The best free AI coding tools in 2026

Many AI coding tools now have a free way in. This guide sets out what a free coding tool should give you, why we put DCode first, and the other tools whose own pages list a free plan. We build DCode, so read our pick as our view.

What should you look for in a free AI coding tool?

• What is free, exactly. The app, the terminal tool and the account you sign in with.
• The whole task, not only the next line. An agent that reads the project, plans, edits and runs your tests.
• Where it runs. Your operating system, your terminal, your editor.
• Control. What it asks before it acts, and how you see what it did.
• The model behind it. Published results you can check, including where other models lead.
• A clear path to more. What you pay when free is not enough, stated on a pricing page.

Why is DCode our pick?

Because it is a full agent that costs nothing to install. DCode is our agentic coding environment: give it a task, and it reads your codebase, plans the change, edits files, runs your compilers, linters and tests in your own terminal, and repairs what it broke. The desktop app is a free download for Windows x64 and ARM64, and for macOS on Apple silicon and Intel. The DCode CLI, the same agent in your terminal on Windows, macOS or Linux, installs free with npm or with one line, and since DCode 2.0.3, a free account works in it.

What comes with the free download?

• A crew of up to 24 agents. When a task has parts that do not depend on each other, DCode hands them to a crew, which the Crew dock shows side by side through the Plan, Work and Review stages. A crew is counted in tokens only, with no separate charge for agents working in parallel.
• Browser Use and Computer Use, on by default. DCode opens pages in its own browser to look things up and test your work, and it can operate desktop applications. Posting, sending, buying and deleting on a website ask for your confirmation first.
• A password manager the model never sees. Passwords are kept on your computer and filled in by the app, never shown to the model.
• Native MCP. Connect MCP servers for your databases, issue trackers and internal tools; the catalog syncs skills, MCP servers and plugins, and agents can install what they are missing.
• Four thinking levels. Off, Low, Standard and High, on a slider in the desktop app and a thinking bar in the CLI.
• A workspace in the terminal. The CLI fills the terminal, with a live crew panel, a /model picker and dcode doctor to check your setup.

The agent's work draws on an allowance. In the desktop app, DCode draws on your plan or on prepaid API credits, your choice in Settings; for credits, we set up the API key for you, so there is nothing to paste. For engineers who code all day, the DCode Coding Plan is $29 a month, and credits start at $5 and never expire. Plans are on the pricing page, and our guide to OpenAI-compatible APIs sets out the per-token prices.

Which models run DCode?

DCode runs on our Raven models: Raven Flash for fast agentic work, Raven Max for deep architectural refactors; in the CLI, /model switches between them. In our published results, which are company-reported and evaluated with maximum reasoning effort, Raven Max placed first among the models compared on Terminal Bench 4.0, which measures autonomous work in a live terminal, at 42.8. On DeepSWE v1.1, GPT-5.6 Sol leads at 70.2, and Raven Max places fourth at 68.7. All eight results are in our report on Raven Max.

Which other AI coding tools have a free plan?

Each is described here only as its maker describes it, and their own pages have the details, including what each free plan includes.

• Cursor, from Anysphere, is a coding agent with a desktop app and the Cursor CLI, and its pricing page lists a Free plan.
• GitHub Copilot, from GitHub, works in Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio and JetBrains IDEs, on GitHub.com and in the terminal. Its page lists a Free plan, for getting started; GitHub launched Copilot Free on December 18, 2024.
• Devin Desktop is Windsurf's new name: on June 2, 2026, Cognition renamed its IDE and kept plans and pricing the same. It runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, and its page lists a Free plan.
• Google Antigravity CLI is Google's terminal-first way to work with Antigravity agents. The Gemini CLI repository says free individual access moved there on June 18, 2026.

How do I start?

1. Download the desktop app from the download page, or install the CLI with one of these lines.
2. Open a project and sign in; in the CLI, a free account works.
3. Hand it a task with a clear end, such as a failing test to fix.
4. When you need more room, compare plans on the pricing page.

# macOS and Linux
curl -fsSL https://dipoleml.com/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://dipoleml.com/install.ps1 | iex

# or with npm
npm install -g @dipoleml/dcode-cli

The CLI needs Node.js 22.13 or newer, and the CLI guide covers the rest. Everything DCode does is on the DCode page.

Product names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to identify the products.