GitHub Copilot's Free and Student plans are the easiest start inside VS Code. Google Antigravity has the most capable free agent editor, with weekly limits. Cursor, Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf), Kiro and Trae have small free plans, Zed is free if you bring your own model key, and JetBrains AI's free tier is tiny. Claude Code has no free access.
Many 2025 guides are out of date: Gemini Code Assist for individuals and Gemini CLI moved to Antigravity, Windsurf is now Devin Desktop, Tabnine and Continue no longer offer free plans, and Cursor's free student year closed to new sign-ups. These are the assistants that still have a free route on 3 November 2026. Use one at a time; two assistants in the same editor fight over completions.
The 10 picks
Swipe or use the arrows.
Free plan; Student plan freeGitHub Copilot (Free and Student)
Completions, chat and agent mode in VS Code, JetBrains and Xcode. Free: 2,000 completions a month plus a small allowance of AI credits, with automatic model selection only. Verified students get the free Copilot Student plan with unlimited completions. No cloud agent on the free plan.
Free, weekly limitsGoogle Antigravity
Google's agent-first editor, which now covers what Gemini CLI and Gemini Code Assist gave individuals. The free plan has unlimited tab completions and weekly rate limits with no published numbers. Its free Claude and GPT-OSS models are removed on 18 November 2026. No bring-your-own-key.
Free, limited usageCursor
An AI-first editor built on VS Code. The Free plan includes limited Agent, Chat and Tab on Cursor's own models; usage numbers are unpublished and Claude and GPT models are not on Free. The free student year closed to new sign-ups on 25 June 2026. Cursor's pricing page on 4 November 2026 lists new Free, Plus ($8) and Premium ($30) plans bundled with Grok, so guides that mention Pro are out of date.
Free, light quotaDevin Desktop (formerly Windsurf)
Cognition's editor, formerly Windsurf; windsurf.com now redirects to devin.ai. The free plan has unlimited tab completions and inline edits and a light daily and weekly agent quota. Names and plans are still changing, so check the pricing page.
Free, 50 credits a monthKiro
AWS's editor that turns a prompt into requirements, design and tasks. Free: 50 credits a month. Students at eligible universities get 1,000 credits a month for a year, but no Indian university appeared in the list on 3 November 2026.
Free editor; bring your keyZed
A fast open-source editor with a built-in agent. The free plan includes the editor, with AI through your own keys, local models or external agents, but no hosted models. Students at accredited universities worldwide can claim a free year of Pro.
Free, Auto mode onlyTrae
ByteDance's editor. The free plan is Auto model mode only, with 5,000 autocompletions a month and limited usage. Read its privacy terms before using it on private code.
Free, 3 credits a monthJetBrains AI Assistant and Junie
Built into IntelliJ, PyCharm and WebStorm. The free tier is tiny: 3 AI credits every 30 days. Local models and your own keys do not use credits. The student licence makes the IDEs free, not the AI credits.
Free, runs offlineOllama with a local code model
Run an open coding model on your own computer, such as Devstral Small 2 (24B, Apache-2.0), and connect it to Zed, Cline, OpenCode or Goose. No per-request cost and private, but it needs a strong laptop and quality trails hosted models.
Free plans with limitsChatGPT, Gemini and Claude on the web
Paste code and ask for explanations, tests or fixes in any of the three. Free plans have limits. Claude Code is not part of Claude's free plan, and Codex's free access is the ChatGPT desktop app only, subject to rollout.
Compare in a table
Show the full comparison table
| Tool | Best for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot (Free and Student) | Easiest free start in VS Code | Free plan; Student plan free |
| Google Antigravity | The most capable free agent editor | Free, weekly limits |
| Cursor | Polished editor if you pay later | Free, limited usage |
| Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) | Beginner-friendly, free completions | Free, light quota |
| Kiro | Spec-first building | Free, 50 credits a month |
| Zed | Fast editor with your own keys | Free editor; bring your key |
| Trae | Autocomplete-heavy free editor | Free, Auto mode only |
| JetBrains AI Assistant and Junie | If you already use PyCharm | Free, 3 credits a month |
| Ollama with a local code model | Private, offline coding help | Free, runs offline |
| ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude on the web | Explaining and reviewing code | Free plans with limits |
Get started this week
- Install VS Code and turn on Copilot Free or the Student plan.
- Ask the assistant to explain a function you wrote and to suggest one test for it.
- Try Antigravity on a small feature and compare how much you had to correct.
How to choose
- Start with Copilot Free or Student inside VS Code; it is the simplest and best documented.
- Try Antigravity when you want an agent that builds features, and expect weekly limits.
- Use Zed or a local model with your own keys when you want to avoid usage caps.
- Turn the assistant off for an hour a day while practising DSA, and read every suggestion before accepting.
Free plans change. Limits above were checked on 4 Nov 2026; confirm on each tool's pricing page before relying on them.
Frequently asked questions
Is GitHub Copilot free?
Yes. Copilot Free gives 2,000 completions a month and a small allowance of AI credits with automatic model selection. Verified students get the free Copilot Student plan with unlimited completions.
Is Cursor free for students?
Not any more for new sign-ups. Cursor closed its free 12-month student offer on 25 June 2026. Cursor's Free plan still exists, with limited usage on Cursor's own models.
Is Windsurf still free?
Windsurf is now called Devin Desktop under Cognition, and windsurf.com redirects to devin.ai. It still has a free plan with unlimited tab completions and a light agent quota.
What replaced Gemini Code Assist and Gemini CLI for free users?
Google Antigravity. Free individual access to Gemini CLI and Gemini Code Assist moved to Antigravity on 18 June 2026.
Do AI coding assistants help beginners learn?
Yes, if you use them to explain and review code rather than write everything. Pair them with the software development learning path.
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