The AI coding tool landscape has exploded. Here's every serious option, what it actually costs, and who should use it.
The word "IDE" barely captures what these tools are anymore. The best of them don't just suggest code — they plan, execute, test, debug, and iterate across your entire codebase without you holding their hand at every step. That's what "agentic" means in practice.
But the market is genuinely confusing right now. Credit systems, usage quotas, BYOK models, terminal agents, native plugins — it's a lot to navigate before you've written a single line of code. This guide cuts through it.
I've organized everything into four categories based on how you work, with verified pricing as of June 2026.
If you are...
