Tools Overview
There are several AI tools useful for programming. They differ in how they integrate into your workflow, what models they use, and how much context they can handle.
Categories
Chat-based tools
You interact via a conversation interface. Good for explaining code, generating snippets, debugging, and thinking through designs.
- Claude (claude.ai): strong at reasoning, large context window, good at following complex instructions
- ChatGPT (chat.openai.com): GPT-4o, broad general knowledge, large plugin ecosystem
- Gemini (gemini.google.com): integrates with Google Workspace
IDE-integrated tools
These work directly inside your editor and see your open files and cursor position.
- GitHub Copilot: available in VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim; inline completions and a chat panel
- Cursor: an IDE built around AI; deeper context awareness than Copilot
- Mistral Code: Codestral-powered completions for VS Code and JetBrains
- Supermaven: fast, focused on autocomplete speed
CLI tools
These run in your terminal alongside your code and can read files, run commands, and interact with your codebase.
| Tool | Start command | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | claude | Anthropic's CLI, full codebase access, agentic task execution |
| Codex CLI | codex | OpenAI's terminal agent, defaults to gpt-5.3-codex |
| Gemini CLI | gemini | Google's open-source CLI, 1M token context window, generous free tier |
| Aider | aider | Open-source, model-agnostic pair programming with git-native workflow |
| Mistral Vibe | vibe | Mistral's CLI agent with subagent support and self-hosted options |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | copilot | GitHub's agentic terminal assistant with multi-model support |
API-based
For building your own integrations or automating tasks in CI.
- Anthropic API: access to Claude programmatically
- OpenAI API: access to GPT models programmatically
Choosing a tool
| Need | Recommended |
|---|---|
| Quick question or code snippet | Claude / ChatGPT |
| Inline autocomplete while coding | Copilot, Cursor, or Codestral |
| Multi-file tasks, refactoring, agentic workflows | Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Gemini CLI |
| Model-agnostic CLI with git integration | Aider |
| Automating code review in CI | Anthropic API / OpenAI API |
| Working entirely inside VS Code | Copilot or Cursor |
| Data privacy and self-hosted deployment | Mistral |
| Free CLI tool with large context window | Gemini CLI |
Using multiple tools
Most developers use more than one tool. A common setup:
- Cursor, Copilot, or Codestral for moment-to-moment completions while typing
- Claude or ChatGPT for longer reasoning tasks and design discussions
- Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Aider for larger agentic tasks (refactoring a module, writing a feature end-to-end)
- Gemini CLI for exploratory work on a free tier with a large context window