/ independent · updated June 2026
WHICH AITOOL actuallyEARNS IT?
We run Cursor, Windsurf, Bolt, v0 and Lovable on real projects — then say where each one wins, where it burns your budget, and where it quietly breaks. No vendor wrote a word of it.
/ five tools, scroll sideways →
Cursor
AI-first VS Code fork built for fast, manual-context editing.
Windsurf
VS Code fork (ex-Codeium) — now rebranded Devin Desktop. Cascade agent, 40+ IDE plugins.
Bolt
In-browser full-stack app builder from StackBlitz — prompt to deploy.
v0
Vercel's UI generator — prompt to production React/Tailwind components.
Lovable
Full-stack app builder (ex-GPT Engineer) — describe it, get a real app.
Claude Code
Anthropic's terminal AI agent — 1 M token context, autonomous multi-file reasoning, runs anywhere.
OpenAI Codex
OpenAI's cloud-based coding agent — runs tasks in a sandbox, writes and tests code autonomously.
Gemini Code Assist
Google's IDE plugin for code completions and chat — 1M token context, enterprise-focused after June 2026.
Google Jules
Google's async AI coding agent — works from GitHub issues, auto-fixes CI failures, returns a PR.
Google Antigravity
Google's agent-first dev platform — IDE, CLI, and desktop agent that runs Gemini 3.5 Flash by default.
GitHub Copilot
AI pair programmer inside VS Code and JetBrains — no editor switch, lowest price.
Most reviews rephrase a landing page. We ship something in the thing.
/ the verdict.md
best overall
Cursor
big repos
Windsurf
no setup
Bolt
UI output
v0
full-stack
Lovable
How we
call it.
Tested, not summarized
Every verdict comes from building something real — not rephrasing a landing page.
Pricing kept current
Token and seat pricing shifts monthly. Each page shows when it was last checked.
Independent verdicts
Affiliate links never move a tool up the list. The worst tool stays the worst tool.
/ explore