Who each engine recommends
Position of every brand named in the latest run.
| Brand | ChatGPT | Perplexity | AI Mode | Mention rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub CopilotTop pick | #2 | #1 | #1 | |
| Cursor | #3 | #2 | #3 | |
| Qodo | — | #3 | #4 | |
| JetBrains AI Assistant | #1 | — | — | |
| Devin | — | — | #2 | |
| Gemini Code Assist | — | #4 | — | |
| Tabnine | #4 | — | — | |
| Codex | #5 | — | — | |
| Sourcegraph Cody | — | #5 | — | |
| ChatGPT | #6 | — | — |
Responses
What each engine answered, and how the shortlist moved.
Several AI coding assistants offer free trials or free plans. The best options as of November 2026 are: AI coding assistants with free access JetBrains AI Assistant (30-day free trial) Full AI Pro features with usage limits during the trial. Supports coding assistance and AI agents. Also offers a permanent free tier. Official pricing and trial www.jetbrains.comwww.jetbrains.com --- GitHub Copilot (Free plan) 2,000 code completions monthly. Limited AI chat and agent features. Paid Pro starts at…
- JetBrains AI Assistant
- GitHub Copilot — Best free starting option: GitHub Copilot.
- Cursor — Best AI-first coding editor: Cursor.
- Tabnine
- Codex — Best for autonomous coding tasks: OpenAI Codex.
- ChatGPT — Available with limited usage on the free ChatGPT plan.
Several AI coding assistants offer free trials or free plans:
- GitHub Copilot — GitHub Copilot — free plan with 2,000 monthly completions; some paid plans may include a 30-day trial.
- Cursor — Cursor — free Hobby plan with limited usage.
- Qodo — Qodo — 14-day free trial, reportedly without a credit card.
- Gemini Code Assist — Gemini Code Assist — 30-day free trial for its paid offering.
- Sourcegraph Cody — Sourcegraph Cody — 30-day free trial according to a recent comparison.
Many popular AI coding assistants don't rely on a traditional time-limited "free trial"; instead, they offer permanent free tiers or free introductory allowances that let you test their capabilities without entering a credit card.[](https://daily.dev/blog/best-free-ai-coding-tools-no-credit-card-required/) Popular AI coding tools featuring free access options include:
- GitHub Copilot — GitHub Copilot Free : Offers a free-forever tier (no credit card required) providing a set monthly allowance of code completions and chat requests, making it easy to test inside VS Code, JetBrains, or…
- Devin — Codeium : Provides a robust free tier featuring unlimited individual code autocomplete and basic agent/chat features.[](https://daily.dev/blog/best-free-ai-coding-tools-no-credit-card-required/).
- Cursor — Cursor : Features a free tier with a baseline allotment of fast completions and requests per month so you can try out the AI-first code editor.[](https://daily.dev/blog/best-free-ai-coding-tools-no-credit-card-required/).
- Qodo — Qodo (formerly Codium): Offers a short-term trial (such as a 14-day free evaluation) for its team and advanced reviewing capabilities.
Citations
Sources the engines cited for this prompt.
| Source | Type | Citations | Cited by |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com | Web | 2 | ChatGPT |
| jetbrains.com | Brand site · JetBrains AI Assistant | 2 | ChatGPT |
| agentatlas.dev | Web | 1 | ChatGPT |
| aiteamguide.com | Web | 1 | ChatGPT |
| appypie.com | Web | 1 | Perplexity |
| calrepo.com | Web | 1 | ChatGPT |
| daily.dev | Web | 1 | Google AI Mode |
| dev.to | Web | 1 | Perplexity |
| dupple.com | Web | 1 | Perplexity |
| getapp.com | Review site | 1 | Perplexity |
| getorchestra.io | Web | 1 | Perplexity |
| saasinspector.com | Web | 1 | Perplexity |
| softwareadvice.com | Review site | 1 | Perplexity |
| superblocks.com | Web | 1 | Perplexity |
| thectoclub.com | Web | 1 | Perplexity |
| toolmango.com | Web | 1 | ChatGPT |
| toolscanner.io | Web | 1 | Perplexity |