⌨️ Free options · limits checked Oct 18, 2026
Free AI tools to aI coding assistant
Short answer: start with Cursor on its free plan (limited). We found 9 tools for this job with a free tier we verified in the last 30 days.
Every free option, with the catch
| Tool | Free tier, as listed | The catch | Paid from | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor Top pick | Yes (limited) | You host it yourself or pay your own model costs | $8/mo Plus (Grok models only); $30/mo Premium | |
| GitHub Copilot | Yes (2,000 completions + 50 chat/mo) | Usage caps reset on a schedule; heavy use needs a paid plan | $10/mo Pro | |
| Windsurf (now Devin Desktop) | Yes (Free plan) | Limits not published in detail; check the vendor's page | $20/mo Pro | |
| Google Antigravity | Yes (Individual plan, $0) | Limits not published in detail; check the vendor's page | Org plans from $30/seat/mo; Pro via Google AI plans | |
| Amp | Yes (Hobby) | Limits not published in detail; check the vendor's page | $20/mo Individual | |
| Cline | Yes (open source, BYOK) | You host it yourself or pay your own model costs | Free / pay model providers | |
| Aider | Yes (open source, BYOK) | You host it yourself or pay your own model costs | Free / pay model providers | |
| Muse Spark Open (Meta) | Yes (weights; Muse Model License) | You host it yourself or pay your own model costs | Free weights; hosted via Fireworks/Groq/Together/etc | |
| AWS Aidlc | Yes (MIT-0) | You host it yourself or pay your own model costs | Free OSS |
When it's worth paying
Upgrade when you hit the free limits every week, or when you need commercial rights. The cheapest verified paid plans for this job right now: Cursor from $8/mo Plus (Grok models only); $30/mo Premium; GitHub Copilot from $10/mo Pro; Claude Code from $17/mo annual, $20 monthly via Claude Pro.
See the full comparison, paid tools included: best AI tools to aI coding assistant.
How we check: every price and free tier on this page comes from the vendor's own pricing page, with the date we checked it. If we can't verify something, we say so. Found a wrong price? Email info@usethissi.com and we fix it within 24 hours.