Best AI coding tools for VS Code

Updated 16 Oct 2026 · Prices from vendor pages only · How we rank →

The short answer

Each of these tools runs in VS Code or is built on it. GitHub Copilot comes first: works in most major editors and in GitHub itself, from a free plan up to cloud agents and code review. The cheapest verified paid plan here is GitHub Copilot Pro ($10/month). 7 of the 9 have a free plan we could confirm. Every price below is from the vendor’s own page, checked 16 Oct 2026.

Ranked shortlist

GitHub Copilot: Works in most major editors and in GitHub itself, from a free plan up to cloud agents and code review. Plan: Pro: $10/month
Cline: Free, open-source (Apache-2.0) agent with no subscription or seat fees: you pay for inference only, at cost or with your own keys, from many providers. Plan: Free for individuals: pay only for AI inference (BYOK or at cost)
Kiro: AWS's main coding product: spec-driven development, hooks and steering in a VS Code-based IDE plus CLI. It has a perpetual free tier, and it's the official successor to Amazon Q Developer. Plan: Pro: $20/user/month
Kilo Code: Open-source coding agent for VS Code and JetBrains. Plan: Teams: $15/user/month
Augment Code: Coding agent built for large codebases with deep context. Plan: Standard: $20/month flat
$20 usage included
Cody (Sourcegraph): Ranked low for most readers: Cody Free and Pro closed to new sign-ups in June 2025 and were discontinued. It survives only inside Sourcegraph Enterprise, where its strength is whole-codebase context. Plan: Not yet verified
Amazon Q Developer: Ranked low because AWS is retiring it. New sign-ups closed on 15 May 2026, the CLI became Kiro CLI, and IDE plugins and paid subscriptions reach end of support on 30 Apr 2027. Plan: Pro: $19/user/month
Higher limits, 4,000 LOC/month pooled, admin dashboard
Continue: Ranked low because it is discontinued. Continue was acquired by Cursor, its repo is read-only, and 2.0.0 was the last release. The open-source extension still runs with your own keys or local models. Plan: Open-source extension (Apache-2.0), self-run with your own model keys
Roo Code: Ranked last because it's discontinued: the extension shut down on 15 May 2026 and the GitHub repo is archived. The project itself points users to Cline or the community fork ZooCode. Plan: Was free and open source (Apache-2.0); no longer maintained

Order follows ToolRank’s editorial ranking in Coding & App Building, filtered to tools that fit this page. Anything we couldn’t confirm on a vendor page says “Not yet verified”.

Side by side

Rank	Tool	Relevant plan	Starting price	Free plan	Best for	Main limitation	Last checked
#1	GitHub Copilot	Pro: $10/month	$10/month (Pro)	Limited chat and agent usage; no code review or cloud agent	Teams already on GitHub who want AI in their existing IDE	Free plan has limited chat and agent usage and no code review or cloud agent.	16 Oct 2026
#2	Cline	Free for individuals: pay only for AI inference (BYOK or at cost)	Not yet verified	Free for individuals: pay only for AI inference (BYOK or at cost)	Developers who want a transparent, model-agnostic agent in VS Code and control over spend	Costs scale directly with tokens, so long agent runs on frontier models get expensive. The JetBrains extension is listed under Enterprise.	16 Oct 2026
#3	Kiro	Pro: $20/user/month	$20/user/month (Pro)	Perpetual free tier: 50 credits, Claude Sonnet 4.5 and open-weight models, rate-limited	Teams on AWS that want structured, spec-first agent work	Everything is metered in credits that vary by model, and unused monthly credits don't roll over. There are no native Visual Studio or Eclipse plugins.	16 Oct 2026
#4	Kilo Code	Teams: $15/user/month	$15/user/month (Teams)	Free and open source; AI usage billed separately	Open-source coding agent with any model	Model usage costs extra	16 Oct 2026
#5	Augment Code	Standard: $20/month flat $20 usage included	$20/month flat (Standard, up to 50 seats)	✕ None listed	Teams wanting a flat-price coding agent	Usage beyond the included amount is billed	16 Oct 2026
#6	Cody (Sourcegraph)	Not yet verified	$16K/year minimum (Sourcegraph Enterprise)	✕ None listed	Large organisations already on Sourcegraph Enterprise	Individuals can't buy it any more. Sourcegraph Enterprise starts at a $16K minimum annual contract, and its pricing page now leads with Deep Search and code search, not Cody.	16 Oct 2026
#7	Amazon Q Developer	Pro: $19/user/month Higher limits, 4,000 LOC/month pooled, admin dashboard	$19/user/month (Pro, existing customers)	50 agentic requests/month (existing accounts only; new sign-ups closed 15 May 2026)	Existing AWS customers finishing Java/.NET transformations before the cutoff	New users can't sign up. Existing users have until 30 Apr 2027, and the latest models are only available in Kiro.	16 Oct 2026
#8	Continue	Open-source extension (Apache-2.0), self-run with your own model keys	Not yet verified	Open-source extension (Apache-2.0), self-run with your own model keys	Existing users who want a frozen, self-run open-source assistant with their own models	Discontinued: no further updates or fixes and the hosted services are gone. Treat it as frozen software.	16 Oct 2026
#9	Roo Code	Was free and open source (Apache-2.0); no longer maintained	Not yet verified	Was free and open source (Apache-2.0); no longer maintained	Nobody new. Existing users should migrate	Shut down: no updates, no support, archived repository.	16 Oct 2026

Prices as listed by each vendor on the last-checked date, USD, before tax. Plans and limits change, so follow the sources below.

Who should pick which

Pick GitHub Copilot for teams already on GitHub who want AI in their existing IDE (Pro: $10/month); think twice if you want an AI-native editor rather than a plugin. Pick Cline for developers who want a transparent, model-agnostic agent in VS Code and control over spend (free plan: Free for individuals: pay only for AI inference (BYOK or at cost)); think twice if you want one flat monthly price. Pick Kiro for teams on AWS that want structured, spec-first agent work (Pro: $20/user/month); think twice if you want unmetered use or a plugin for Visual Studio/Eclipse. Pick Kilo Code for open-source coding agent with any model (Teams: $15/user/month). Watch out: model usage costs extra. Pick Augment Code for teams wanting a flat-price coding agent (Standard: $20/month flat). Watch out: usage beyond the included amount is billed. Pick Cody (Sourcegraph) for large organisations already on Sourcegraph Enterprise ($16K/year minimum (Sourcegraph Enterprise)); think twice if you're an individual or small team. Sourcegraph pointed Cody Free/Pro users to Amp. Pick Amazon Q Developer for existing AWS customers finishing Java/.NET transformations before the cutoff (Pro: $19/user/month); think twice if you're starting fresh. AWS points new users to Kiro.

FAQ

Which of these is cheapest?

GitHub Copilot Pro ($10/month) is the lowest paid price we verified on this list (https://github.com/features/copilot/plans, checked 16 Oct 2026). Check the vendor page for tax, billing period and usage limits.

Which of these have a free plan?

GitHub Copilot: Limited chat and agent usage; no code review or cloud agent; Cline: Free for individuals: pay only for AI inference (BYOK or at cost); Kiro: Perpetual free tier: 50 credits, Claude Sonnet 4.5 and open-weight models, rate-limited; Kilo Code: Free and open source; AI usage billed separately; Amazon Q Developer: 50 agentic requests/month (existing accounts only; new sign-ups closed 15 May 2026); Continue: Open-source extension (Apache-2.0), self-run with your own model keys; Roo Code: Was free and open source (Apache-2.0); no longer maintained.

How were these tools chosen?

They are the tools in ToolRank's rankings with VS Code listed as a supported platform, confirmed on the vendor's own website on 16 Oct 2026. Tools we could not verify are left out rather than guessed, and anything unconfirmed is marked Not yet verified.

Sources

GitHub Copilot: GitHub Copilot plans checked 16 Oct 2026
Cline: Cline pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Kiro: Kiro pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Kiro: Kiro: migrating from Q Developer checked 16 Oct 2026
Kilo Code: Kilo Code pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Augment Code: Augment Code pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Cody (Sourcegraph): Sourcegraph: changes to Cody Free, Pro and Enterprise Starter checked 16 Oct 2026
Cody (Sourcegraph): Cody docs checked 16 Oct 2026
Cody (Sourcegraph): Sourcegraph pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Amazon Q Developer: Amazon Q Developer pricing checked 16 Oct 2026
Amazon Q Developer: AWS: Amazon Q Developer end-of-support announcement checked 16 Oct 2026
Continue: continue.dev: Continue was acquired by Cursor checked 16 Oct 2026
Continue: Continue GitHub README (read-only, final 2.0.0 release) checked 16 Oct 2026
Roo Code: Roo Code GitHub (archived; 'shut down on May 15th') checked 16 Oct 2026
Roo Code: Roo Code docs shutdown notice checked 16 Oct 2026

Related comparisons

Profiles: GitHub Copilot · Cline · Kiro · Kilo Code · Augment Code · Cody (Sourcegraph) · Amazon Q Developer · Continue · Roo Code

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