Three Types of AI Coding Tools (And Use This One Free Forever)

"AI that writes code for you!" they all claim. Cool. But that's like saying "a vehicle that moves you from place to place" and not distinguishing between a bicycle, a sedan, and an 18-wheeler truck.

There are dozens of AI coding tools out there, and to most people, they all sound the same. They're built for completely different jobs, and using the wrong one is frustrating for everyone. Not only does it not get you what you want, but it also burns money on AI credits, sometimes $100s / month!

And it's not just about who you are (developer vs non-developer). It's also about what you're building.

Each of these has different requirements, and some tools handle certain types of projects way better than others.

Here's what I've learned after experimenting with these tools: there are really three distinct categories, each solving different problems. Let me break them down so you can pick what tools that fit your needs.

What we're talking about: Lovable, Replit, Bolt, Vercel v0, Google AI Studio

Who is it for: Non-technical builders. If you don't have design skills, these tools generate surprisingly polished interfaces right out of the box. Most come with templates if you need inspiration to get started.

What it’s good for: Zero to “something working” in minutes, without any setup

Pricing: Most operate on pay-as-you-go with some starter credits. Sounds reasonable until you get into the flow and accidentally rack up $100-$200 in a month without realizing it. Search "Lovable pricing" on Reddit and you'll find plenty of people who learned this the hard way. The costs can get unpredictable fast when you're iterating.

With speed and prototyping being the main goal, these are what I call "vibe coding" tools. You describe what you want in natural language, and they generate an entire application for you. You don’t need to be technical. No code editor required. No terminal commands. Just describe your idea. You can literally build anything very quickly, and they come out nicely without design chops.

I built a collaborative trip planning tool using Replit in about an hour (read here), just by describing what I wanted. It looked good, worked smoothly, and satisfied my need for instant gratification. I still use Replit today, as I find it the best for get something up and running quickly, and still have the flexibility to scale to more serious apps. Lovable is another popular one; however, it’s great at getting to 70%, but terrible at the final 30%.

Where this breaks down: They're brilliant at creating new things from scratch, terrible at understanding existing codebases with their accumulated complexity and technical decisions. Even for new apps, the bigger it becomes, the more it’ll struggle. Think of them like AI-powered scaffolding. Perfect for building new structures from the ground up. Not great for renovating what you already have.

What we're talking about: Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI

Who is it for: Technical builders

What it’s good for: Anything, from small to large projects, and new to existing complex codebase

Pricing: Fixed cost, but with usage limit

CLI stands for "Command Line Interface.” Basically, these tools live in your terminal and work alongside your existing development setup. It takes a while to setup your development environment, but once you do, you have maximum flexibility. These tools now also have web interface, which makes it more accessible with Github integration. I personally still prefer CLI because my codebase sits on my local laptop, which is easier to update and test.

The key difference from straight vibe coding generation apps: these are for developers actively building because it gets a little complex for non-technical builders. I fall into this camp of people - a casual developer that uses AI as a dev teammate.

Here's where they shine:

The learning curve: These tools assume you know what a terminal is and aren't afraid of it. But once you get over the hump, you can literally build anything from simple websites to complex SaaS apps.

What we're talking about: Cursor, VS Code with extensions, Google Antigravity

These plug directly into your code editor (IDE). Think of an IDE as where developers actually write and edit their code. VS Code is one of the most popular ones.

With these tools, the AI lives right inside your editor. You're typing, it's suggesting. You're stuck, it's offering solutions. No switching between different apps or windows.

The line between this category and CLI tools gets blurry. Most developers using CLI tools are also working inside an IDE like VS Code anyway. It's really about preference: do you want to interact with AI through commands in your terminal, through chat inside your editor, or both?

Cursor and Google Antigravity are essentially customized versions of VS Code with their own built-in AI workflows baked in. Instead of adding AI as an afterthought, they've designed the entire experience around AI assistance.

The trade-off: You're locked into their specific editor. If you've already spent time customizing VS Code or you're happy with your current setup, switching means reconfiguring your entire environment. Some people think it's worth it. Others don't want to change.

Here's the decision tree:

Non-technical founder with an idea? Start with Lovable or Replit. Get something working first, worry about perfect code later. Once your idea is validate, we can “graduate” to the more professional tools.

Professional developer working on existing projects? CLI tools like Claude Code or Codex CLI are your best bet. They understand context and won't mess up your existing architecture.

Developer who wants AI tightly integrated into your workflow? Try Cursor or Antigravity. The seamless integration might be worth switching editors.

Here's where it gets interesting: these categories aren't mutually exclusive. You can use Codex CLI to build an app from scratch. You can use Claude Code inside VS Code. There's a web-based version of Codex where you can tag GitHub issues and have it review, fix, and submit pull requests automatically.

The boundaries keep shifting, which is both exciting and a bit overwhelming.

I find myself using different tools for different tasks. Replit for quick prototypes. Claude Code + Codex + VS Code for working on production codebases. It depends entirely on what I'm trying to accomplish and how much I’m willing to pay.

The AI coding tool landscape changes constantly. New tools launch, existing ones add features, and what was impossible six months ago becomes standard. One tool I found that promises to be “free forever” is Dyad. It is free and open source. You’ll have to install on your computer and leverage Google’s free Gemini API. (I will write a post about using Dyad in the future.)

Start with Vibe Coding Apps for prototyping. I use Replit to go from idea to working prototype fast. (Get $10 off Replit via my referral link.) This phase is all about getting the foundation right through good prompting. If I don't like the direction after a few iterations, I restart from scratch. It's way easier than trying to fix a messy prototype.

Switch to IDE or CLI tools when it's time to scale. Once I want real users on the app (or too cheap to pay unpredictable pricing), I move to Cursor or Claude Code. The pricing becomes more predictable, and I have the flexibility to build out different parts of the system properly. Fair warning: this is where some technical knowledge really helps.