Best Free AI Coding Tools

ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Cursor compared

Updated December 2025

All of these tools have free tiers. Here's which one to use for what, based on actual coding use cases.

💬

ChatGPT

OpenAI's flagship chatbot

What It's Good At

General coding help, explaining concepts, generating boilerplate, quick questions. Great at multiple languages. Has web search for finding docs.

Pros

Very capable free tier
Good at most languages
Can browse web for current info
Mobile app available

Cons

Context window fills up fast
Can be confidently wrong
No IDE integration (free)
Rate limited on free tier

Best for: Quick questions, learning, explaining code, general help

Free tier: GPT-4o mini unlimited, GPT-4o limited

🧠

Claude

Anthropic's thoughtful assistant

Best for Long Code

What It's Good At

Long code review, complex refactoring, architecture discussions. Has the largest context window. Tends to be more careful and thorough.

Pros

Huge context window (200K)
Great at reviewing large files
More careful, fewer hallucinations
Can upload files directly

Cons

Stricter rate limits (free)
Sometimes too cautious
No native IDE integration
Knowledge cutoff earlier

Best for: Large codebases, code review, complex refactoring, architecture

Free tier: Sonnet model, limited messages/day

🚀

GitHub Copilot

AI pair programmer in your IDE

Best for Writing Code

What It's Good At

Autocomplete on steroids. Writes code as you type. Best for boilerplate, repetitive tasks, and writing functions from comments.

Pros

Lives in your editor
Real-time suggestions
Understands your codebase context
Free for students & OSS

Cons

$10/month (normally)
Can suggest wrong patterns
Not great for explanations
Requires subscription for most

Best for: Writing code faster, autocomplete, boilerplate, tests

Free for students & verified OSS maintainers, otherwise $10/mo

⚡

Cursor

AI-first code editor

Rising Star

What It's Good At

Full IDE with AI built-in. Chat with your codebase, edit multiple files at once, AI understands your entire project.

Pros

AI understands whole project
Multi-file edits
Based on VS Code (familiar)
Generous free tier

Cons

Need to switch editors
Newer, still improving
Some features Pro-only
Can feel overwhelming

Best for: Project-wide changes, codebase Q&A, AI-first workflows

Free tier: 2000 completions, limited premium requests

Feature	ChatGPT	Claude	Copilot	Cursor
Free tier	✓	✓	Students only	✓
In-editor	✗	✗	✓	✓
Large context	Limited	200K	Limited	Full codebase
Multi-file edits	✗	✗	✗	✓
Web search	✓	✓	✗	✓

My recommendation: Use ChatGPT or Claude for questions and explanations. Use Copilot or Cursor for actually writing code. They complement each other well.