completions a month plus limited chat, agent mode and Copilot CLI. Codex is included with the free ChatGPT plan for quick tasks, and Google’s Antigravity has a $0 individual plan.
What is the best AI coding assistant for VS Code?
GitHub Copilot, because it works inside VS Code without switching editors and its agent mode is available there. Claude Code also has a native VS Code extension, and Codex offers an IDE extension.
Do AI coding assistants train on my code?
It depends on the plan. GitHub, Anthropic, OpenAI, Lovable and Cursor say their business plans (or Cursor’s Privacy Mode) keep your code out of training. Several personal plans, including Copilot Free and Pro and Claude Pro and Max, may use your data for training unless you change a setting.
What is the best AI coding assistant for personal use?
Start with Copilot Free. If you already pay for ChatGPT or Claude, Codex or Claude Code is included. Turn off training settings for private code.
What happened to Gemini Code Assist's free tier?
Google stopped serving the Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions to individual, Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra users on June 18, 2026, and points them to its Antigravity products. Standard and Enterprise subscriptions aren’t covered by that notice.
