I've been using AWS CodeWhisperer and have liked it. They also recently launched a terminal autocomplete and command generation for Mac. It also has a chat-based assistant, Q, that's free while in preview. Edit to add: As someone who uses AWS for work, it's apparent they trained it against their own code and SDKs, and Q is pretty great at surfing their documentation (even criticizing it itself in the process). Answer from mrbmi513 on reddit.com
Reddit
reddit.com › r/vscode › which free ai coding assistant do you suggest on vscode?
r/vscode on Reddit: Which free AI coding assistant do you suggest on VSCode?
December 26, 2023 -
I've tried TabNine but has this sin of refactoring my code even when I ask only to suggest a documentation for it. Yet for now I think it's still the most useful free one on the market. I've tried others but still none has been proven as satisfying. Any suggestions?
EDIT: Also, do you have any open source suggestions? Pls specify it when you comment
Top answer 1 of 10
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Codeium https://codeium.com/
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I've been using AWS CodeWhisperer and have liked it. They also recently launched a terminal autocomplete and command generation for Mac. It also has a chat-based assistant, Q, that's free while in preview. Edit to add: As someone who uses AWS for work, it's apparent they trained it against their own code and SDKs, and Q is pretty great at surfing their documentation (even criticizing it itself in the process).
DEV Community
dev.to › royged › no-copilot-no-problem-get-free-ai-in-vscode-now-1a1g
No Copilot? No Problem! Get Free AI in VSCode Now - DEV Community
January 13, 2025 - Tired of relying on paid tools like Copilot, Cursor AI, or ChatGPT? Here's how you can integrate a powerful and completely free AI assistant directly into your Visual Studio Code.
Seeking Recommendations for Completely FREE AI Coding Assistant (VS Code)
I want $100 bucks a month. But I want it completely free, I don't wanna do a single thing for it. Let me know. More on reddit.com
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November 6, 2025Best AI extensions for VS Code?
Claude Code and OpenAI Codex both have official VS Code extensions. Also, GitHub Copilot Coding Agent and Copilot Chat are deeply integrated. Google has Gemini Code Assist FWIW, Claude Code (w/ Opus 4.5) is the best. I also find GitHub Copilot great for PR reviews and other GitHub stuff like Actions. More on reddit.com
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December 4, 2025What is the best VS code AI extension?
I use continue.dev for it's awesome sidebar, never liked it's file editing. For auto-complete I use [llama.vscode]( https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.vscode ). I think a lot of people are sleeping on this but llama.vscode is great. It uses llama.cpp server's custom Fill in the Middle endpoint. It's written by the main author of llama.cpp. I'm guessing it's part of his development workflow, so the optimizations between client/server are very good. I have [llama-swap]( https://github.com/mostlygeek/llama-swap ) set up with a "coding profile". I got enough VRAM so can load 3 models, qwen2.5-coder-32B + qwen2.5-coder-1.5B (draft) and qwen2.5-coder-7B for auto complete. It's a bit of a weird setup but once its setup, model loading/swapping is automatic and its hands off. If I didn't have the multi-GPU box, I would run llama.cpp locally + llama.vscode + qwen2.5-coder-3B for autocomplete (best balance between smart/fast). More on reddit.com
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January 31, 2025AI Extension for VS Code
Codeium is free, but if you want to "chat" you need to enable VSC telemetry. More on reddit.com
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October 30, 2024Videos
06:37
This FREE VS Code AI extension is a GAME CHANGER! 🤯 - YouTube
10:40
Unlimited Free AI Vibe Coding in VS Code | Free Setup & Tips - YouTube
VS Code Tutorial For Beginners (Free Copilot AI 2026)
30:06
How VS Code Builds with AI - YouTube
11:31
Turn ON these new VS Code AI features NOW! (v1.103) - YouTube
10:04
5 New VS Code AI Features & Settings You Need To Try Today - YouTube
Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › docs › intelligentapps › overview
AI Toolkit for Visual Studio Code
November 3, 2021 - Build, test, and deploy AI applications with AI Toolkit for Visual Studio Code. Features model playground, prompt engineering, batch evaluation, fine-tuning, and multi-modal support for LLMs and SLMs.
Second Talent
secondtalent.com › home › artificial intelligence › top 10 ai code assistants for visual studio code in 2026
Top 10 AI Code Assistants for Visual Studio Code in 2026 | Second Talent
February 20, 2026 - Beginners seeking guided coding practices with minimal setup. Codeium is a free AI coding assistant designed to deliver high-quality completions, code explanations, and search capabilities directly in Visual Studio Code.
Graphite
graphite.com › guides › best-vscode-extensions-ai
Best VS Code extensions for AI-powered development
Its AI has been trained on lots of code to identify best practices and common mistakes, aiming to make your code more readable and concise. Sourcery supports over 30 languages, giving instant feedback and fixes across a wide range of projects. It can also generate summaries of changes and explain the reasoning behind a refactor, which is great for learning. The extension has a free tier that offers basic refactoring suggestions (useful for individual developers), and a pro plan with more advanced features and team collaboration insights.
Visual Studio Magazine
visualstudiomagazine.com › articles › 2023 › 03 › 08 › vs-code-ai-tools.aspx
Top 10 AI Extensions for Visual Studio Code -- Visual Studio Magazine
The free tool works with TypeScript/JavaScript, Python, Java and T-SQL. It has an average 3.9 rating (scale 0-5) from 87 developers who reviewed it. Tabnine AI Autocomplete for Javascript, Python, Typescript, PHP, Go, Java, Ruby & more This AI code assistant, with some 5 million installs, also features machine learning models trained on open source code projects with permissive licenses.
CodeRabbit
coderabbit.ai › ide
Free AI code reviews for VS Code | Code Reviews
AI code reviews are now free in Visual Studio Code, Cursor, and Windsurf. CodeRabbit's free VS code extension brings an AI code analysis tool that reviews every commit in the IDE, fixes bugs, and helps ship code faster.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/vscode › seeking recommendations for completely free ai coding assistant (vs code)
r/vscode on Reddit: Seeking Recommendations for Completely FREE AI Coding Assistant (VS Code)
November 6, 2025 -
SOLVED ✅
Hello everyone,
I'm looking for recommendations for a solid AI coding assistant/extension to use with Visual Studio Code (VS Code).
My most important constraint is that the tool must be completely free to use, with no paid tiers, no subscription, or generous free tiers with daily/monthly limits. I'm ideally looking for an open-source solution, an officially free tool, or a method that leverages a free API/local setup without incurring any costs.
Here is what I am looking for:
Platform/IDE: Visual Studio Code (VS Code) extension.
Cost: Absolutely Free (No trial, no credit card required, no paid features that are essential)
Primary Use Case:
-
Code generation from natural language/comments
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Debugging/error explanation
Need:
I'm looking for an assistant that is good at planning, context awareness across multiple files, and generating clean, integrated solutions, not just isolated snippets.
Programming Language:
Mainly Python and maybe some html.
Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › docs › copilot › overview
GitHub Copilot in VS Code
3 weeks ago - If you don't have a Copilot subscription yet, you are signed up for the Copilot Free plan. Open the Chat view (⌃⌘I (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Alt+I)). Enter a prompt that describes what you want to build, for example: Create a basic Node.js web app for sharing recipes. Make it look modern and responsive. Review the generated code. The agent creates files, installs dependencies, and runs commands as needed. Enter /init to configure your project for AI.
Keploy
keploy.io › home › community › top 5 ai-powered vs code extensions for coding & testing in 2025
Best VSCode AI Extensions for 2025
February 3, 2025 - Discover the top VSCode AI extensions to boost your coding and testing efficiency in 2025. Speed up development with smart, AI-powered tools.
DEV Community
dev.to › best_codes › 7-best-vs-code-extensions-for-faster-development-2024-edition-3j56
7 BEST VS Code Extensions for Faster Development — 2024 Edition - DEV Community
September 14, 2024 - Codeium is one of the best free AI tools I've ever used! Features: Unlimited single and multi-line code completions · In-IDE AI Chat · Support for more than 70 programming languages. Codebase and context for smarter completions (the AI knows all about your code!) ✨ Install Codeium Now! ext install WakaTime.vscode-wakatime ·
Medium
medium.com › @oluseyi.ged › tired-of-relying-on-paid-tools-like-copilot-cursor-ai-or-chatgpt-e14fce7547fe
No Copilot? No problem. Get free AI in vscode now | by Oluwaseyi Komolafe | Medium
January 14, 2025 - Set up free AI in VSCode without Copilot or ChatGPT! Unlimited coding power, no fees, no limits…
Qodo
qodo.ai › blog › general › 15 best ai coding assistant tools in 2026
15 Best AI Coding Assistant Tools In 2026
1 month ago - The result ensures code quality by flagging risks and process failures while the cost of fixing them is still low. It needs upfront configuration. But that’s the point, it’s built to sit between fast AI coding and production-ready code. Developer: Free (limited PR reviews and monthly credits)
The New Stack
thenewstack.io › home › 5 ai extensions to help improve your vs code experience
5 AI Extensions to Help Improve Your VS Code Experience - The New Stack
October 1, 2025 - If you’re a solo developer, you can use Continue for free. Team pricing comes out at $10/user/month, and you must connect with Continue.dev to inquire about the Enterprise edition. The llama.vscode extension is for local LLM-assisted text completion, chat with AI, and agentic coding.
Medium
medium.com › illumination › top-7-free-ai-extensions-for-vs-code-ranked-after-real-developer-use-182de7bb1f18
Top 7 Free AI Extensions for VS Code (Ranked After Real Developer Use) | by Neha Singh | ILLUMINATION | Mar, 2026 | Medium
3 weeks ago - Top 7 Free AI Extensions for VS Code (Ranked After Real Developer Use) AI Tools That Actually Help Developers Ship Code Faster AI inside editors is no longer a novelty. Over the last two years, it …
Visual Studio Magazine
visualstudiomagazine.com › articles › 2025 › 10 › 07 › top-agentic-ai-tools-for-vs-code-according-to-installs.aspx
Top Agentic AI Tools for VS Code, According to Installs -- Visual Studio Magazine
A roundup of the six most-installed 'agentic' AI extensions in the VS Code Marketplace reveals how tools like Cline, BLACKBOXAI Agent, Continue, Codex, Roo Code, and Qodo Gen are transforming code editors into autonomous, context-aware development ...
Reddit
reddit.com › r/vscode › best ai extensions for vs code?
r/vscode on Reddit: Best AI extensions for VS Code?
December 4, 2025 -
Staff React dev here, my day job don't allow the use of any AI coding tools, so I haven’t really haven't gotten the reps in.
Starting next week I'll be going on a sabatical for the next 3 months, I’m building a journal app for my new born daughter. I've got the rough architecture filled out and I want to use this project to really try out vibe coding and get comfortable with agents and the new coding workflow.
I'm now debating which way to go.
I’m aware of AI native IDEs like Cursor, Kiro and now Antigravity, which looks like at least is partially built on vs code.
I also see CLI options like Claude code and OpenAI's codex, do you all have the terminal open and go back and forth between the two?
Lastly what about VS code extensions like kilo code, cline or kombai? I've never heard of any of these, i'm willing to switch IDE or terminal in the future but for now I prefer to stay in plain VS Code with an addon extension.
Basically, if you want least changes to the VS Code environment, how would you set up a coding agents and which ones are best with frontend React work?
Top answer 1 of 22
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Claude Code and OpenAI Codex both have official VS Code extensions. Also, GitHub Copilot Coding Agent and Copilot Chat are deeply integrated. Google has Gemini Code Assist FWIW, Claude Code (w/ Opus 4.5) is the best. I also find GitHub Copilot great for PR reviews and other GitHub stuff like Actions.
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KiloCode + CoPilot Pro plan. Or Beast 3.1 mode with the built-in GitHub CoPilot Coding Agent/Chat. OpenRouter or Kilo offers gateway for other models if you don’t find the ones in CoPilot Pro work for you.
DEV Community
dev.to › manas_tole_039 › top-10-free-ai-tools-for-vs-code-to-boost-your-coding-productivity-2025-1me5
Top 10 Free AI Tools for VS Code to Boost Your Coding Productivity (2025) 🚀🚀 - DEV Community
April 3, 2025 - GitHub Copilot, powered by OpenAI's Codex, is an AI-powered code completion tool that suggests entire functions and snippets as you type. While the full version is paid, students and open-source contributors can access it for free.
Kilo
kilo.ai
Kilo - Kilo: The Open Source AI Coding Agent for VS Code, JetBrains, and your CLI
Build, ship, and iterate faster with Kilo, the most popular open source AI coding agent. Secure, local-first, 500+ models. Start faster today.
Medium
medium.com › @codecreator › top-3-free-ai-powered-coding-extensions-in-vs-code-120dea4c1675
Top 3 Free AI-powered Coding Extensions in VS Code | Medium
August 24, 2023 - Unveil a trio of revolutionary AI-powered Visual Studio Code extensions set to transform your coding journey. Discover Codeium, Meet Bito, and Hugging Face.