Best AI for Coding in VS Code: 7 Extensions Compared

If you write code in Visual Studio Code, you have more AI assistant options than ever. From inline completions to full agentic coding agents, VS Code extensions now handle everything from autocomplete to multi-file refactoring. But which one actually makes you faster? See also: Cursor vs Claude Code.

We installed and tested seven of the most popular AI coding extensions for VS Code in early 2026. This guide breaks down what each one does well, what it costs, and which extension fits different types of developers. Whether you want a free option, enterprise-grade privacy, or the most autonomous AI agent available, we cover it all below. For more details, check out our best AI tools for coding in 2025. For more details, check out our self-hosted AI for coding. We also cover this topic in our guide to AI for Python coding.

TL;DR: Top 3 Picks

1. GitHub Copilot — The most polished all-around experience. Free tier available with 2,000 completions/month, and the $10/month Pro plan covers most developers.
2. Cline — Best autonomous coding agent. Open-source, free extension with bring-your-own-API-key pricing. Ideal if you want an AI that can create files, run commands, and iterate independently.
3. Continue.dev — Best free and open-source option for teams that want full control over their AI models and workflows.

Comparison Table

Extension	Price	Best For	Rating
GitHub Copilot	Free / $10-$39/mo	All-around coding assistant	4.8/5
Cline	Free (BYO API key)	Autonomous agentic coding	4.6/5
Codeium (Windsurf Plugin)	Free / $15/mo Pro	Budget-friendly autocomplete	4.5/5
Amazon Q Developer	Free / $19/user/mo	AWS-centric development	4.3/5
Tabnine	Free / $12/mo	Privacy-focused teams	4.2/5
Continue.dev	Free (open-source)	Custom model setups	4.4/5
Cursor Tab (VS Code integration)	$20/mo Pro	Multi-file AI editing	4.7/5

GitHub Copilot

What It Does

GitHub Copilot is the most widely used AI coding assistant. Built by GitHub (Microsoft), it provides inline code completions, a chat sidebar, agent mode for multi-step tasks, and even plan mode where you can review the AI’s approach before it starts coding. In 2026, Copilot has evolved from a simple autocomplete tool into a full multi-agent platform within VS Code.

Key Features

• Ghost text suggestions and Next Edit Suggestions (NES) that predict where your next edit should be
• Agent mode that handles complete coding tasks end-to-end — editing files, running terminal commands, and self-correcting on errors
• Plan mode for reviewing and approving the AI’s strategy before execution
• Multi-agent sessions running locally, in the background, or in the cloud
• Model selection including Claude, GPT-4, and others via Auto mode
• MCP server support for extending agent capabilities
• Works across VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, Xcode, and more

Pricing

Plan	Price	Premium Requests	Notes
Free	$0	50/month	2,000 code completions/month
Pro	$10/month	300/month	Best value for individuals
Pro+	$39/month	1,500/month	Access to all models (Claude Opus 4, o3)
Business	$19/user/month	Varies	Centralized management
Enterprise	$39/user/month	1,000/month	Knowledge bases, custom models

Extra premium requests cost $0.04 each. Students, teachers, and popular open-source maintainers can get free access.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
– Most mature extension with the deepest VS Code integration
– Free tier is genuinely useful for learning and side projects
– Excellent multi-model support (Claude, GPT, Gemini)
– Agent mode handles complex multi-step tasks

Cons:
– Premium request limits can feel restrictive on the Pro plan
– Enterprise features require GitHub Enterprise Cloud
– Some developers report NES suggestions can be distracting

Cline

What It Does

Cline is an open-source VS Code extension that turns your preferred LLM into an autonomous coding agent. Unlike typical autocomplete tools, Cline can create and edit files, execute terminal commands, browse the web, and use MCP tools — all with your explicit approval at each step. It has been downloaded by over 5 million developers.

Key Features

• Autonomous multi-step task execution with human-in-the-loop approvals
• File creation and editing across your entire codebase
• Terminal command execution with output capture
• Browser automation for testing and debugging
• MCP tool integration for extending capabilities
• Cost tracking that shows token usage and API costs per task
• Supports Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, AWS Bedrock, Azure, and local models via Ollama

Pricing

Tier	Price
Individual	Free (open-source extension)
AI Usage	Pay-as-you-go (bring your own API keys)
Teams	$20/user/month (first 10 seats free through Q1 2026)
Enterprise	Custom pricing

The real cost depends on your API usage. Heavy users report spending $50-$200/month on Claude API costs. Using OpenRouter with budget models and prompt caching can cut costs by 50-70%.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
– Most capable autonomous agent in VS Code
– No vendor lock-in — use any API provider
– Full transparency on costs (you see every token)
– Active open-source community with rapid updates

Cons:
– API costs can add up quickly with premium models
– Requires more setup than plug-and-play alternatives
– Human-in-the-loop approvals can slow down simple tasks
– No built-in autocomplete — it is an agent, not a completion tool

Codeium (Windsurf Plugin)

What It Does

Codeium, now rebranded under the Windsurf umbrella, offers a VS Code plugin that delivers fast autocomplete, context-aware suggestions, and chat-based assistance. It focuses on multi-file consistency and keeps latency low. The plugin is the entry point to Windsurf’s broader AI ecosystem.

Key Features

• Fast inline autocomplete with low latency
• Chat-based coding assistance inside VS Code
• Multi-file context awareness for consistent suggestions
• Support for 70+ programming languages
• Generous free tier for individual developers
• Available across VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, and more

Pricing

Plan	Price	Notes
Free	$0	Limited completions and chat
Pro	$15/month	Full access, priority support
Teams	$30/user/month	Admin controls, collaboration
Enterprise	$60/user/month	SSO, VPC, self-hosted options

Pros and Cons

Pros:
– One of the best free tiers available
– Low-latency completions feel snappy
– Works well for web development and scripting languages
– Clean, non-intrusive UI

Cons:
– Rebranding to Windsurf has caused some confusion
– Pro features push you toward the standalone Windsurf editor
– Enterprise pricing details not fully transparent
– Less agentic capability compared to Copilot or Cline

Amazon Q Developer

What It Does

Amazon Q Developer (formerly AWS CodeWhisperer) is Amazon’s AI coding assistant. It provides real-time code suggestions, security scanning, code transformations, and agentic coding capabilities. It is deeply integrated with the AWS ecosystem, making it the natural choice for teams building on AWS.

Key Features

• Real-time code suggestions from snippets to full functions
• Agentic coding that reads/writes files and runs shell commands
• Security scanning that outperforms leading benchmarked tools
• Code transformation for version and framework upgrades (e.g., Java 8 to Java 17)
• Unit test generation supporting JUnit, PyTest, Jest, and Mocha
• MCP support for pulling context from Jira, Figma, and other tools
• 100 KB context window for project-wide understanding

Pricing

Plan	Price	Key Limits
Free	$0	50 agentic chat interactions/month, 1,000 LOC transformations/month
Pro	$19/user/month	1,000 agentic interactions/month, 4,000 LOC transformations/month

No AWS account is required for the free tier — you can sign up with an AWS Builder ID.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
– Best security scanning of any VS Code AI extension
– Excellent for AWS-centric development workflows
– Free tier is generous for individual developers
– Enterprise-ready with SOC, ISO, HIPAA compliance

Cons:
– Suggestions feel less natural than Copilot for non-AWS code
– Fewer model options compared to Copilot or Cline
– The Pro tier is pricier than Copilot Pro at $19 vs $10
– Less community content and fewer tutorials available

Tabnine

What It Does

Tabnine is an AI code assistant built for teams that prioritize privacy and control. It offers code completions, chat, and repo-aware context, with deployment options ranging from cloud SaaS to fully air-gapped on-premises installations. No code is ever stored or used for training.

Key Features

• Zero code retention — no storage, no training on your code
• Multiple deployment options: SaaS, single-tenant VPC, fully on-premises
• Compatible with all major IDEs and LLMs
• End-to-end encryption with TLS
• SSO integration and enterprise compliance (GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001)
• Custom model training on your codebase (Enterprise)

Pricing

Plan	Price	Notes
Dev Preview	Free	Limited features, community support
Dev/Pro	$12/month	Custom model training, ticket support
Enterprise	Custom	On-premises, air-gapped, dedicated support

Enterprise plans using your own LLM on-prem offer unlimited usage. Using Tabnine-provided LLM access costs the provider’s API price plus a 5% handling fee.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
– Strongest privacy guarantees in the market
– Only option for fully air-gapped, on-premises deployment
– Named a Visionary in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for AI Code Assistants
– Flexible LLM selection. You might also want to explore our picks for best AI code assistants.

Cons:
– Completions are less accurate than Copilot or Cursor
– Free tier is very limited
– Enterprise pricing can be expensive ($234K+ annually for large teams)
– Smaller community and fewer integrations

Continue.dev

What It Does

Continue.dev is the leading open-source AI code extension for VS Code. It gives you full control over which AI models you use through simple YAML configuration files. In mid-2025, the team pivoted to “Continuous AI,” adding a CLI that runs async agents on every pull request, though the IDE extension remains fully functional.

Key Features

• Four interaction modes: Agent, Chat, Autocomplete, and Edit
• YAML-based configuration for models, context providers, and rules
• Support for any AI provider: OpenAI, Anthropic, local models via Ollama
• MCP (Model Context Protocol) support for external integrations
• AI checks on pull requests via CLI (GitHub Actions integration)
• Multi-file refactoring through Agent Mode
• Can run entirely locally with models like Mistral, LLaMA, or Phi

Pricing

Continue.dev is completely free and open-source. You pay only for the AI model API costs from your chosen provider, or nothing if you run local models.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
– 100% free and open-source — no vendor lock-in
– Run entirely local for maximum privacy
– Highly configurable through YAML files
– Great for teams with existing LLM API access

Cons:
– Requires more setup than commercial alternatives
– IDE extension is no longer the team’s primary focus (shifted to CLI)
– Autocomplete quality depends heavily on the model you choose
– Less polished UI compared to Copilot or Cline

Cursor (VS Code Integration)

What It Does

Cursor is a standalone AI code editor built on VS Code, but it deserves mention because many developers consider it alongside VS Code extensions. Cursor wraps the entire VS Code experience with AI-native features including multi-file editing, codebase-aware chat, and a credit-based system for premium model access.

Key Features

• Supercomplete tab completions that predict 2-3 lines at once
• Agent mode for autonomous multi-step coding
• Codebase-aware context across all project files
• Credit-based billing for premium model usage (Claude, GPT-5.2, Gemini 3)
• Inline editing with natural language instructions
• Works with all VS Code extensions

Pricing

Plan	Price	Notes
Hobby	Free	Limited completions and agent requests
Pro	$20/month	Unlimited tab, $20 premium model credits
Pro+	$60/month	More credits, priority access
Ultra	$200/month	Maximum credits, large context windows
Teams	$40/user/month	Team management features

Annual billing saves 20% across all paid tiers.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
– Best multi-file editing experience available
– Codebase-wide context understanding is excellent
– Supercomplete predictions feel genuinely useful
– Familiar VS Code interface with no learning curve

Cons:
– Not a VS Code extension — it is a separate application
– Credit-based billing has frustrated many users
– Costs more than Copilot ($20 vs $10 for individuals)
– Community complaints about unexpected charges after billing model change

FAQ

Which free AI extension for VS Code is the best?

For pure autocomplete, GitHub Copilot’s free tier (2,000 completions and 50 premium requests/month) offers the most polished experience. If you want full control and privacy, Continue.dev is completely free and lets you use local models. For an autonomous agent, Cline is free as an extension — you only pay for the API calls.

Can I use multiple AI extensions at the same time in VS Code?

Yes, but it is not recommended. Running two autocomplete extensions simultaneously (e.g., Copilot and Codeium) creates conflicts where suggestions compete with each other. A better approach is to pair one autocomplete tool (like Copilot) with one agent tool (like Cline) since they serve different purposes.

Which extension is best for enterprise teams?

GitHub Copilot Enterprise ($39/user/month) offers the deepest integration with GitHub workflows, knowledge bases, and custom models. Tabnine is the best choice for organizations that require fully on-premises, air-gapped deployment with zero code retention. Amazon Q Developer is the natural pick for teams heavily invested in AWS.

Do these extensions send my code to the cloud?

Most cloud-based extensions send code snippets to remote servers for processing. Continue.dev and Tabnine (on-premises) are the only options that can run entirely locally. Cline lets you choose local models via Ollama. GitHub Copilot, Codeium, and Amazon Q process code in the cloud, though they have privacy policies stating code is not used for training (on paid plans).

Is Cursor better than VS Code with extensions?

Cursor offers a more integrated AI experience since it is built as an AI-first editor. However, VS Code with Copilot or Cline provides a comparable experience while keeping you in the standard VS Code ecosystem with its full extension marketplace. If you rely on specific VS Code extensions that do not work in Cursor, staying with VS Code plus an AI extension is the safer choice. See our Copilot vs Cursor vs Windsurf comparison for a deeper breakdown.

Conclusion

The best AI coding extension for VS Code depends on your priorities. GitHub Copilot remains the default recommendation for most developers — its free tier is solid, the Pro plan at $10/month is affordable, and its agent mode keeps getting better. Cline is the pick for developers who want maximum autonomy from their AI and do not mind managing API keys. Continue.dev wins for teams that need full open-source control and local model support. And if you work primarily with AWS, Amazon Q Developer deserves a serious look.

For developers considering a standalone AI editor instead, check out our GitHub Copilot vs Cursor vs Windsurf comparison to see how the full-editor approach stacks up.