AI Tools for Developers — The 2026 Stack

I'm a full-stack developer. Here's every AI tool I use, why I use it, and what I tried and dropped.

Code editor: Cursor ($20/mo)

Switched from VS Code + Copilot six months ago. The Cmd+K inline editing and multi-file composer are worth the switch. I write roughly 40% less code manually than I did a year ago. The free tier is good enough to evaluate — you'll know within a week if it's for you.

Terminal: Claude Code (included with Claude Pro)

For big refactors, migrations, and multi-file changes. I describe what I want, it reads the codebase and makes the changes. Not great for precision work (use Cursor for that), excellent for "rename this across 50 files" or "add error handling to all API routes."

Debugging: ChatGPT or Claude free tier

Paste an error message, get an explanation and fix. This is the single most universal developer AI use case and the free tiers handle it perfectly. I don't pay extra for debugging AI.

Code review: CodeRabbit (free for open source)

Auto-reviews every PR. Catches things I miss — unused imports, potential null references, inconsistent patterns. Not a replacement for human review, but it handles the mechanical stuff so reviewers focus on architecture.

Documentation: Mintlify ($0 for basic)

Generates docs site from markdown. The AI search is what makes it special — users ask questions and get answers from your docs. Way better than Ctrl+F.

Research: Perplexity (free)

"How to do X in Next.js 14" — Perplexity gives me a direct answer with code examples and sources. Faster than Stack Overflow for most questions. I only go to SO for niche issues where Perplexity's sources are thin.

What I tried and dropped

Copilot — replaced by Cursor. Copilot is fine but Cursor is better. Tabnine — too slow, suggestions weren't as good. AI test generators — the generated tests were too generic to be useful. I write tests manually (with AI-assisted generation of the boring parts). AI code explanation tools — just ask ChatGPT. Don't need a separate tool.

Monthly cost: $20

Cursor Pro: $20/mo. Everything else is free. That's less than a single lunch for tools that save me 5-10 hours per week.