Native AI IDEs
Desktop-based editors that index your local files for context-aware suggestions. These are the daily drivers for professional AI engineers.
| Rank | Model | Price | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
$20/mo | The incumbent king. v3 introduces 'Shadow Workspace', running tests in the background as you type to fix bugs before you see them. Its 'Composer' feature now architecturally understands entire microservice meshes. | |
|
2
|
Free/Paid | Codeium's masterpiece. Uses 'Flows' to build a real-time knowledge graph of your repo, enabling refactors that span dozens of files accurately. Its 'Cascade' agent is widely considered the most empathetic to developer intent. | |
|
3
|
Free | The challenger from ByteDance. Fast, native Swift/Rust backend, offering premium features like Claude 3.7 integration for free. Its 'Solo' mode allows it to operate as a completely autonomous developer for hours at a time. | |
|
4
|
Paid | Enterprise velocity. Focuses on sub-10ms latency for autocomplete and massive context awareness for huge monorepos. It is the only IDE certified for 'Type 1' bank-grade security environments. | |
|
5
|
Open Source | The privacy fork. A VS Code fork compatible with Cursor extensions but allows BYO keys/models for zero telemetry. It has become the standard for defense contractors and privacy-absolutists. | |
|
6
|
Open Source | The GPU native. Written in Rust for sub-millisecond latency. It runs local SLMs (like Phi-4) directly on the GPU for offline intelligence. The 'Zeta' prediction engine models your edit history to predict entire blocks of logic. | |
|
7
|
Open Source | The cognitive mirror. It watches *how* you code to learn your habits, effectively becoming a digital clone of your coding style. It is the first editor to have 'Commit-Level Awareness', writing its own detailed PR descriptions. | |
|
8
|
Open Source | The community fork. A direct response to closed-source AI editors. It integrates best-in-class tools (Aider, Supermaven, Mem0) into a single cohesive UI. Known for its 'No-Lock-In' guarantee and transparent routing. | |
|
9
|
Subscription | The deployment engine. While web-first, the 2025 desktop wrapper brings the famous 'Idea to App' agent to local files. It excels at scaffolding entire full-stack applications (DB, Auth, UI) in a single prompt. | |
|
10
|
Freemium | The browser foundry. Leverages WebContainers to run a full Node environment in Chrome. It is the fastest way to prototype, allowing you to edit, run, and deploy complex frameworks without installing a single local dependency. |
Just the Highlights
Cursor v3
The incumbent king. v3 introduces 'Shadow Workspace', running tests in the background as you type to fix bugs before you see them. Its 'Composer' feature now architecturally understands entire microservice meshes.
Windsurf 2.0
Codeium's masterpiece. Uses 'Flows' to build a real-time knowledge graph of your repo, enabling refactors that span dozens of files accurately. Its 'Cascade' agent is widely considered the most empathetic to developer intent.
Trae
The challenger from ByteDance. Fast, native Swift/Rust backend, offering premium features like Claude 3.7 integration for free. Its 'Solo' mode allows it to operate as a completely autonomous developer for hours at a time.
Augment Code
Enterprise velocity. Focuses on sub-10ms latency for autocomplete and massive context awareness for huge monorepos. It is the only IDE certified for 'Type 1' bank-grade security environments.
Void
The privacy fork. A VS Code fork compatible with Cursor extensions but allows BYO keys/models for zero telemetry. It has become the standard for defense contractors and privacy-absolutists.
Zed AI (v2)
The GPU native. Written in Rust for sub-millisecond latency. It runs local SLMs (like Phi-4) directly on the GPU for offline intelligence. The 'Zeta' prediction engine models your edit history to predict entire blocks of logic.
Melty
The cognitive mirror. It watches *how* you code to learn your habits, effectively becoming a digital clone of your coding style. It is the first editor to have 'Commit-Level Awareness', writing its own detailed PR descriptions.
PearAI
The community fork. A direct response to closed-source AI editors. It integrates best-in-class tools (Aider, Supermaven, Mem0) into a single cohesive UI. Known for its 'No-Lock-In' guarantee and transparent routing.
Replit Agent (Desktop)
The deployment engine. While web-first, the 2025 desktop wrapper brings the famous 'Idea to App' agent to local files. It excels at scaffolding entire full-stack applications (DB, Auth, UI) in a single prompt.
Bolt.new (StackBlitz)
The browser foundry. Leverages WebContainers to run a full Node environment in Chrome. It is the fastest way to prototype, allowing you to edit, run, and deploy complex frameworks without installing a single local dependency.