Best 20+ Tools for Writing Code in 2026

Cursor is a code editor built for working with AI agents. It looks and feels like a familiar editor, but instead of just suggesting a line of code, it can understand your whole project and make changes across many files at once.

Devin Desktop is a full-featured desktop IDE built by Cognition AI, formerly known as Windsurf, that helps you plan, delegate, and review work done by AI coding agents. Instead of switching between tools, you manage local and cloud agents from one Agent Command Center inside your editor.

Claude Code is a terminal-based AI assistant that understands your entire codebase and helps you code faster. You simply describe what you want in plain English, and it writes the code, makes changes across multiple files, and runs tests to verify everything works.

OpenAI Codex is an AI agent designed to help with software development. It connects to your code projects through GitHub and can read, write, and run code in a secure cloud environment. Unlike simple code completion tools, Codex can handle complete tasks like building features, debugging problems, and writing tests.

Zed is a code editor built to feel instant, even when you are working on large projects. It is written in Rust and uses its own graphics system, so typing, scrolling, and searching happen with almost no delay.

ZCode is a free desktop app from Z.ai that helps you build software using an AI agent. Instead of just chatting with AI inside an editor, you tell ZCode what you want done, and it plans the work, edits your files, runs terminal commands, checks its own results, and keeps working until the task is finished.

JetBrains AI is a set of AI tools built right into JetBrains IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, and WebStorm. It gives you smart code completion, a chat window for asking questions about your project, and coding agents that can write and test code for you.

Qoder is an AI-powered development environment built for real-world software work, not just simple autocomplete or chat help. It understands your entire codebase through what it calls Enhanced Context Engineering, so it can work with large projects and stay aware of architecture, history, and dependencies.

Warp is a modern terminal that has grown into a full Agentic Development Environment, or ADE. It started as a fast, Rust-based terminal app and later added AI features that let you work with coding agents right from your command line. Warp lets you use its own Warp Agent or bring in other agents like Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI, all inside the same terminal window. It also includes Oz, a tool for running agents locally or in the cloud, and Warp Drive, a shared space for saving workflows and notes your team can reuse. Warp is open source and works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. This lets you switch between everyday terminal work and AI coding tasks in one place.

GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant built by GitHub that helps you write, understand, and fix code faster. You can type code or ask questions in plain language, and it gives you suggestions right inside your editor. It also has a chat feature where you can ask about your code, get help fixing bugs, or generate tests. Copilot can work on its own too, planning and making changes across many files, running tests, and even opening pull requests for you. It works in popular tools like VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, the terminal, and GitHub.com. There is a free plan, along with paid plans that unlock more models and features for individuals and teams.