Best AI code generators to write code easier and faster

AI tools have led to improved efficiency and speed of the development process by allowing developers to generate, auto-complete, or review code using simple, natural language text requests.

There has been an increase in the number of AI-based code generation tools available. While most of them work similarly, there are many aspects where they differ. This article will help you answer the common question, “What is the best free AI code generator?” as we cover some of the most popular AI code generators along with their pros and cons.

Some of the top ones that I find the best are:

1. Pieces for developers - It is one of those rare AI code generation tools that is contextually aware, can run locally, and can take snippets, and save or share it.

2. GitHub Copilot - It has the goodness of OpenAI integrated within VSCode and other popular IDEs, and along with code generation, it helps writing comments, documentation, and reviewing PRs.

3. Tabnine - Tabnine can help you with accurate code suggestions, along with support for multiple languages and IDEs, and the added advantage of Tabnine is that it can adapt to your coding style.

This article was first published on August 4th, 2023, and was improved by Haimantika Mitra as of December 20th, 2024, to improve your experience and share the latest information.

Pieces for Developers

Pieces for Developers is a hugely underrated option when discussing the best AI for generating code. Its capabilities in code generation, as well as code management, with the ability to save, share, and reuse snippets, and contextualized copilot interactions, is what makes it the best in the market.

The copilot allows you to talk about your code, ask technical questions, check for errors, add inline comments, and generate code based on your saved snippets. It can automatically identify errors and provide explanations without the need for writing prompts. 

For instance, if you try to create a dictionary without commas between the items, Pieces Copilot will detect this mistake, correct it, and add explanations about the error.

How to use Pieces

To use Pieces for Developers for code generation, you need to first install the Desktop App, which is a visual GUI, and if you would like to use Pieces on your own IDEs or browsers, there’s integrations with JetBrains IDE, Visual Studio Code, or JupyterLab, along with extensions for Google Chrome, Edge, and Microsoft Teams.

To start generating code, click the + Add Snippets button. 

You'll be presented with various ways to add a snippet, as shown in the picture below. 

Since you want to generate a piece of code, click Describe a Snippet to Generate. 

Alternatively, you can open the same window by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P.

Now, enter a prompt explaining what you want to do. Following the example in the Pieces documentation, type the following prompt: `Create a function that arranges a string in alphabetical order`.

Don't forget to choose the language you want your output to be in, which is set right before the prompt:

This prompt will give the following output:

```def sort_string(input_str): return ''.join(sorted(input_str))```

View this snippet in Pieces

This output only takes a few seconds to generate because Pieces uses local machine learning models, making your data completely private and secure. What sets Pieces for Developers apart from other AI-based code generators on this list is its code management suite.

For example, you can store useful code snippets by simply clicking Save to Pieces:

You'll now be able to see the snippet in the app. 

Not only is this snippet saved, but it also auto-updates it with a smart description, tags, and related links:

In addition, you can easily share the saved snippet. From the options on the right, simply click Generate Shareable Link:

You'll need to connect to either a Google, GitHub, or Microsoft account. Once you connect an account, a link will be generated to the saved snippet.

Pros: Pieces for Developers has the most extensive feature set compared to other AI code generation tools. With Pieces, you get a coding assistant that can be your memory with its snippet saving and sharing feature, topped with the Pieces Copilot that has a chat-like interface and can help you write code and fix issues in real-time without even having to prompt. It also offers the flexibility to choose your models, run them in any IDE of your choice, and even locally or on the browser.

Cons: With Pieces OS, you can run LLMs locally on your machine. This leads to all operations, processing, and data handling being performed on your own device without having to rely on external servers. While this helps with privacy and security, it is also resource-intensive, and people with slower or older machines can face system slowdowns or unresponsiveness. 

ChatGPT

When it first came out, ChatGPT shook the world with its instant popularity, and GPT-3 was known as the best AI model for code generation, since it was the first time we were seeing all that AI could do with just some prompts. 

Similar to GitHub Copilot, you don't have to simply accept ChatGPT's code if you're not satisfied with it. Instead, you can iteratively improve on the generated code. 

Once the code is generated, you can ask ChatGPT to modify it, giving it instructions regarding the direction in which you want it to change the code. 

You can do this multiple times until ChatGPT finally produces code that completely meets your expectations.

ChatGPT is completely free to use, but for $20 a month, you can upgrade to ChatGPT Plus.

It also recently launched a $200 ChatGPT Pro plan that enables scaled access to the best of OpenAI’s models and tools.

ChatGPT can be used both from the browser and mobile and can be considered as one of the best and most stable code-generating applications for Android and iOS.

Pros: It is super easy to get started with ChatGPT. It has a generous free tier that can help you code, research, and debug, and with its ability to search the internet, it is less prone to hallucination.

Cons: ChatGPT may occasionally provide inaccurate solutions, particularly for complex problems. Additionally, it lacks contextual awareness and cannot currently be directly integrated into IDEs

Replit

Replit Agent is a browser-based AI tool that can help you write code. 

According to Sourceforge, it is one of the best AI tools for generating Java code and comes with zero installation steps. It has a chat-like interface where you can give prompts or even upload images.

The Replit Agent suggests auto-completing your code as you write. It will also automatically check your code for bugs, detect mistakes, and even recommend ways to correct the code. As you're typing, it can comprehend the context of your code, and provide relevant suggestions accordingly.

Replit Agent has a free tier along with a core, teams, and enterprise tier.

Pros: Since it is a browser-based tool, you do not need to worry about installation and setup, and the Replit Assistant is super useful for iterating and making quick updates without breaking flow.

Cons: It is currently best suited for “0 to 1” prototyping of web-based applications and is not the best for other types of software projects, such as mobile apps or complex backend systems.

Tabnine

Tabnine is a very popular, deep-learning-based AI code generator. 

Like many of the tools on the list, it's able to auto-complete your code and give you code suggestions. The code it outputs will be written in the same style as your code. 

It's generally accurate and fast, and it will work with many different programming languages. Another advantage is that it's very easy to integrate with the most popular IDEs.

But the thing that really sets Tabnine apart from other future AI tools is how much the company is dedicated to keeping your data private. You can use it for free, although for completing functions and whole lines of code, you'll need to get the Pro version, which is currently priced at $12/month.

Pros: One of the biggest concerns that most people have with AI tools is privacy and data security. The biggest perk of using Tabnine is that they don't use your data to train their models. 

Cons: It takes some time for the tool to learn your coding style and provide good suggestions. In addition, though it works with many programming languages, its accuracy varies a lot between different languages.

CodeWP

CodeWP is an AI chat code generator built for WordPress developers. It can help you code custom WordPress functionality or even build a WordPress plugin. It also comes with a bunch of built-in code snippets that you can copy and paste.

You can use CodeWP for free with a cap of ten monthly generations, or pay  $12 a month for unlimited generations and more advanced AI functionalities.

Pros: CodeWP is the only tool that is specifically built with WordPress in mind, so if you are a WordPress developer, it is the best tool for you. 

Cons: It is not very accurate and often requires manual intervention to get the correct code.

Amazon Q Developer

Amazon Q Developer, developed by Amazon, is a great AI tool if you're working with the AWS API or the Amazon Suite in general. Similar to other AI code generation tools on the list, you can use natural language in a comment to generate code from CodeWhisperer.

In addition, it scans your code to find security vulnerabilities, it can auto-complete your code while you're typing, and it works with many different programming languages. is pretty accurate, easy to use, fast enough, compatible with popular IDEs such as Visual Studio Code and JetBrains, and can provide both short snippets of code and whole functions. 

Pros: Amazon Q Developer can be used with most IDEs, which makes it suitable for all developers, along with that you can also access it in the AWS Console, even in mobile applications for iOS and Android.

Cons: It has a limited free tier that only allows up to 50 interactions per month, and developers have also complained about it not being accurate and having slower response times.

Github Copilot

GitHub Copilot is among the first and most popular AI tools that can generate code, and has emerged as one of the best code generating AI because of its ability to generate code, documentation, and also help in PR reviews. 

Take a look at this Python snippet provided by GitHub Copilot for an example of a good prompt:

import datetimedef parse_expenses(expenses_string):
Parse the list of expenses and return the list of triples (date, value, curre ncy). Ignore lines starting with #. Parse the date using datetime. Example expenses_string:   2016-01-02 -34.01 USD   2016-01-03 2.59 DKK   2016-01-03 -2.72 EUR

Here's the corresponding output:

expenses = []for line in expenses_string.splitlines(): if line.startswith("#"):   continue date, value, currency = line.split(" ") expenses.append((datetime.datetime.strptime(date, "%Y-%m-%d"),          float(value),          currency))return expenses

As you can see, all you need to do is describe clearly what you're trying to accomplish. 

In this example, Copilot generates a function that does exactly what the comment specifies. 

Copilot is very accurate and provides real-time feedback and suggestions. As you write, Copilot understands the context of your code and which frameworks you're using to provide you with relevant recommendations. All of these will make you significantly more productive and efficient. In addition, Copilot can work with popular IDEs and offers extensions for tools such as JetBrains and Visual Studio Code. It also supports many different programming languages.

On the other hand, Copilot is one of the few AI code generation tools that doesn't have a free version (with certain exceptions, such as for students and teachers). Its price ranges from $10 per month for individuals to $19 per month for businesses.

Pros: Since it is a product of GitHub, its integration with the entire ecosystem is helpful in speeding up the development process.

Cons:  It still needs some work to be done in code management. While using Copilot, you cannot save, search, share, or reuse code snippets as Pieces does.

PyCharm

If you're a Python developer, you're probably already familiar with PyCharm. It's not just an AI for generating code, but a very popular Python IDE. 

However, you may not be aware that it also has an AI coding assistant among its many features. It can auto-complete your code, identify and notify you of errors, and facilitate code testing. Since many Python developers use PyCharm anyway, it's very easy for them to use its AI-based code generation tools.

If you're already using PyCharm, you don't have to pay for a separate code generation tool. If you aren't a current user, PyCharm is more expensive than the other tools on this list (given that it's much more than an AI code tool) and costs $25 a month.

Pros: PyCharm’s AI is integrated within its own IDE, so it is more contextually aware and can help developers do more with prompting, especially for Python developers. It can be considered the best AI for generating Python code.

Cons: PyCharm's AI Assistant often generates generic responses, which makes it harder to use for complex tasks.

Codiga

Code reviews form a major part of the software development lifecycle. While most AI tools only help in generating code, Codiga with its AI abilities can also help you with code reviews.  

It can be used for reviewing code and detecting vulnerabilities. It also has code generation capabilities and is compatible with many IDEs and programming languages. 

Currently, it has a free version and an introductory plan that starts from $10.

Pros: Codiga has real-time feedback on code quality and security vulnerabilities. It also can automate the code review process identifying code violations, duplicates, and complex functions.

Cons: Codiga is an advanced tool and can be difficult to use for beginners. It also has limited language support, which can be a problem while coding in less common or newer languages and frameworks.

Cursor

If you are a developer, you have probably heard about Cursor multiple times. It is something like ChatGPT+VScode in one.

It is contextually aware and can help in code generation, code refactoring, codebase search and queries, inline AI chat, and bug fixes and debugging. Currently, it is available in free, pro and business tiers.

Pros: Since it is a fork of VS Code, developers are familiar with the UI, making it easier to build with it.

Cons: There have been bug reports on crashes in Linux systems.