Best AI Coding Assistants 2026: Independent Ranking
We rank AI coding assistants only by verifiable facts: whether your code is used to train models and whether you can opt out, which IDEs the assistant supports, whether there is a terminal agent and an autonomous agent mode, the price of the cheapest plan and how open the vendor is. Every fact links to an official page and carries the date we checked it. We do not grade code quality by hand, and paid placements never change the Score.
| # | Company | Who it serves | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JetBrains AI | 85 | Yes | Yes | $10.00 | CLI Self-hosted Free |
| 2 | GitHub Copilot | 77 | No | Yes | $10.00 | CLI Free |
| 3 | Zed | 75 | Yes | Yes | $10.00 | Self-hosted Free |
| 4 | Amp | 71 | Yes | Yes | $20.00 | CLI Free |
| 5 | Windsurf (Devin Desktop) | 69 | No | Yes | $20.00 | CLI Self-hosted Free |
| 6 | Tabnine | 67 | Yes | No | Not verified | CLI Self-hosted |
| 7 | Augment Code | 64 | Yes | No | $20.00 | CLI |
| 8 | Cursor | 64 | Not verified | Yes | $8.00 | CLI Free |
| 9 | Google Antigravity | 60 | No | Yes | $19.99 | CLI Free |
| 10 | Claude Code | 57 | No | No | $20.00 | CLI |
| 11 | Kiro (AWS) | 56 | No | Yes | $20.00 | CLI Free |
| 12 | Replit Agent | 40 | No | Yes | $20.00 | Free |
-
- Code not used for training by default
- Yes
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $10.00
Pros
- Code and prompts are not used for training without your consent
- Free plan available
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
Details Visit site ↗ 96% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- No
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $10.00
Pros
- Free plan available
- Works in many IDEs and editors
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
Cons
- Code and prompts are used for training until you opt out
Details Visit site ↗ 100% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- Yes
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $10.00
Pros
- Code and prompts are not used for training without your consent
- Free plan available
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
Cons
- No published SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification
Details Visit site ↗ 90% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- Yes
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $20.00
Pros
- Code and prompts are not used for training without your consent
- Free plan available
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
Details Visit site ↗ 91% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- No
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $20.00
Pros
- Free plan available
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
- Can be deployed on your own infrastructure
Cons
- Code and prompts are used for training until you opt out
Details Visit site ↗ 95% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- Yes
- Free plan
- No
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- Not verified
Pros
- Code and prompts are not used for training without your consent
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
- Can be deployed on your own infrastructure
Cons
- No free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 80% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- Yes
- Free plan
- No
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $20.00
Pros
- Code and prompts are not used for training without your consent
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
- Openly names the models it runs on
Cons
- No free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 86% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- Not verified
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $8.00
Pros
- Affordable paid plan
- Free plan available
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
Details Visit site ↗ 77% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- No
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $19.99
Pros
- Free plan available
- Works in many IDEs and editors
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
Cons
- Code and prompts are used for training until you opt out
Details Visit site ↗ 81% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- No
- Free plan
- No
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $20.00
Pros
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
- Openly names the models it runs on
- Offers a mode where code and prompts are not stored by the service
Cons
- Code and prompts are used for training until you opt out
- No free plan
Details Visit site ↗ 95% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- No
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $20.00
Pros
- Free plan available
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- You can keep your code out of model training
- Openly names the models it runs on
Cons
- Code and prompts are used for training until you opt out
Details Visit site ↗ 81% backed by facts
-
- Code not used for training by default
- No
- Free plan
- Yes
- Cheapest paid plan, per month
- $20.00
Pros
- Free plan available
- The agent edits several files and runs commands on its own
- Openly names the models it runs on
- Security independently certified (SOC 2 / ISO 27001)
Cons
- Code and prompts are used for training until you opt out
- You cannot keep your code out of model training
Details Visit site ↗ 76% backed by facts
Not ranked yet: not enough verified data
These services are known to us, but we haven't verified enough facts to rank them fairly.
- OpenAI Codex (69% backed by facts)
How we calculate the Score
30%
Code privacy
On the cheapest paid plan for one developer: whether code is kept out of model training by default and whether you can opt out. Plus whether a zero data retention mode exists (on any plan) and a current SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 certification.
30%
Features
How many editors and IDEs are supported according to the official list (logarithmic, full score from 10; the JetBrains family counts as one), whether there is a terminal agent (CLI), an agent mode that edits several files on its own, and a self-hosted deployment option.
25%
Price
Whether there is a permanent free plan (trials don't count) and the monthly price of the cheapest paid individual plan billed monthly: $0 scores 100, $40 or more scores 0.
15%
Transparency
Age of the company behind the product (15+ years gets full score), a public status page, and whether official pages name the AI models the assistant runs on.
How to choose an AI coding assistant
Find out what happens to your code
Check whether code on your plan is used to train models, whether you can turn that off and how long prompts are kept. For work code, follow your employer's policy: business plans often have different terms.
Make sure it works in your IDE
Supported editors vary a lot between services. If you work in JetBrains, Visual Studio, Xcode or Vim, check that the assistant is available there and offers the same features as in VS Code.
Start with the free plan
Try the assistant on your real project before paying. Watch the request limits: agent modes use them up faster, and some plans charge by usage.
Don't give the agent more access than it needs
An agent can run commands and change files. Work in git, review changes before committing, and keep the agent away from secrets, production databases and live servers.
Review generated code
AI assistants make mistakes, invent functions and libraries that don't exist and can introduce vulnerabilities. Read the code, run the tests and check dependencies before shipping changes.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI coding assistant is the best right now?
The service ranked first has the highest Score under our open methodology. The best choice for you depends on what matters most: check the factor bars — code privacy, features, price — and pick the leader in the factor you care about.
Do AI coding assistants use my code to train models?
It depends on the service and the plan. Some never train on paid users' code, others train by default but let you opt out. Business plans usually have stricter terms than individual ones. See the facts under "Code privacy" — each links to the official policy.
Is there a free AI coding assistant?
Many services in the ranking have a free plan with limits — see the "Free plan" fact. We don't count trials as free plans. Paid plans usually raise the limits and unlock stronger models.
How is agent mode different from autocomplete?
Autocomplete suggests the next line or block of code. In agent mode the assistant takes a task, reads the project, edits several files and runs commands, and you review the result. A terminal agent (CLI) does the same from the command line, without an IDE.
How do you rank AI coding assistants?
By facts from official pages — each with a link and the date we checked it — combined by a fixed, public formula. We don't grade generated code by hand, so the ranking is reproducible and cannot be bought.