Updated
Best Free AI Coding Assistants Available Right Now
Filtered for tools with a genuine free tier, free-forever plan, or open-source access, not just short trials.
🏆 Top Picks — Free with Vendor Limits
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Codeium / Windsurf
Free Tier AI IDE- ✓Unlimited code completions
- ✓AI chat in-editor
- ✓VS Code, JetBrains, and other IDE support
- ✓Free AI-powered editor with Windsurf
- ⚠Still subject to provider quotas and fair-use policies
Best for: Full-time developers who want a generous free option.
Open codeium.com
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GitHub Copilot Free
Free Tier- ✓2,000 code completions per month
- ✓50 AI chat messages per month
- ✓Deep VS Code integration
- ⚠Monthly quotas mean it is not truly unlimited
Best for: VS Code users who want the official GitHub workflow.
Open GitHub Copilot🔓 Truly Unlimited — Open-Source and Self-Hosted
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Continue.dev
Open Source Free Forever- ✓No usage limits from Continue itself
- ✓VS Code and JetBrains support
- ✓Works with local models through Ollama
- ✓Completion, chat, refactoring, and repository search
Best for: Developers who want zero vendor-imposed limits.
Open continue.dev
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Cline
Open Source AI Agent- ✓No subscription required
- ✓Multi-file autonomous editing
- ✓Can execute commands with approval
- ✓Works with local models
Best for: Agent-style coding across multiple files.
Open cline.bot
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Aider
Open Source Terminal- ✓Git-aware workflow
- ✓Unlimited usage with local models
- ✓Excellent for large codebases
- ✓Works directly from terminal
Best for: Terminal and Git power users.
Open aider.chat
⭐
Kilo Code
Open Source Agent- ✓VS Code integration
- ✓Supports local models and BYO APIs
- ✓Agent-style coding help
- ✓No subscription cost
Best for: Low-cost agent workflows with your own model stack.
Open kilocode.ai📌 Also Worth Mentioning
Zed AI
Open Source- ✓Modern editor with built-in AI support
- ✓Fast native performance
- ✓Free tier available
Tabby
Open Source- ✓Self-hosted Copilot alternative
- ✓Runs on your own infrastructure
- ✓Great for privacy-sensitive projects
Open Interpreter
Open Source- ✓Coding and automation assistant
- ✓Executes code locally
- ✓Can use local LLMs
- ✓Useful for coding plus system automation
🔥 Best 100% Free Unlimited Stack
Continue.dev + Ollama + Qwen Coder
No subscriptions, no monthly quotas, and private local execution after setup.
Continue.dev
Ollama
Qwen Coder
DeepSeek Coder
🎯 Deal Hunter Verdict
🥇 Continue.dev + Ollama + Qwen Coder — best overall fully free setup.
🥈 Cline + local models — best for autonomous coding across multiple files.
🥉 Aider — best for terminal and Git workflows.