# Best AI tools for developers Source: https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/developers Last checked: 2026-10-02 (each pick's free plan and price on the maker's own pricing page) ## Short answer The best AI tools for developers are Cursor for an AI-first code editor, Claude Code for agentic tasks in your terminal, GitHub Copilot for completion inside your existing IDE and Perplexity for researching docs and errors. Add Ollama to run open models locally and Hugging Face to find them. Review every change before you merge it. ## Sections ### Edit code with AI across the whole project: Cursor An editor built around AI: it reads your codebase, proposes multi-file edits and lets you accept or reject each change. If you're happy to switch editors, it's the quickest way to feel the difference. Free plan: Hobby plan is free, with limited agent requests and no card needed. ### Hand off multi-step tasks from the terminal: Claude Code Describe a task, such as adding a feature or fixing a failing test, and it reads files, runs commands and edits code to get there, asking before risky steps. Best for well-scoped tasks in a repo with tests. Free plan: The Claude Code page lists paid plans only. ### Get completions inside the IDE you already use: GitHub Copilot Works in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs and others, so you don't change your setup. Strong for boilerplate, tests and the next few lines while you stay in flow. Free plan: Free plan with limited chat and agent use. ### Research errors, libraries and docs: Perplexity Paste an error or ask how two libraries compare, and get an answer with links to docs and issues. It's quicker than reading 6 search results, but check the version the answer assumes. Free plan: Free plan available. ### Run open models on your own machine: Ollama One command downloads and runs an open model locally, with an API your code can call. Use it for private code, offline work and prototyping without API bills. Free plan: Free to run models on your own computer; the app is open source (MIT licence). ### Find open models and datasets: Hugging Face The main hub for open models, datasets and demos. When you need a model for a specific task, such as embeddings or speech, start your search here. Free plan: Free account to download and share models and datasets. ### Should a developer use Cursor, Claude Code or GitHub Copilot? A developer should use GitHub Copilot to stay in their current IDE, Cursor to switch to an editor built around AI, and Claude Code to hand whole tasks to an agent. They overlap less than they seem: many developers pair an editor tool with an agent. ### How do you keep AI-written code safe to ship? You keep AI-written code safe to ship by treating it like a pull request from a new colleague: read every diff, run the tests and question anything you don't understand. Never paste secrets or private keys into a prompt, and check licences on suggested snippets. ## Best courses - ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers - Generative AI for Beginners - Hugging Face LLM Course ## Verdict If you write code every day, pick AI tools for developers by workflow: GitHub Copilot to stay in your IDE, Cursor to switch editors, and Claude Code once you want to hand off tested, well-scoped tasks. ## Questions people ask ### What is the best AI coding tool for professional developers? It depends on how you work. Cursor suits developers happy to switch editors, GitHub Copilot suits those who want to stay in VS Code or JetBrains, and Claude Code suits handing off whole tasks from the terminal. Try each on a real ticket. ### Can I run an AI coding assistant offline? Yes, with an open model. Ollama runs models on your own machine and exposes a local API that some editors and extensions can use. Expect weaker suggestions than the hosted tools unless you have a powerful GPU. ### Is it safe to share company code with AI tools? Check your employer's policy first. Business plans of most coding tools offer settings that exclude your code from training. Never paste secrets, keys or customer data into a prompt, and prefer local models for code you can't share. ### Do AI coding tools make junior developers worse? They can, if you accept code you don't understand. Use them to explain code and suggest approaches, then write or rewrite the solution yourself until you could have produced it without help. Reviewing AI output is a skill worth practising. ### Where do I find open models for my project? Hugging Face hosts most open models and datasets, with model cards describing what each was trained for. Filter by task, then run a shortlisted model locally with Ollama to test it on your own examples. ### Which free course teaches developers to build with LLMs? ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers is a short, practical start on calling models from code. The Hugging Face LLM Course goes deeper into open models and the Transformers library. ## Related pages - [ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers](https://freeaicourses.com/courses/chatgpt-prompt-engineering-for-developers) - [Generative AI for Beginners](https://freeaicourses.com/courses/generative-ai-for-beginners) - [Hugging Face LLM Course](https://freeaicourses.com/courses/hugging-face-llm-course) - [Best AI coding assistants](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/coding-assistants) - [Best AI research tools](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/research) - [Best tools for running open AI models](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/open-models) - [Best AI tools for students](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/students) - [Best AI tools for content creators](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/content-creators) - [Best AI tools for small business](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/small-business) - [Best AI tools for teachers](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/teachers) - [Best AI tools for marketing](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/marketing) - [Best AI tools for writers](https://freeaicourses.com/tools/for/writers) - [AI tool rankings](https://freeaicourses.com/tools)