Cursor AI is a standalone AI code editor designed around conversational coding. It offers a chat interface and a "Composer" mode where you can prompt the AI to write or refactor code for you. Initially a VS Code fork, Cursor lets you ask the AI to "update this class" or "implement feature X," then automatically edits multiple files across your project. It even supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) connections, so it can call other AI tools or APIs to build full apps on command. For vibe coders, Cursor's biggest strength is letting you stay in flow: you describe your intent in natural language, and Cursor's agents generate and inject the code, while you keep a high-level creative role.

Windsurf is another VS Code–based AI assistant similar to Cursor. It provides both chat-based prompts and background automation. Windsurf's interface is smoother, and it can show live previews of your app directly in the editor. It also supports MCP servers like Cursor, so it can orchestrate multiple AI agents to build complex features. This means you can, for example, point Windsurf at your code and say "run this project" or "fix the bug in the UI," and it will handle it. The ability to see a real-time webview of the app helps maintain flow by giving instant feedback.

Using GitHub Copilot inside VS Code is a go-to vibe-coding setup. Copilot offers conversational chat and code completion right in your editor. In 2025 it has an advanced Agent Mode that can automatically act on your prompts across multiple files. With a simple instruction like "make a login form," agent mode Copilot can create components, update routes, and even propose terminal commands to configure your project. It can analyze runtime errors and suggest fixes (so-called "self-healing") to keep your flow uninterrupted. In short, Copilot in VS Code functions like an AI pair programmer: it writes code snippets, generates tests, summarizes documentation, and even completes entire functions, all triggered by your comments or chat questions.

Replit's cloud IDE is built for vibe coding. Its Ghostwriter feature acts as an ML-powered pair programmer: it autocompletes code in real time, transforms or explains snippets on demand, and even lets you search and import open-source code without leaving the editor. That means you can sketch an idea and have Ghostwriter fill in boilerplate instantly, or ask for quick fixes and get them inline. Replit also now offers a conversational Replit Agent: you describe an app or website in chat or by uploading a screenshot of a design, and the agent will generate a working prototype and deploy it for you. This all-in-one web IDE lets you iterate visually or with text prompts, making it ideal for solo creators who want to ride the vibe without managing servers.

Bolt.new (from Stackblitz) is a visual AI app builder. Think of it as no-code meets vibe coding: you describe your full-stack app in chat or use visual tools, and Bolt.new generates the code. Its standout feature is Figma integration – you can import UI designs from Figma and Bolt.new will convert them into working frontend code. It runs in the browser on Stackblitz's WebContainers, so you get a full VS Code-like experience online (including editing and extensions) while the AI writes code. Bolt.new handles authentication and databases through Supabase prompts, and it can even import an existing GitHub project into its environment. For vibe coders, it's great for whipping up full-stack prototypes with minimal manual coding.

Cline is a VS Code extension AI assistant focused on task automation. It works much like Cursor/Windsurf under the hood, but as a lighter plugin. You can describe a complex task ("refactor this module to use hooks, then update related tests") and Cline will break it into steps and execute them. It can analyze UI component structure and make consistent updates to visual code, and it has a special "code prediction" feature that proactively guesses what you might need next based on context and coding patterns. In essence, Cline watches what you code and suggests or implements the next logical bits, helping you keep an uninterrupted vibe.

Beyond VS Code, GitHub Copilot is available as a standalone service across multiple environments. It integrates with Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, and even via CLI, making it accessible wherever you code. As the most widely adopted AI assistant, Copilot generates line-by-line and block completions in dozens of languages, answers questions in an interactive chat pane, and can even be invoked on GitHub itself (e.g. Copilot Chat on pull requests). Its strength for vibe coding is simply ubiquity: no matter your setup, Copilot can offer instant context-aware suggestions and explanations, so you never have to break flow searching docs.

Amazon CodeWhisperer is AWS's code assistant, built into IDEs like Cloud9 and available as plugins for VS Code, IntelliJ, and Visual Studio. It can auto-generate full functions or code snippets from comments and context, supporting languages from Python and JavaScript to SQL and Rust. CodeWhisperer even includes an inline security scanner that flags potential vulnerabilities as it codes. For vibe coding, its appeal is deep integration with AWS: if you're building on AWS, it can spin up boilerplate for Lambda functions, CloudFormation scripts, or CDK stacks automatically.

OpenAI's Codex CLI is a terminal-based AI agent. It brings GPT-like chat directly to your shell, where you can prompt it to write, run, and refactor code without leaving the terminal. With commands like codex ask "add error handling to this script" it will modify files in place, execute code, or suggest fixes. In essence, it's chat-driven development on the command line: it has access to your git repo's context and can operate on it automatically. For vibe coding hackers, Codex CLI lets you stay fully in "flow-state" in the terminal—no mouse, no switching apps—while the AI takes care of the coding details.

Tabnine is an AI autocomplete assistant focused on code completions. It supports every major language and editor. Its inline suggestions can fill entire lines or functions based on context, and it even supports natural-language prompts to generate code from comments. Tabnine is known for running locally or on private clouds, so your code stays confidential. In practice, it works like a supercharged IntelliSense: as you type, Tabnine offers smarter completions (and even whole-snippet suggestions) that you can accept by keystroke. This speeds up routine coding and lets you keep momentum—very much in the vibe coding spirit.