AI-assisted coding has gone from a novelty to a standard part of most developers’ workflows. The landscape has grown quickly, and the number of tools — and the ways they plug into your editor — can be overwhelming. This post summarizes the most popular services, what they cost, and how they integrate with the two most common environments: VSCode and Cursor.
The services
Established platforms
| Tool | Provider | Notes | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude / Claude Code | Anthropic | Strong reasoning, 1M token context, CLI agent | Free tier; Pro $20/mo |
| ChatGPT / Codex | OpenAI | GPT-4o, widely used for code generation | Free tier; Plus $20/mo |
| GitHub Copilot | Microsoft/GitHub | Most widely adopted in workplaces; supports VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim | Free for students/OSS; $10/mo individual |
| Gemini Code Assist | Native GCP integration | Free tier; paid plans vary |
AI-first IDEs and editors
| Tool | Provider | Notes | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor | Anysphere | VS Code fork with deep AI integration | Free tier; Pro $20/mo |
| Windsurf | Codeium | Rising AI-native editor | Free tier; Pro $15/mo |
| VS Code AI | Microsoft | Native AI features built into VS Code itself | Free |
| JetBrains AI Assistant | JetBrains | Built into IntelliJ, PyCharm, and others | $10/mo (or bundled with All Products Pack) |
Open-source / terminal agents
| Tool | Notes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cline | Open-source terminal agent | Free; ~$2–5/mo in API usage |
| Aider | Terminal-based collaborative coding agent | Free; pay for API usage |
VSCode integrations
Most tools plug into VSCode via the Extensions Marketplace:
| Tool | Integration method | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | Official extension | Inline completions, chat panel, Copilot Edits (multi-file), terminal suggestions |
| Claude / Claude Code | CLI in integrated terminal | No official extension; Claude Code runs alongside the editor |
| Gemini Code Assist | Official Google extension | Inline completions, chat, GCP-aware suggestions |
| Cline | Official extension | Full agentic coding — reads/writes files, runs terminal commands, browses the web |
| Aider | Integrated terminal | No native extension; terminal-only workflow |
| JetBrains AI | N/A | JetBrains IDEs only — not available for VSCode |
VSCode’s own native AI features (the @workspace agent, Copilot Chat, and inline edit) have matured enough to cover most basic use cases without any third-party extension.
Cursor integrations
Cursor is a VSCode fork, so most VSCode extensions install and run normally. The AI layer is built in rather than bolted on:
| Tool | How it integrates |
|---|---|
| Claude (Anthropic) | Select as the model in Cursor settings — Sonnet and Opus available directly; most popular backend choice |
| OpenAI (GPT-4o) | Selectable as the model; also the default when no preference is set |
| Gemini | Selectable via the model picker |
| GitHub Copilot | Extension installs but overlaps with Cursor’s native completions — most users disable it to avoid conflicts |
| Cline | Extension installs fine; largely redundant with Cursor’s Agent mode |
| Claude Code | Run in Cursor’s integrated terminal — common pattern is Cursor for interactive edits + Claude Code for larger agentic tasks |
Key differences in philosophy
VSCode treats AI as add-ons. You install extensions and they augment the editor. Each tool manages its own UI — a sidebar panel, ghost text completions, a chat window.
Cursor bakes AI into the editor itself. The model picker, inline edit (Ctrl+K), multi-file Agent mode, and chat are all first-class UI. Third-party extensions can still add AI features, but most Cursor users rely entirely on the built-in experience and just swap the underlying model depending on the task.
The most common power-user setup
The most popular senior developer workflow today is Cursor with Claude Sonnet or Opus as the backend, combined with Claude Code running in the terminal. Cursor handles interactive file edits while Claude Code handles larger agentic tasks — running tests, refactoring across many files, executing shell commands — without blocking the editor.
Neither tool replaces the other. They cover different interaction modes: Cursor is conversational and editor-integrated, Claude Code is autonomous and task-oriented. Together they cover most of the development loop.