Best AI Code Tools

AI code tools have moved past the novelty phase and into daily workflows. Most developers have tried at least one, and the question is no longer whether to use AI assistance but which tool fits your stack, editor preference, and budget. We tested Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Tabnine, and Amazon Q Developer across real development tasks — feature implementation, bug fixing, refactoring, and test writing — and compared them on completion quality, context awareness, and overall workflow impact.

Cursor

Cursor sets the bar for AI code editors. It forks VS Code and builds AI into the core editing experience rather than bolting it on as an extension. The standout capability is codebase-aware context — Cursor indexes your entire project and uses that understanding when generating code, suggesting edits, or answering questions. Multi-file editing lets you describe a change in natural language and have it applied across several files at once. Tab completion is fast and contextually appropriate. The main limitation is that it only works as its own editor — you cannot bring these capabilities into JetBrains or Neovim.

GitHub Copilot

Copilot is the most widely adopted AI coding tool, and for good reason. It works in VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, and more, which means teams with mixed editor preferences can standardize on a single AI assistant. Inline completions are reliable and fast. The chat interface handles code questions well, and GitHub platform integration — PR summaries, code review suggestions — adds value for teams already on GitHub. Where it falls short is depth: multi-file refactoring and codebase-level understanding are not as strong as Cursor's. At $10 per month for unlimited completions, the value is hard to beat.

Windsurf

Windsurf — formerly Codeium — is an AI code editor that competes directly with Cursor. Its Cascade feature takes an agentic approach: you describe a task and it plans steps, reads files, makes edits, and can run commands to verify the results. When it works, the experience is impressive. The catch is consistency — complex tasks can produce edits that break other parts of the codebase. The free tier is generous, and at $15 per month the Pro plan undercuts Cursor. For developers who want to experiment with agentic coding at a lower price point, Windsurf is worth trying.

Tabnine

Tabnine's differentiator is privacy. Enterprise customers can deploy the AI model entirely on their own infrastructure, which means no code data leaves their environment. This is a hard requirement for teams in regulated industries — finance, healthcare, defense — and Tabnine fills that niche. The trade-off is that on-premises models produce noticeably weaker completions than cloud-based alternatives. If data privacy constraints rule out Copilot and Cursor, Tabnine is one of your few options. If privacy is not a blocker, the completion quality gap is hard to justify.

Amazon Q Developer

Amazon Q Developer is purpose-built for AWS workflows. It understands your deployed services, IAM roles, and infrastructure configuration, which makes it uniquely useful for cloud infrastructure code and AWS-specific development tasks. The Java modernization agent automates framework upgrades that would take weeks manually. For general-purpose coding, Q Developer's completions are adequate but not competitive with the other tools on this list. If you live in the AWS ecosystem, it adds genuine value. If you do not, there is little reason to choose it over Copilot or Cursor.

Our pick

Cursor wins this comparison because it delivers the deepest AI integration of any code editor available. The codebase awareness, multi-file editing, and inline chat create a workflow that is qualitatively different from using a copilot extension inside a standard editor. GitHub Copilot is the runner-up and the better choice if you need broad editor support or are not ready to switch editors. For most developers writing code professionally, Cursor is the tool that will make the biggest difference to daily productivity.