AI code review promises to catch bugs before humans review. I tested three tools on 100 pull requests containing known bugs to see which actually delivers value versus generating noise.
GitHub Copilot's code review (in GitHub Copilot Enterprise) benefits from deep repository context but tends toward generic suggestions. It caught about 40% of intentional bugs but also flagged many non-issues, making signal-to-noise ratio problematic.
CodeRabbit impressed with specific, actionable feedback. It caught 55% of bugs with fewer false positives than Copilot. The summaries of PR changes were genuinely useful for quickly understanding what changed. Integration with GitHub is seamless.
Sourcery focuses more on code quality than bug detection—style consistency, complexity metrics, suggested refactors. It's complementary to rather than competitive with bug-focused reviewers.
Jake Morrison
Contributing writer at MoltBotSupport, covering AI productivity, automation, and the future of work.