Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing how we work, and the field of software development is no exception. Code writing is one of the areas that is seeing the most productivity boosts from using AI. AI code assistants are a new breed of AI-powered tools helping developers write code faster and more safely. This article covers the best AI code assistant tools and will help you choose the right one for your needs.
What is an AI Code Assistant?
An AI code assistant is a software tool that uses artificial intelligence to help developers write code faster and more accurately. It does this either by generating code based on prompts or suggesting code for auto-completion as you write code in real time. Here are just a few things AI code assistants can do:
- Integrate with popular code editors you use, like Visual Studio Code
- Generate complete code snippets from prompts or code comments
- Auto-complete lines of code you are writing in real-time
- Detect errors, bugs, and security vulnerabilities with your code
- Help comment code so it is easy to refer back to
Why Use an AI Code Assistant?
Have you considered supercharging your coding experience with AI coding assistants? These powerful tools revolutionize productivity, enabling faster and more accurate code writing while freeing up time for creativity for the challenging solutions you are working on.
For example, using Amazon CodeWhisper in Visual Studio Code, you can simply write a comment describing the code you want to generate, and it will suggest the entire code snippet for you to use and edit as needed.
And once you start writing or editing the code, the code assistant will continuously suggest code to help you fill in the gaps.
But that’s just the start. They can act as vigilant guardians, catching errors early and saving you debugging headaches. Additionally, AI code assistants elevate code quality, offering expert guidance to write efficient, maintainable, and secure code. And they are one of the best learning tools for exploring languages you are not familiar with.
Using them creates efficiencies at every stage of development, no matter what type of project you are working on. Many of the best development teams have already switched to many of the solutions below.
Best AI Coding Assistants
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Here are the best tools that leverage AI for developers:
We’ll start with GitHub Copilot, which helps developers with a bunch of coding tasks.
1. GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is one of the best AI coding assistants on the market to date. Designed to help developers craft high-quality code more efficiently, Copilot is driven by the OpenAI Codex language model, which is trained on natural language text and draws insights from a vast pool of public code. This smart tool can suggest entire lines of code, complete functions, write comments, and even assist in debugging and spotting potential security issues.
Key Features:
- Works with popular integrated development environments (IDEs)
- Offers Extensions for Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim, and JetBrains.
- Offers code suggestions or entire functions while writing code
- Cycle through multiple auto-complete suggestions with ease
- Helps to identify and fix code errors
- Finds potential security vulnerabilities in your code
- Writes informative comments for better code understanding
By offering more efficient code writing, learning new languages and frameworks, and quicker debugging, GitHub Copilot is set to transform coding practices. It’s an essential tool for developers looking to elevate their coding skills and efficiency. Simply install the Copilot extension for Visual Studio Code, sign in with your GitHub account, and let Copilot augment your coding experience.
Pricing: Free plan available for individual devs and paid plans starting at only $4/mo (Copilot comes packaged with Github)
2. Amazon CodeWhisperer
Amazon CodeWhisperer is an innovative code generator powered by machine learning, designed to assist developers by offering real-time code recommendations directly within their IDE. It’s trained on a vast dataset of open-source code and can suggest anything from snippets to full functions based on comments and existing code.
The tool supports various programming languages and is compatible with several IDEs, including JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio Code, AWS Cloud9, and more. CodeWhisperer boosts productivity by automating repetitive tasks and promotes the creation of precise and secure code by providing suggestions based on up-to-date industry standards. It’s a valuable resource for developers aiming to be more efficient, precise, and secure in their coding endeavors.
Key Features:
- Real-time code recommendations in various programming languages
- Compatibility with multiple IDEs
- Reference tracking and security scans
- Improvement of code accuracy and security through machine learning-powered suggestions
Pricing: Free for individuals with paid plans starting at $19/mo
3. Tabnine
Tabnine is an AI-driven coding assistant that boosts productivity by enabling developers to write code quickly and effectively. Compatible with numerous programming languages like Python, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Go, and Rust, TabNine uses a neural network to learn from a vast dataset of open-source code, facilitating accurate code completions even for complex coding situations.
Tabnine helps increase productivity and improves code quality by offering smart completion suggestions and identifying potential errors. It’s an essential tool for developers looking to save time, enhance code quality, and lessen costs.
Key Features:
- Intelligent code completions based on a massive dataset of open-source code
- Code linting feature to identify and suggest fixes for potential errors
- Code refactoring assistance to enhance readability, efficiency, and maintainability
- Automatic generation of code documentation for better understanding and collaboration
Pricing: Free plan available for individuals with paid plans starting at $15/mo
4. Replit
Replit, an online coding platform, provides an interactive space for users to code, collaborate, and learn collectively. It’s known for its browser-based IDE that allows co-coding within documents and native hosting.
One of its standout features is Ghostwriter, an AI-powered code assistant designed to streamline the coding process. Ghostwriter, trained on millions of lines of code, provides contextually relevant code suggestions, making it a valuable tool for programmers at any level. From auto-completing code to debugging, Ghostwriter can help speed up coding, improve code quality, and aid in learning new programming languages. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, Replit’s Ghostwriter can be a game-changer in your coding journey.
Key Features:
- Speed up coding with advanced in-line suggestions
- It spots mistakes and helps you correct them
- It enables you to learn how to code inside the document
- Explains and comments code
Pricing: Free plan available with paid plans starting at just $7/mo
5. Sourcegraph Cody
Sourcegraph Cody is your AI-powered assistant for coding that accelerates your workflow and enriches your understanding of whole code bases. The main product of Sourcegraph is a code base assistant that helps you search across the board to discover where code lives and who’s updated it—and it does this across entire repos, branches, and code hosts.
By leveraging Sourcegraph’s code graph and LLM, Cody provides context-aware answers, whether you’re locating a piece of code, creating new functions, or debugging. It can interpret your instructions in natural language to generate precise code or explain the intricacies of your existing code. Whether a seasoned developer or a beginner, Sourcegraph Cody can become an invaluable tool in your toolkit, making coding more efficient and less intimidating.
Key Features:
- Locating code quickly using function name, file name, or a description in plain English
- Generating code snippets or complete functions based on your instructions
- Explaining complex code structures or functions in simple terms
- Identifying and helping to rectify bugs in your codebase
Pricing: Cody is free for individuals with Enterprise pricing available
6. AskCodi
AskCodi is your AI partner for quick and precise coding. This handy tool, powered by OpenAI Codex, can generate code, answer your programming questions, and even provide helpful code suggestions. All you need is to install the AskCodi extension on your favorite IDE, such as Visual Studio Code, PyCharm, or IntelliJ IDEA, and you’re ready to speed up your coding process. It also helps with SQL query generation and creating DocStrings.
Key Features:
- Creates code from plain prompts, simplifying the coding process
- Answers your coding questions in a straightforward manner
- Suggests code as you type, helping you prevent errors and write efficient code
- Provides a stress-free coding experience by taking on tedious tasks like code generation and answering coding queries
Pricing: Free plans are available, with paid plans starting at $7.99/mo
7. Codiga
Codiga is an AI-powered static code analysis tool that helps developers write better, faster, and safer code. With its artificial intelligence, Codiga studies and inspects code for potential errors, vulnerabilities, and other issues. It’s compatible with development environments like VS Code, JetBrains, VisualStudio, GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.
Key Features
- Static code analysis for error detection and early fixes
- Automated code reviews to save time and improve code quality
- Code snippets for common tasks to boost efficiency
Pricing: Free plan available with paid plans starting at $14/mo
8. Bugasura
Bugasura is an AI-powered bug-tracking tool designed to streamline your bug management process. With its smart automation and insightful pattern detection, Bugasura helps manage bugs and provides insights to improve the bug-tracking process. It has integrations with various development environments, making it an essential tool for any team focused on enhancing the quality of their software.
Key Features:
- Automatically detects bugs in your code, catching them before they cause problems
- Intelligently prioritizes bugs based on severity and type and auto-tags and writes a description for each bug
- Facilitates team collaboration with features that allow you to create, assign, track, and communicate about bugs in one place
- Integrates with popular tracking tools Jira, Zendesk, and Asana, keeping bug-tracking data synchronized
Pricing: Free small team plan with paid plans starting at $5/mo
9. CodeWP
CodeWP is an AI-powered, cloud-based WordPress code generator designed to simplify the coding process for WordPress developers across all skill levels. This platform can rapidly generate valid code for tasks such as creating custom post types, developing plugins, and extending the core function of your favorite WordPress products. Users describe the code they need, and CodeWP produces efficient, secure code that can be edited as required. Trained on a vast dataset of WordPress code, CodeWP ensures high accuracy, thereby saving time, improving productivity, and reducing costs.
Key Features:
- AI-driven WordPress code generation
- Supports a range of tasks, including custom post-type creation and plugin development
- Pre-made and vetted code snippets for multiple use cases
- Write code for WordPress core or other prominent plugins like WooCommerce, ACF, and page builders
Pricing: Free plan available with paid plans starting at $12/mo
10. AI Helper Bot
AI Helper Bot is a powerful, AI-driven SQL query generator for users across varying skill levels. It integrates with major databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and Oracle or through a JSON upload. AI Helper Bot can generate SQL queries using simple prompts (“How many users are subscribed to notifications?”) that make searching for data as simple as asking a good question. It also allows users to save and share generated SQL queries for future use.
Key Features:
- Generates SQL queries from simple statements and questions
- Provides plain explanations of what SQL queries are doing
- Save and share generated SQL queries for future reuse
Pricing: Starting at $5/mo
11. Android Studio Bot
Android Studio Bot is an AI-powered coding assistant built into Android Studio to boost your productivity as a mobile app developer. Built on Google’s Codey and PaLM 2 LLMs, this coding assistant is designed to generate code, fix errors, and answer questions about Android development, making it an invaluable tool for developers.
To utilize Android Studio Bot, type your question or command in the Android Studio window’s text field, and the bot will respond or perform the requested action.
Key Features
- Generates code for various tasks like creating layouts, adding functionality, and testing your app
- Identifies and fixes errors in your code, ensuring a smooth development process
- Answers questions about Android development, from API usage to specific error resolution
- Continuously learns and improves, becoming better at assisting you over time
Pricing: Included with Android Studio
12. SinCode
SinCode is an all-in-one AI assistant that helps users with various tasks, including AI writing and code generation. Its primary focus is not on generative AI code but writing tasks. But its ability to write code from prompts makes it an exciting choice for those who need tools focused on writing but also want the flexibility to create some AI code. Developers, this isn’t your go-to tool but is likely helpful for others who need a range of AI options within reach.
Key Features:
- Plenty of writing templates and use cases for particular writing tasks
- Code generation via prompt or finding bugs in supplied code
- Transcribe audio, create images, and edit full documents
Pricing: Free limited plan with paid plans starting at $20/mo
13. WPCode
WPCode, formerly WP Headers and Footers, is a popular snippet deployment tool for WordPress websites. It simplifies the process of injecting code into header and footer locations. It has grown into a complete Google Tag Manager replacement and has added the ability to generate WordPress-specific code snippets and store them across websites.
Key Features:
- Header and footer code implementation
- AI-assisted code generation
- Code snippets tailored to WordPress applications
Pricing: Prices start at $99/yr for a single site license
Divi Code Snippets
WordPress devs might be interested in a new feature we have for our Divi theme called Divi Snippets. It allows developers to save and manage their most used code snippets, including HTML, Javascript, CSS, and collections of CSS parameters and rules. This is a perfect companion tool for WordPress developers using some of the best AI coding assistants to improve the quality of their work.
Users can easily organize and sync their code snippets to the cloud within Divi, making them readily available whenever needed. The library popup allows users to manage their code snippets by editing, changing names, tagging, categorizing, copying, or removing them.
The Divi Code Snippets library is handy and can easily save, manage, and deploy all your favorite AI-generated code for WordPress. The code library is integrated with Divi Cloud, which means all of the saved snippets can be synced to the cloud and instantly accessible on each of the user’s websites that are connected to Divi Cloud.
What is the Best AI Code Assistant?
AI code writers and code assistants are becoming even more common. They primarily cater to your IDE or repo situation, while some help outside those environments. We’ve gathered a list of some of the best tools out there. Many of them are free to use for individual devs!
| Rank | AI Code Assistant | Starting Price | Free Option | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot | $4/mo | ✔️ | Get | |
| Amazon CodeWhisperer | $19/mo | ✔️ | Get | |
| Tabnine | $15/mo | ✔️ | Get | |
| 4 | Replit | $7/mo | ✔️ | Get |
| 5 | Sourcegraph Cody | Enterprise | ❌ | Get |
| 6 | AskCodi | $7.99/mo | ✔️ | Get |
| 7 | Codiga | $14/mo | ✔️ | Get |
| 8 | Bugasura | $5/mo | ✔️ | Get |
| 9 | CodeWP | $12/mo | ✔️ | Get |
| 10 | AI Helper Bot | $5/mo | ❌ | Get |
| 11 | Android Studio Bot | Free | ✔️ | Get |
| 12 | SinCode | $20/mo | ✔️ | Get |
| 13 | WPCode | $99/yr | ✔️ | Get |
The best code-writing assistants are, hands down, Github Copilot, Tabnine, and CodeWhisperer. These all help working devs increase individual performance and efficiency.
There are other interesting tools that don’t quite as far as those three solutions. WordPress developers might find CodeWP.ai a helpful way to create and store code snippets to boost their sites. AI Helper Bot is great for those new to SQL who want to chat with their databases to mine the data within.
All in all, AI is changing the way we write code. It’s already creating massive efficiencies for individual developers and teams across tech stacks and programming languages.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which is the best AI code assistant?
Copilot is an all-purpose code assistant that can be used for any programming language. It is powered by OpenAI’s Codex.
Amazon CodeWhisperer is the newest to pack but has already proven itself to be a great AI code writer and assistant.
Tabnine has long been a great resource for devs and also uses OpenAI infrastructure for its code completion.
Is there an AI that writes code for you?
Can artificial intelligence help me get better at coding?
By learning from mistakes, AI becomes increasingly proficient in assisting developers to write better code over time.
Is there a free AI for coding and programming?
- GitHub Copilot is a free AI code-generating tool that can be used with GitHub Codespaces. It is powered by OpenAI Codex, a large language model that can generate code, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way.
- Tabnine is a free AI code completion tool that can be used with a variety of IDEs, including Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ IDEA, and PyCharm. It can help you to find the right code completion suggestions quickly and easily.
- CodeWP is a free AI-powered code generator for WordPress that can generate code from natural language prompts or previous code snippets.
Is AI going to replace coders?
However, AI is not a replacement for human creativity and ingenuity. Coders will still be needed to design, architect, and build complex software systems. They will also be needed to understand and translate the business needs into technical requirements.
Looking for more? Check out our favorite AI tools and more.
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The post 13 Best AI Coding Assistant Tools in 2023 (Most Are Free) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.