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Top 10 AI Code Assistants

The AI tools developers use to write, edit and ship code, ranked by the number of developers each one says it reaches.

OpenCode22M+ developers a month 2

GitHub Copilot20 million+ developers 3

Cline11M+ developers

Quick answer

OpenCode reports the biggest reach of any AI code assistant, with over 22M developers a month using its free, open-source coding agent. GitHub Copilot is second with 20 million-plus developers and works in the most editors, from VS Code to Xcode, with a free plan and Pro at $10 a month. Cline is third with 11M+ developers and is free if you bring your own API keys. Cursor and Claude Code publish no user counts but are leading picks for AI-first editing and large multi-step jobs.

How it's ranked: The number of developers or users each vendor publishes on its own site, read November 13, 2026 (Aider publishes installs rather than users, so its figure is installs). Cursor, Claude Code, JetBrains AI, Google Antigravity and Amazon Q Developer publish no user count and are ranked after the others in our editorial order. Counts are self-reported and measured differently, so treat them as a guide to reach, not a precise comparison.

OpenCode

OpenCode · Open-source coding agent for desktop, terminal, mobile and SDK

22M+ developers a month

The most-used open-source coding agent.

OpenCode calls itself "the open source coding agent," and it reports the biggest audience on this list: over 22M developers every month. It also has over 220,000 GitHub stars, 1,000+ contributors and over 20,000 commits. You can run it as a desktop app, in the terminal, from a mobile app or through an SDK in your own scripts. It is not tied to one AI company: it connects to 200+ LLM providers through Models.dev, including local models, and you can start with free models without an account. Curated models through OpenCode Go start at $10/month. Features include multi-session work, plugins, MCP servers, custom agents, skills and undo/redo. It is MIT licensed, so it fits developers who want full control and no lock-in.

Best forDevelopers who want a free, open-source agent that works with any model

Skip it ifYou want one polished editor with everything built in

Source: opencode.ai/

GitHub Copilot

GitHub (Microsoft) · AI coding agent across IDEs, the command line and pull requests

20 million+ developers

The safe default for most developers.

GitHub Copilot is the best-known AI code assistant, and GitHub says it serves 20 million-plus developers across IDEs, the command line and pull requests. It works in more editors than anything else here: Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Vim, Neovim, Zed and Eclipse, plus a CLI, desktop app, web, mobile, Slack and Teams. Copilot can run tasks in parallel, hand work to a cloud agent and review code. You can pick a model, let Copilot choose, use your own API key or run local models through Ollama. Pricing starts with a Free plan (2,000 completions per month), then Pro at $10 per user per month, Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100.

Best forTeams already on GitHub who want AI in the editor they use today

Skip it ifYou want to bring your own open-source agent and pay only for model use

Source: github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/copilot-faster-smarter-and-built-for-how-you-work-now/

Cline

Cline Bot Inc. · Open-source coding agent for IDE, terminal and desktop

11M+ developers

The top free agent for VS Code users.

Cline says it is trusted by 11M+ developers, and its GitHub repository has about 72,000 stars. It describes itself as "the open source coding agent in your IDE, terminal, & desktop." Cline makes multi-file edits with diffs, checkpoints and undo, and splits work into Plan and Act modes so you can approve a plan before it changes code. It runs terminal commands and reacts to the output, and it extends through MCP servers. The extension is completely free for individual developers under the Apache-2.0 license: you pay only for AI inference, either with your own API keys from cloud providers or local models, or through the Cline provider. Enterprise plans are custom priced.

Best forDevelopers who want an agent inside VS Code that uses their own API keys

Skip it ifYou want a flat monthly price that covers the AI models

Source: cline.bot/

Aider

Aider-AI (open source) · AI pair programming in the terminal

6.8M installs

The best terminal pair programmer for Git users.

Aider is "AI pair programming in your terminal," and its site shows 6.8M installs, 44K GitHub stars and 15B tokens processed a week. It even says 88% of the new code in its last release was written by Aider itself. Aider maps your whole codebase so it can work on larger projects, and it commits each change to Git automatically, which makes AI edits easy to review or undo. It runs linters and tests after each change and can fix the problems they find. It works with over 100 programming languages and connects to almost any model, including local ones. It also accepts images and web pages as context and takes voice requests. Aider is free and open source under Apache-2.0; you pay only for the model you use.

Best forTerminal users who want every AI change committed to Git

Skip it ifYou prefer a graphical editor or app

Source: aider.chat/

Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)

Cognition · AI editor and command center for coding agents

1M+ developers

Best for managing many agents at once.

Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf, and its maker says it is trusted by over a million developers, with 4000+ enterprise customers among startups, agencies and enterprises. It is built as "the home for every agent you run": an Agent Command Center manages multiple agents in one place, with a Kanban view, and sessions can be handed off between your machine and Devin Cloud. One agent can split work across subagents that each open their own pull requests, and Devin Review checks the diffs. Supercomplete adds predictive editing for everyday typing. A Windsurf plugin for JetBrains remains available. Plans run from Free and Pro at $20 per month to Max at $200 per month.

Best forDevelopers who run several agents at once, locally and in the cloud

Skip it ifYou just want autocomplete in your current editor

Source: devin.ai/desktop

Cursor

Cursor · AI code editor and coding agent

No count published

The AI-first editor big companies use.

Cursor calls itself "your coding agent for building ambitious software." It does not publish a user count, but it says it is trusted by over half of the Fortune 500. On its homepage NVIDIA's CEO says some 40,000 of its engineers are now assisted by AI, and Stripe's CEO says Cursor spread from hundreds to thousands of its employees. Cursor lets you choose how much control to hand over, from targeted Cmd+K edits to full agentic work, and its cloud agents work in parallel on their own computers to build and test features. You can pick models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, SpaceXAI or Cursor's own. It holds SOC 2, ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 certifications. Plans start Free, with paid tiers from $8 to $200 a month.

Best forDevelopers who want an AI-first editor with cloud agents

Skip it ifYou are committed to a JetBrains IDE

Source: cursor.com/

Claude Code

Anthropic · Agentic coding tool for terminal, desktop, IDE and web

No count published

The strongest pick for big, multi-step jobs.

Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool, and it does not publish a user count. Its pitch is handing Claude a bug fix, test or multi-day migration while you set permissions and review the work. It explores large codebases with agentic search, so you do not have to pick files for context, and it turns issues into pull requests using GitHub, GitLab and command-line tools. It can run multi-hour refactors, following imports and running tests along the way. Permission modes, allow and deny rules and hooks control what runs without approval. It runs in the terminal, a desktop app, the web, VS Code and JetBrains IDEs, iOS and Android, on macOS, Linux and Windows. It comes with Claude Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise plans; Team costs $20 per seat per month billed annually, for teams of 2 to 150.

Best forLarge refactors, migrations and turning issues into pull requests

Skip it ifYou want free, unlimited use

Source: www.claude.com/product/claude-code

JetBrains AI

JetBrains · AI assistant and agents built into JetBrains IDEs

No count published

The natural choice inside JetBrains IDEs.

JetBrains AI brings an assistant and coding agents into JetBrains IDEs. JetBrains does not publish a user count, though its page shows customer logos including Google, Visa, Tesla, Samsung and NASA. Its own agent, Junie, is included in a JetBrains AI subscription, and other agents such as Claude Agent and Codex connect through the Agent Client Protocol. Code completion uses models tailored by JetBrains, with responses under 200 ms for most use cases, and unlimited completion and next edit suggestions use zero AI credits. It also writes commit messages, explains errors, generates docs and unit tests, and resolves Git conflicts. You can try JetBrains AI Pro free for one month, or connect your own agents and model providers with no subscription.

Best forDevelopers who already work in JetBrains IDEs

Skip it ifYou use VS Code or another editor

Source: www.jetbrains.com/ai-assistant/

Google Antigravity

Google · Agent-first coding platform: app, IDE, CLI and SDK

No count published

The best free option from a big tech company.

Google Antigravity is Google's agent platform for coding, and it now replaces the Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions for individual users. Google does not publish a user count. The individual plan costs $0/month and includes access to a variety of agent models, unlimited Tab completions and unlimited Command requests, with basic weekly rate limits. Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers get higher limits and a flexible AI credit pool. Antigravity comes as a desktop app for running several agents in parallel, a full agentic IDE, a CLI for the terminal and an SDK for building custom agents, on macOS, Windows, Linux and Googlebook. Businesses can use it through Google Cloud, with Standard and Plus plans starting at $30 per seat per month.

Best forDevelopers who want a capable free agent from Google

Skip it ifYou need a long track record and published adoption numbers

Source: antigravity.google/pricing

Amazon Q Developer

Amazon Web Services · AI assistant for software development on AWS

No count published

Useful for AWS shops, but plan for Kiro.

Amazon Q Developer is AWS's AI assistant for building software, and AWS does not publish a user count. It claims the highest reported code acceptance rate among multiline assistants, up to 40%, and productivity gains of up to 80% from an internal study. Its standout is code transformation: AWS cites 1,000+ production applications upgraded in Java, at an average of 10 minutes each, plus .NET porting. It also scans for vulnerabilities and answers questions about AWS architecture and costs. A perpetual Free Tier includes 50 agentic chat interactions per month. The catch: AWS will discontinue support for the Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins on April 30, 2027, and points IDE users to Kiro, its newer agentic tool.

Best forTeams building on AWS, or upgrading old Java and .NET code

Skip it ifYou want a tool with a long future in your IDE

Source: aws.amazon.com/q/developer/

Questions people ask

What is the best AI code assistant?

For most developers GitHub Copilot is the safe default: it reaches 20 million-plus developers, works in the most editors and starts free. OpenCode reports the most reach, over 22M developers a month, and is free and open source.

Which AI code assistants are free?

OpenCode, Cline and Aider are free and open source; you pay only for the AI model you use. GitHub Copilot, Cursor and Devin Desktop have free plans, and Google Antigravity is $0/month for individuals.

What happened to Windsurf and Gemini Code Assist?

Windsurf is now called Devin Desktop, made by Cognition. Google replaced the Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions for individuals with Google Antigravity.

Is Amazon Q Developer being discontinued?

AWS says it will discontinue support for the Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins on April 30, 2027, and points users to Kiro for similar capabilities.

How were these tools ranked?

By the number of developers or users each vendor publishes on its own site, read November 13, 2026. Vendors that publish no count are ranked last.

How we ranked

The number of developers or users each vendor publishes on its own site, read November 13, 2026 (Aider publishes installs rather than users, so its figure is installs). Cursor, Claude Code, JetBrains AI, Google Antigravity and Amazon Q Developer publish no user count and are ranked after the others in our editorial order. Counts are self-reported and measured differently, so treat them as a guide to reach, not a precise comparison. Every number on this page comes from the source linked under each pick, and every photo shows the actual product. Brands can't pay to be on this list.

List source: opencode.ai/ · Updated 2026-11-13