2025 BairesDev Developers' Choice Awards

Best AI Coding Assistants
— Nominees

AI coding assistants are the biggest productivity multiplier we've seen in years. But the hype is deafening, and any good engineer is rightly skeptical. We cut through the noise by asking our senior developers to choose the tools they actually use.

2025 BairesDev Developers' Choice Awards

GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot

The category leader with 20M+ users and adoption across 90% of the Fortune 100. Deep integration with PRs, issues, and workflows means less context-switching if your team already runs on GitHub.

Key Feature

Inline suggestions backed by wide IDE coverage and a fast-moving enterprise roadmap.

Tabnine

Tabnine

Privacy-first AI autocomplete with deployment options that include cloud, on-prem, and fully air-gapped environments. Appeals to regulated organizations that need zero-egress guarantees.

Key Feature

Private models that learn from your team's codebase without sending code outside your infrastructure.

Amazon CodeWhisperer

Amazon CodeWhisperer

AWS-integrated code assistant with built-in security scans and a unique reference tracker that flags code similar to open-source projects and shows licenses. Strong compliance story for organizations that need provenance awareness.

Key Feature

Automatic recommendations for secure AWS API usage patterns, embedded in the AWS toolchain.

Google Gemini (Code)

Google Gemini (Code)

Context-aware code generation and debugging with deep integration across Google Cloud and Vertex AI tooling. Rapid expansion into agentic workflows with CLI tools and model context protocol support for multi-step tasks.

Key Feature

Tight coupling with Google Cloud services and artifacts for developers working in that ecosystem.

Claude Code (Sonnet)

Claude Code (Sonnet)

AI model recognized for strong reasoning on complex, multi-file refactors and explainable code support. Available via terminal, IDE plugins, and a web interface.

Key Feature

Natural-language reasoning with multi-line code explanations.

Qodo

Qodo

Purpose-built for automated code review with AI agents that comment on readability, performance, and security in real time. Hooks into GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket with a focus on code integrity rather than general autocomplete.

Key Feature

Context-rich PR reviews that learn your codebase norms, helping teams maintain quality without manual review bottlenecks.

Windsurf Plugin

Windsurf Plugin

Agentic IDE from Codeium with Cascade AI agent that maintains deep codebase understanding and real-time awareness of developer actions. Available as standalone Windsurf Editor or plugin for VS Code, JetBrains, and other IDEs.

Key Feature

Flow-state design can run automated checks (pytest, pylint, radon) in parallel and identify issues.

Blackbox.ai

Blackbox.ai

Fast code generation and snippet search with autocomplete, chat, and inline code transformations across multiple languages. Low-friction extensions with millions of VS Code installs and straightforward pricing for individuals and small teams.

Key Feature

Quick time-to-value with browser and IDE presence for developers who need simple, immediate assistance.

Cline

Cline

Open-source AI coding agent for VS Code with client-side architecture that keeps code on your machine. Model-agnostic with bring-your-own-key support for Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and local models.

Key Feature

Plan & Act workflow separates strategic thinking from implementation, with read-only exploration.

Aider

Aider

Terminal-based AI pair programming tool that works from the command line rather than inside an IDE. Maps entire codebases and automatically commits changes with clear git messages after each edit.

Key Feature

Automatic linting and testing after every change, with the ability to detect and fix problems from test suites without manual intervention.

Developers' Insights

“

Claude models are the best for coding. They're my default when using Cursor.”

Diego Nobre

Diego Nobre

Growth and Website Team Lead, BairesDev

20 years of experience

“

Code completion helps a lot for routine or repetitive tasks.”

Vinicius Silva

Vinicius Silva

Senior Backend Engineer, BairesDev

15 years of experience

“

AI coding assistants give us way more productivity, especially when creating boilerplate code and tests. Those tools are now essential to deliver even faster.”

Igor Gomes

Igor Gomes

Senior Software Engineer, WinDifferent

10 years of experience

About our Voters.

4K+

Full-Time Engineers

2M+

Annual Applications

10+

Average Years of Experience

We’re a distributed team of over 4,000 full-time, senior-level developers. Every year, over 2 million applications are reviewed to identify the top engineering talent who join BairesDev.

This gives us unparalleled technical coverage and depth. Our teams span over 100 technologies, and we’ve used that expertise across 1,400+ projects since 2009.

For this award, votes in each category were cast by developers with direct, hands-on experience using these tools. These nominations came directly from senior practitioners building software at scale.

Badge & Media Zone

Recognized as a Nominee in the 2025<br/>BairesDev Developers' Choice Awards.

Recognized as a Nominee in the 2025
BairesDev Developers' Choice Awards.

See which tools made the cut

We'll announce winners soon. Follow @BairesDev or bookmark this page to see who makes the cut.

By continuing to use this site, you agree to our cookie policy and privacy policy.