What is the best AI Code Editor and setup?

Question

I tested Copilot, Cursor, Bolt and Windsurf with various free accounts but I would like to set up one system correctly and stick to it.

What AI Code Editor are you working with and which AI gives you the best code or gets the project done?

What setup/preferences in your Code Editor do you recommend?

Fadli Wilihandarwo · Accepted Answer

After testing all paid AI code editor, I found Windsurf to be the best option, especially for my Ruby on Rails projects. Here's why: When I need to fix a bug, like an issue with the payment system, Windsurf automatically searches through the entire codebase to find not only the relevant file but also all related dependent files. In contrast, Cursor requires you to manually specify the exact files or folders you want to work with, making the process less efficient.

Bjorn Dunkel · Answer

Thanks Fadli, I had also the experience that Windsurf understood all the data structure better. 
But in the end, Windsurf and Cursor didn't recommend the correct file when implementing a feature, maybe because my free trial ended and got downgraded.

Frida Ruh · Answer

I start with bolt.new to create the sections and main functionalities, then I downloaded it and open with Cursor. I use claude 3.5 sonnet for composer and chat on Cursor. When I'm stucked sometimes use ChatGPT 4-o or if is something harder o1.

Antoine Le Baux · Answer

I went back to manual copy paste with a VSCode extension https://github.com/Thomas-McKanna/Files2Prompt

What I like about it is that I have full control of what the llm can see. I have to spend more time making it, but I feel that the results are much better.

I can use the latest models (o1) and change whenever I like it

Alejandro Vivanco · Answer

I love using PearAI; I'd highly recommend giving it a shot

Rufus Pollock · Answer

Thanks for the thread and started capturing a little of it in https://comparethe.org/AI+Code+Editors

Mike Wheaton · Answer

Haven't tried all the options, but I'm thrilled with Cursor. It just about always picks up the correct context and the responses are good, if a little verbose. I might try playing with custom prompts to tweak it more to my liking.

Antoine Le Baux · Answer

yes, the cool thing about this plugin is that it tells the LLM to output the code in a specific XML format, that you then paste in the plugin and id updates de files for you, no need to go around copying and pasting snippets of code

Bjorn Dunkel · Answer

Thanks Alejandro, okay I give it a try.

Bjorn Dunkel · Answer

Thank you Frida, nice workflow. Will keep that in mind.

Bjorn Dunkel · Answer

Hi Antoine, that's a good point. Sometimes it changes so much in one go that it is hard to follow up and keep control in case something breaks.

Bjorn Dunkel · Answer

Thanks Mike, I really like cursor and the dev team behind it.

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What is the best AI Code Editor and setup?

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