← All guides

Best free AI coding tools in 2026

Every tool below has a free plan or is free and open source, according to its official pricing page (checked on the date shown on each tool page). They're ordered by our public-evidence score.

Scores come from public evidence (pricing, free tier, docs, platforms, open source, update activity), not hands-on testing yet. How scoring works.

1. Cursor

AI-first code editor forked from VS Code.

  • Pricing: Free plan; Plus $8/mo, Premium $30/mo, up to $200/mo
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: No
  • Platforms (from official site): Windows, macOS, iOS, API
  • Evidence score: 85/100

2. GitHub Copilot

AI pair programmer in VS Code, JetBrains and GitHub.

  • Pricing: Free tier; Pro $10/mo, Pro+ $39/mo
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: No
  • Platforms (from official site): Windows, macOS, API
  • Evidence score: 85/100

3. Aider

Open-source AI pair programming in the terminal.

  • Pricing: Free, open source (bring your own model/API)
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: Yes
  • Platforms (from official site): API
  • Evidence score: 83/100

4. v0

Vercel's AI UI and app generator.

  • Pricing: Free plan; Premium $20/mo, Plus $30/user/mo
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: No
  • Platforms (from official site): iOS, API
  • Evidence score: 80/100

5. Lovable

Prompt-to-full-stack web app builder.

  • Pricing: Free plan (5 daily build credits); Pro from $25/mo
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: No
  • Platforms (from official site): not verified
  • Evidence score: 79/100

6. Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

Agentic AI IDE, formerly Windsurf, now sold under Devin.

  • Pricing: Free plan; Pro $20/mo, Max $200/mo
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: No
  • Platforms (from official site): not verified
  • Evidence score: 79/100

7. Base44

Prompt-to-app builder with built-in backend (Wix).

  • Pricing: Free plan; paid from $16/mo
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: No
  • Platforms (from official site): API
  • Evidence score: 75/100

8. Bolt.new

In-browser AI app builder by StackBlitz.

  • Pricing: Free tier; Pro from $25/mo
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: No
  • Platforms (from official site): not verified
  • Evidence score: 70/100

9. Replit

Cloud IDE with the Replit Agent app builder.

  • Pricing: Free tier; Core $20/mo ($18/mo annual)
  • Free plan: Yes
  • Open source: No
  • Platforms (from official site): not verified
  • Evidence score: insufficient public evidence

Head-to-head comparisons

See the full ranking: Best Coding agents & IDEs tools.