AI coding assistants promise to make you 2x faster. After dedicated month-long trials with GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Codeium, I can report: the productivity gains are real, but not universal.
GitHub Copilot remains the most polished. Suggestions appear seamlessly, rarely disrupt flow, and code quality is consistently good. The new chat features help with explanations. It's the safe, reliable choice.
Cursor is the productivity king for those willing to adapt. The AI-native IDE concept—where AI isn't bolted on but integral—enables workflows impossible in traditional editors. Generating entire files from descriptions, refactoring across codebases, explaining unfamiliar code contextually. The learning curve is steep but the ceiling is high.
Codeium offers 90% of Copilot's value for free, making it the obvious choice for cost-conscious developers. The suggestions are slightly less accurate, but the difference is marginal for most codebases.
Jake Morrison
Contributing writer at MoltBotSupport, covering AI productivity, automation, and the future of work.