How to get AI to
help me choose an AI coding assistant.

What you’ll be able to do

The names are the confusing bit. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Cursor, Antigravity, Codex, Lovable, Replit: it reads like a list of start-ups someone made up. But they sort into four kinds, and once you know the kind, the name matters a lot less.

By the end of this you’ll have picked one kind of AI coding tool and one actual tool, run the same small job on two of them, and know what paying would add. No leaderboard, no review of every model going. Just a decision you can make today, and it works whether you can code already or have never written a line.

Everything below was checked on each vendor’s own page on 4 November 2026. Where I couldn’t confirm something, I’ve said so.

Quick picks: what are you building?

• Want to understand a bit of code, or get a small script? ChatGPT or Claude: paste it in, get an explanation back.
• Already live in a Google account? Gemini: free with that account, plus a route to Google’s coding agent below.
• Writing code in an editor and want suggestions as you type? GitHub Copilot: plugs into the editors you may already use.
• Want the AI and the editor to be one thing? Cursor: an editor built around the AI.
• A real project with lots of files that you want read and changed for you? Claude Code: works in your folder and runs commands.
• Already have a ChatGPT account and want to try an agent? OpenAI Codex: included in ChatGPT plans, free included.
• Want a free agent from Google? Google Antigravity: an individual plan at no cost.
• A site or app and no wish to write any code? Lovable: describe it in chat. Replit is the other to look at.

Before you start

Think of it as the hands-off scale: how much the AI does for you, and how much you have to watch.

The hands-off scale

• Tier 1: Browser chat: you type a request on a website and the AI writes code back. You copy it out and paste it where it goes. Nothing can touch your files, so it is the safest place to start.
• Tier 2: Editor helper: an editor is the program where people write code. These suggest the next line as you type, or let you ask about the file in front of you.
• Tier 3: Terminal agent: the terminal is the black text window developers type commands into. An agent there reads your files, edits them and runs commands. Powerful, and the one where you most need to know what it is doing.
• Tier 4: App builder: you describe a site or app in plain English and it builds the lot. Made for people who don’t code.

Comparison chart

I’ve left prices out on purpose. They change, so each block points to the vendor’s own pricing page instead.

Get set up

Ten tools, same order every time. You don’t need all of them. Skim for the tier you picked and ignore the rest.

ChatGPT

Tier 1: Browser chat

Best forPasting in code and getting an explanationAsking for a small script

Go to chatgpt.com and make an account. The Free plan has unlimited text chats on GPT-6, with limited uploads and “Limited Codex access” (Codex has its own block below). Go, which may include ads, and Plus add more, and Plus has “Expanded Codex usage”.

Cost: Free plan available, paid plans above it; check chatgpt.com/pricing. Skip it if: you want something that edits files on your computer. This one just chats.

Claude

Tier 1: Browser chat

Best forTalking code throughHaving it create files and run code in the chat

Go to claude.ai. The Free plan covers chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, creating files and running code, and Artifacts, which is where it shows what it built. Usage is limited every 5 hours and every week, so a long session will hit a wall. Claude Code, further down, is not on Free.

Cost: Free plan available, paid plans above it; check claude.com/pricing. Skip it if: you hate being told to come back later. The limits are real.

Gemini

Tier 1: Browser chat

Best forQuick code questions if you already use a Google accountFree, with nothing to install

Gemini (gemini.google.com) is free with a Google account. You get the Flash-Lite model, Canvas and Deep Research. Google’s coding agents have moved around: Gemini Code Assist for individuals and Gemini CLI stopped serving requests on 18 June 2026, and Google points those users to Antigravity (below). If an older tutorial tells you to install either, it is out of date.

Cost: Free with a Google account; paid Google AI plans raise limits, see gemini.google/gb/subscriptions. Skip it if: you want it to change files for you. For that, look at the Antigravity block.

GitHub Copilot

Tier 2: Editor helper

Best forSuggestions as you typeStaying in an editor you already use

Copilot works in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Xcode, Neovim, Eclipse and Zed. The Free plan gives you 2,000 completions a month, access to models such as Haiku 4.5 and GPT-5 mini, and Copilot CLI. Pro has unlimited completions, code review, Copilot in the cloud, and third-party agents (Claude Code and Codex). Pro+ and Max add premium models.

Cost: Free plan available, paid plans above it; check github.com/features/copilot/plans. Skip it if: you don’t use an editor yet. You’d be learning two things at once.

Cursor

Tier 2: Editor helper

Best forAI and editor as one thingWorking across several files

Cursor (cursor.com) calls itself a coding agent, on desktop and as a command-line version. There’s a Free plan with limited agent requests, and paid plans above it. Third-party models are billed separately at API list price, so check that before you click anything. A privacy mode stops Cursor and its model providers using your code for training. Its plans now share one usage pool between Cursor and Grok. If you want a similar editor, Windsurf’s address now loads Devin Desktop from Cognition; it has a Free plan with a light quota and unlimited inline edits and Tab completions (devin.ai/pricing).

Cost: Free plan with limits; check cursor.com/pricing. Skip it if: surprise bills would bother you. Look at what is billed separately first.

Claude Code

Tier 3: Terminal agent

Best forA real project with many filesLetting the AI make changes and run things

Anthropic’s own docs (code.claude.com/docs) call it “an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands”. It works in the terminal, in an IDE, in a desktop app and in a browser. It needs a Claude subscription or a Console account, and it is not on the Free plan; it comes with Pro and above.

Cost: Pro or above; check claude.com/pricing. Skip it if: you’re brand new. Start in a browser chat and come back.

OpenAI Codex

Tier 3: Terminal agent

Best forTrying an agent without paying moreQuick coding jobs

Codex (developers.openai.com/codex) is included in ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Edu and Enterprise plans and shares usage with ChatGPT. Free is for “quick coding tasks”. There’s a command-line version, an IDE extension and a web version, with cloud features on Plus. The command-line tool is open source at github.com/openai/codex.

Cost: Included in ChatGPT plans, usage shared; check chatgpt.com/pricing. Skip it if: you want heavy daily use on the free plan. It’s for quick jobs.

Google Antigravity

Tier 3: Terminal agent

Best forA free agent from GoogleTrying a command-line agent and an editor

Antigravity (antigravity.google) is Google’s coding agent family: an app, a command-line version, an editor version and extensions. The individual plan is $0 and gives a variety of agent models, unlimited Tab completions and command requests, and basic weekly rate limits. Google AI Pro and Ultra raise the limits.

Cost: Free for individuals, paid Google AI plans above; check antigravity.google/pricing. Skip it if: you want one simple thing. It comes as several pieces, which is a lot for a first go.

Lovable

Tier 4: App builder

Best forA site or app when you don’t codeA first working version fast

Lovable (lovable.dev) lets you describe a site or app in chat, with no technical knowledge needed. The free plan gives a daily grant of 5 build credits, up to 30 a month, and paid plans add credits. Bolt (bolt.new) is similar: its free plan has a daily token limit and puts Bolt branding on your sites, with no branding from Pro.

Cost: Free plan with daily credits, paid plans add more; check lovable.dev/pricing. Skip it if: you want to learn to code. It builds for you, so you won’t pick much up.

Replit

Tier 4: App builder

Best forBuilding an app from a descriptionWorking in the browser with nothing to install

Replit (replit.com) builds apps from a description. Its pricing page lists paid Core and Pro plans and an Enterprise option. I couldn’t confirm a free tier from that page, so check it yourself before you sign up.

Cost: Paid plans listed, free tier not confirmed; check replit.com/pricing. Skip it if: you need to know the price before you start.

Try it yourself

Pick two tools: a chat assistant such as ChatGPT or Claude, and one more from a different tier. Give both the same small job, a page that converts pounds to euros, in the same words so it’s a fair test.

Write a single-file web page that converts pounds to euros. I type an amount and a rate; it shows the result. Then explain every part to me as if I have never coded.

A chat assistant gives you the code in its reply. Copy it into a plain text file, save it as converter.html, and double-click it to open it in your browser. An editor or terminal agent may make the file for you. Then, in the same chat:

Review the code you just wrote. List anything that could break, any place a secret or key could leak, and what I should test before I use it.

That second one matters more than it looks. How honestly a tool checks its own work tells you something about it. And if an answer feels too clever to follow:

Go through the code again, one line at a time. For each line, tell me in one plain sentence what it does and what would happen if I deleted it.

Check the result

Don’t take the AI’s word that it works. Run these yourself.

1. Open it. Does the page load at all? A blank page means something is already broken.
2. Try a normal number. Type 100 and a rate. Check the answer on a calculator.
3. Try an empty field. Press the button with nothing typed. Good code does something sensible; bad code shows “NaN” or nothing.
4. Try a silly number. Type a minus number, a huge one, or letters.
5. Ask each tool to explain every line. This is the big one.

Then pick the tool whose code you could explain back to a friend. Not the shortest, not the prettiest. If you nodded along and understood none of it, it isn’t the right one for you yet, however clever it looks.

If it doesn’t work

You hit a limit. Free plans stop you: Claude’s free usage resets every 5 hours and every week, ChatGPT’s uploads are limited, Lovable’s credits run out daily. Wait, or carry on in a second tool. That is one reason to try two.

The code makes no sense. Don’t put it live. Ask for it line by line with the third prompt above before it goes near a real site, or ask for a simpler version.

When not to use one. Some jobs are better kept out of these tools:

• Never paste API keys, passwords or customer data into a prompt. Not once, not “just to test”.
• Don’t send code you can’t read to production. If nobody can explain it, nobody can fix it at 2am.
• Check your employer’s AI policy before using work code. Some places ban it outright.
• Read the licence terms of the tool you use, and be careful with the licence of code it generates: you may not own it as cleanly as code you wrote.
• Vendors may use free-plan chats to train their models unless you opt out, so check each tool’s settings page. Cursor’s privacy mode is one example of that kind of switch.

Cost traps. Free plans and paid plans use credits or usage pools that run down quicker on big jobs. Check what is billed on top before you start a long run.

Questions people ask

Which AI coding assistant should I start with?

Start in Tier 1, a browser chat such as ChatGPT or Claude: you type a request on a website and the AI writes code back, and nothing can touch your files, so it is the safest place to start.

Are AI coding assistants free to use?

Several have free plans: ChatGPT and Claude free but limited, Gemini free with a Google account, Copilot 2,000 completions a month, Antigravity's individual plan at $0, and Lovable's daily credits. Claude Code needs Pro or above, and Replit's free tier isn't confirmed.

What should I never paste into an AI coding tool?

Never paste API keys, passwords or customer data into a prompt, not once and not "just to test". Also check your employer's AI policy before using work code, as some places ban it outright.

How do I test the code an AI coding assistant writes?

Open the page to check it loads, try a normal number and check it on a calculator, try an empty field, try a silly number like a minus or letters, and ask each tool to explain every line.

What happens when I hit a free plan limit?

Free plans stop you: Claude's usage resets every 5 hours and every week, ChatGPT's uploads are limited, and Lovable's credits run out daily. Wait, or carry on in a second tool, which is one reason to try two.

Keep exploring

Four related guides on this site: “How to get AI to write code”, “How to get AI to teach me to code”, “How to get AI to understand my code” and “How to get AI to build me an app”.

Sources and review notes

https://chatgpt.com/pricing https://claude.com/pricing https://gemini.google/gb/subscriptions https://antigravity.google/pricing https://developers.google.com/gemini-code-assist/docs/deprecations/code-assist-individuals https://github.com/features/copilot/plans https://cursor.com/pricing https://devin.ai/pricing https://code.claude.com/docs https://developers.openai.com/codex https://github.com/openai/codex https://lovable.dev/pricing https://bolt.new/pricing https://replit.com/pricing

Review date: 4 November 2026

Disclosure: I Want AI To is one of our products — this site is made by the same studio, Adapt Progress Evolve. We have tried to compare fairly, and the alternatives named are real and worth a look.