Best free AI coding tools (2026): what $0 actually gets you

Updated 2026-10-17 · 10 min read

Verdict: If you write code in an editor, start with Google Antigravity (unlimited Tab completions and command requests, with basic weekly rate limits on agent use) and keep GitHub Copilot Free (2,000 completions a month) as a backup. Kiro Free gives 50 credits and Cline is free software where you pay only for the model. If you don't code, the most generous free builder by the numbers is Bolt.new (1M tokens a month), and for games it's Rosebud AI (8,000 credits refilled weekly in eligible regions).

Tool	What it is	Pricing	Usage limits	Link
Google Antigravity checked 2026-10-17	Agent IDE + Antigravity CLI (replaced Gemini CLI for free/AI Pro/Ultra users on 18 Jun 2026). Zero-cost agent IDE and CLI from Google. Gemini CLI stopped serving free and Google AI Pro/Ultra users on 18 Jun 2026; Antigravity CLI replaces it.	Free $0 (basic weekly limits) · paid tiers with higher limits (prices not listed when checked) source (opens in a new tab)	Free: 'basic weekly rate limits'; paid tiers get more plus a flexible AI credit pool. No numbers published. source (opens in a new tab)	Visit Google Antigravity (opens in a new tab)
GitHub Copilot checked 2026-10-17	AI assistant in VS Code/JetBrains + coding agent. Cheapest paid entry from a big vendor and works inside the editor you already use.	Free $0 (2,000 completions) · Pro $10 · Pro+ $39 · Max $100 per month; overage $0.01/AI credit source (opens in a new tab)	Free: 2,000 completions/mo + limited chat/agent. Pro: 1,500 AI credits/mo · Pro+: 7,000 · Max: 20,000. source (opens in a new tab)	Visit GitHub Copilot (opens in a new tab)
Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) checked 2026-10-17	AI code editor + agent manager (IDE); renamed from Windsurf on 2 Jun 2026. The former Windsurf editor, now with an agent command center for local and cloud Devin agents. Friendly for people moving up from no-code.	Free $0 (light quota) · Pro $20 · Max $200 per month · Teams from $80/mo (existing Windsurf Pro $15 grandfathered) source (opens in a new tab)	Daily + weekly quota (token-based; free models don't count). Pro: ~7–27 premium-plus, 8–101 premium or 47–190 lightweight messages/day (Mar 2026 estimate); Max: bigger weekly quota, no daily cap. source (opens in a new tab)	Visit Devin Desktop (opens in a new tab)
Kiro checked 2026-10-17	Spec-driven agentic IDE + CLI (AWS). Writes a spec and task plan before coding, which helps keep bigger projects on track.	Free (50 credits) · Pro $20 (1,000) · Pro+ $40 · Pro Max $100 · Power $200 source (opens in a new tab)	Monthly credits, used fractionally per request: Free 50 (rate-limited, weekly quota), Pro 1,000, Pro+ 2,000, Pro Max 5,000, Power 10,000. source (opens in a new tab)	Visit Kiro (opens in a new tab)
Cline checked 2026-10-17	Open-source VS Code agent (bring your own key). Full control over which model you use and what you spend. Ideal for tinkerers and agent builders.	Free open-source extension; you pay only for model usage (or bring your own API key) source (opens in a new tab)	No plan limits: you pay your model provider per token (or use Cline's inference). Limits are your budget and provider rate limits. source (opens in a new tab)	Visit Cline (opens in a new tab)
Cursor checked 2026-10-17	AI code editor (IDE). The VS Code-style editor with a strong built-in agent. Best all-rounder if you already read code.	Free $0 (limited) · Plus $8 (Grok models only) · Premium $30 · Super $100 · Ultra $200 per month source (opens in a new tab)	Usage pool shared with Grok that refreshes weekly: Plus = base (Grok models only), Premium 4x, Super 15x, Ultra 50x Plus. No per-message numbers published. source (opens in a new tab)	Visit Cursor (opens in a new tab)
Bolt.new checked 2026-10-17	Prompt-to-app builder in the browser. Full-stack apps from a prompt with hosting and databases included. Good for quick browser games too.	Free $0 (1M tokens/mo) · Pro $25 · Teams $30/member per month source (opens in a new tab)	Free: 300K tokens/day, 1M/mo. Pro: no daily limit, from 10M tokens/mo; unused tokens roll over 1 month. source (opens in a new tab)	Visit Bolt.new (opens in a new tab)
Lovable checked 2026-10-17	Prompt-to-web-app builder. The fastest way for non-coders to ship a good-looking web app or SaaS MVP.	Free $0 (5 credits/day, max 30/mo) · Pro from $25/mo (100 credits) or $250/yr source (opens in a new tab)	Free: 5 credits/day, max 30/mo. Pro: 100 credits/mo + 5/day. Plan mode ≈ 1 credit/message; Build mode is usage-based. source (opens in a new tab)	Visit Lovable (opens in a new tab)
Rosebud AI checked 2026-10-17	AI game maker (browser, 2D/3D). Built specifically for vibe-coding games: sprites, sound and 3D assets plus Windows/Steam export on Pro.	Free (8,000 credits, weekly refill in eligible regions) · Indie Dev · 10x Dev · Pro · Scale (see pricing page) source (opens in a new tab)	Free: 8,000 credits refilled weekly (≈4 edits with the default AI at ~2,000 credits each). Paid: daily refresh credits + monthly credits (300K on 10x Dev, 1M on Pro). source (opens in a new tab)	Visit Rosebud AI (opens in a new tab)

How to read “free” in 2026

Free AI coding tools come in three kinds, and they run out in different ways:

Free plans of paid tools (Copilot Free, Kiro Free, Cursor Free, Devin Desktop Free): capped by a monthly allowance or a rolling quota.
Free software with paid models (Cline): the tool costs nothing, but every request is billed by the model provider you plug in, or through Cline's own provider. Cline pricing (opens in a new tab)
Free tiers of app builders (Bolt, Lovable, Rosebud): capped by daily, weekly or monthly credits or tokens.

The table above has each tool's limits. Below is what each free plan actually includes, from the vendor's own page, checked 2026-10-17. We haven't benchmarked these tools against each other.

Free tools for people who write code

Google Antigravity: the biggest free allowance

Antigravity's individual plan is $0/month and lists access to a variety of agent models, unlimited Tab completions, unlimited Command requests and “basic weekly rate limits”. Google doesn't publish the numbers behind those limits. Paid tiers add more rate limits and a flexible AI credit pool. Google Antigravity pricing (opens in a new tab) Google's terminal agent is now Antigravity CLI.

GitHub Copilot Free: the safe backup

Copilot Free is limited to 2,000 inline-suggestion completions a month, with an allowance of GitHub AI Credits for chat and agents and auto model selection only. Verified students get Copilot Student for free. If you upgrade, Pro is $10/month with 1,500 AI credits a month. GitHub Copilot plans (GitHub Docs) (opens in a new tab)

Kiro Free: spec-first for bigger projects

Kiro's perpetual Free tier includes 50 credits with access to Claude Sonnet 4.5 and open-weight models, subject to rate limits. Unused credits don't roll over. When you upgrade to a paid plan for the first time, Kiro credits $20 towards it. Kiro pricing (opens in a new tab)

Cline: free tool, you pay for the model

The Cline extension and CLI are free for individual developers. You either bring your own API key from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Google, or buy inference through Cline. There are no subscriptions or seat fees. Cline pricing (opens in a new tab) It's only “$0” if you pair it with a free model, so set a spending cap with your provider.

Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf) and Cursor

Devin Desktop's Free plan has a daily and a weekly quota. When you hit it, Free users wait for the next reset, and models marked free don't count against the quota. Devin Desktop quota docs (opens in a new tab) Cursor Free lists “limited agent requests” and “limited Chat requests”. Cursor's cheapest paid plan, Plus, is $8/month, but the pricing page says Plus includes Grok models only. Cursor pricing (opens in a new tab)

Free tools for people who don't code

Bolt.new Free: 300K tokens a day, 1M a month, hosting with up to 333k web requests and unlimited databases. Your site carries Bolt branding. Bolt.new pricing (opens in a new tab)
Lovable Free: 5 build credits a day, capped at 30 a month, plus a daily chat allowance. You can't edit or download code on Free, but Git sync works. Lovable plans (opens in a new tab)
Rosebud AI Free: starts with 8,000 credits and needs no credit card, and in eligible regions the credits refill every week. A normal edit with the default AI, Rosie, costs about 2,000 credits. Rosebud AI pricing (opens in a new tab)
Others: v0 Free has a 7-message-a-day limit v0 pricing (opens in a new tab), and Base44 Free gives 25 message credits a month. Base44 pricing (opens in a new tab) See the beginner app builder guide for those.

Who should pick which

Student or hobbyist who codes: Antigravity as your main tool, Copilot Free (or Copilot Student if you qualify) as your backup.
You want control over cost and models: Cline with a free or cheap model.
You're planning a bigger project: Kiro Free, which writes a spec before it codes. Keep in mind the 50 credits go quickly on spec tasks.
You don't code and want a web app: Bolt.new Free, with Lovable Free when you want a second opinion.
You want to make a game: Rosebud AI Free, or Antigravity plus a browser game library if you can read code.

Stacking free tiers without getting stuck

Because limits reset on different schedules (daily for Bolt and Lovable, weekly for Antigravity and Rosebud, monthly for Copilot and Kiro), using two free tools together is the cheapest way to keep working. Keep your project in Git so whichever tool you switch to has the latest version. Our usage-limit guide explains what each tool does when you run out, and this guide helps you choose if you decide to pay for one tool.

The gamer angle

A $0 game-dev setup that works today: Godot (free and open source) or a browser library, with Antigravity as the agent. If you're on Roblox, Studio has a built-in MCP server that connects to Antigravity, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI and VS Code with one click. Roblox MCP docs (opens in a new tab) Details in the Roblox scripting guide and the game dev guide.

Watch out for

Free outputs from some asset generators are non-commercial. Check the licence before you ship a game.
Free-plan model choice is often restricted. Copilot Free uses auto model selection only. GitHub Copilot plans (GitHub Docs) (opens in a new tab)
Branding on hosted sites (Bolt Free).
Free plans change often, so check the date on each row of the table.

When free stops being enough

Upgrade only when a limit actually stops you for several days in a row, and upgrade the tool you were already using, so you keep your context. The cheapest paid steps on 2026-10-17 were Cursor Plus at $8/month (Grok models only) Cursor pricing (opens in a new tab), Copilot Pro at $10/month GitHub Copilot plans (GitHub Docs) (opens in a new tab) and Claude Pro at $20/month, which includes Claude Code Claude pricing (opens in a new tab). On the builder side, Lovable Pro and Bolt Pro are $25/month each. Lovable plans (opens in a new tab) Bolt.new pricing (opens in a new tab) Paying for more than one subscription is rarely worth it at the start. A paid main tool plus a free backup covers most people. See which ONE AI coding subscription to buy.

Want a recommendation for your setup? take the 3-question picker.

FAQ

What is the best completely free AI coding tool?

For people who code, Google Antigravity's $0 plan is the most generous on paper: unlimited Tab completions and command requests, with basic weekly rate limits (numbers not published). GitHub Copilot Free adds 2,000 completions a month as a backup.

Is Cline really free?

The Cline extension is free and open source for individuals, but you pay for AI inference, either with your own API key or through Cline's provider. It costs $0 only if you use a free model.

Is GitHub Copilot free?

Copilot Free is limited to 2,000 completions a month plus an allowance of AI credits, with auto model selection only. Verified students can get Copilot Student for free.

Is there a free AI game maker?

Rosebud AI's Free plan starts with 8,000 credits that refill weekly in eligible regions. An edit with the default AI costs about 2,000 credits.

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