Best Free AI Tools for Developers in 2026: The Complete Guide

AI tools have become essential for developers, but costs can add up fast. The good news: most of the best AI tools in 2026 offer generous free tiers that are more than enough for individual developers and small teams.

This guide covers the best free AI tools across every category — code assistants, API platforms, local runners, and developer utilities — so you can build a powerful AI development stack without spending a dollar.

Code Assistants: Free AI Pair Programming

The code assistant space has exploded, and competition has driven free tiers to be surprisingly generous.

Cursor (Free Hobby Plan)

Cursor remains the most popular AI-native code editor in 2026. The free Hobby plan includes:

2,000 code completions per month — enough for casual use
AI chat with your codebase
Agent mode for multi-file edits
Multi-model support (GPT-4o, Claude, etc.)

The $20/mo Pro plan unlocks unlimited completions, but the free tier is a solid starting point. Cursor is built on VS Code, so the learning curve is minimal if you are already a VS Code user.

GitHub Copilot (Free Plan)

GitHub’s free Copilot plan, launched in late 2024, is one of the best deals in AI:

2,000 completions + 50 chat messages per month
Works in VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, and more
Agent mode for autonomous coding tasks
Deep GitHub integration (issues, PRs, code search)

For developers already in the GitHub ecosystem, this is a no-brainer.

Windsurf by Codeium (Free Tier)

Windsurf stands out with its Cascade feature for multi-file agent editing. The free tier offers generous usage limits with features like Supercomplete (smarter-than-autocomplete suggestions) and full codebase context awareness.

Bolt.new (Free Tier)

Not a traditional code assistant, but worth mentioning: Bolt.new lets you describe an entire web app and generates a complete, deployable project. The free tier is great for rapid prototyping.

AI Platforms: Free API Credits

If you are building applications that call AI APIs, these free tiers will get you started.

OpenAI API ($5 Free Credits)

New OpenAI accounts receive $5 in free API credits. That is enough for:

~2.5 million GPT-4o-mini input tokens
~170K GPT-4o input tokens
Hundreds of image generations with DALL-E

Use DevTk.AI’s Pricing Calculator to estimate exactly how far your free credits will go across different models.

Anthropic API ($5 Free Credits)

Anthropic also offers $5 in free credits for new accounts. Claude Sonnet offers excellent value — you will get approximately 330K input tokens at Claude Sonnet 4 pricing. Claude excels at code generation, analysis, and tasks requiring careful reasoning.

Groq Cloud (Generous Free Tier)

Groq’s custom LPU hardware delivers 10-20x faster inference than GPU-based providers. Their free tier is generous enough for development and testing, with access to Llama, Mixtral, and Gemma models through an OpenAI-compatible API.

OpenRouter (Free Models)

OpenRouter aggregates 100+ LLMs under a single API key. Several models are completely free, including various Llama and Gemma variants. This is perfect for experimentation — try different models without committing to any single provider.

Local AI: Run LLMs for Free Forever

Running models locally means zero API costs and complete privacy. In 2026, local AI is more accessible than ever.

Ollama (100% Free)

Ollama is the gold standard for local LLM deployment. One command installs it, and a second command downloads any model:

ollama run llama3.3

Key benefits:

100+ models including Llama 3.3, Mistral, Gemma 2, Phi-3, and more
OpenAI-compatible API endpoint (drop-in replacement for many apps)
Runs on Mac, Linux, and Windows
Complete privacy — nothing leaves your machine

For developers with a decent GPU (8GB+ VRAM), Ollama transforms your local machine into a free, private AI API server.

LM Studio (Free for Personal Use)

LM Studio provides a beautiful desktop GUI for running local models. It includes a model browser for discovering and downloading models, a chat interface, and a local API server. If you prefer a visual interface over the command line, LM Studio is the way to go.

Developer Utilities: Free Browser-Based Tools

Beyond the big AI platforms, several free tools help developers work more efficiently with AI.

DevTk.AI (Free, No Account Required)

DevTk.AI offers a suite of free, browser-based developer tools purpose-built for AI development:

AI Token Counter — Count tokens for GPT, Claude, Llama, and other models
Pricing Calculator — Compare API costs across 30+ models with real pricing data
MCP Manifest Generator — Build MCP server configurations visually
Prompt Diff Tool — Compare prompt versions side-by-side
System Prompt Generator — Build system prompts step by step
JSON Schema Builder — Create structured output schemas visually

All tools run entirely in your browser — no accounts, no API keys, no data sent to any server.

v0 by Vercel (Free Daily Generations)

Vercel’s v0 generates production-ready React/Next.js components from text descriptions. The free tier includes daily generation credits, making it a powerful prototyping tool for frontend developers.

How to Build a $0/Month AI Dev Stack

Here is a practical stack that costs nothing:

Need	Free Solution
Code editor with AI	Cursor (free) or Copilot (free)
API access for prototyping	OpenAI $5 credits + Groq free tier
Local LLM for privacy/offline	Ollama
Token counting & cost estimation	DevTk.AI Token Counter
API cost comparison	DevTk.AI Pricing Calculator
Prompt management	DevTk.AI Prompt Tools
UI prototyping	v0 by Vercel (free)

This stack gives you AI code completion, API access to frontier models, local model inference, and all the developer utilities you need — at zero cost.

Tips for Maximizing Free Tiers

Use smaller models for simple tasks. GPT-4o-mini and Claude Haiku are dramatically cheaper (or free via Groq/OpenRouter) and handle most coding tasks well.
Run open-source models locally. Ollama + Llama 3.3 70B gives you GPT-4-level quality for iterative work that doesn’t need the absolute best model.
Count tokens before you send. Use DevTk.AI’s Token Counter to understand exactly how many tokens your prompts consume. Shorter prompts = lower costs.
Compare pricing across providers. The same model (like Llama 3.3) is available at different prices across providers. Use DevTk.AI’s Pricing Calculator to find the cheapest option.
Take advantage of aggregators. OpenRouter lets you access free models and switch between providers without changing your code.

Explore All AI Deals

Looking for more deals, discounts, and free tiers? Check out our curated AI Deals & Free Tiers page, updated regularly with the best offers for developers.

This guide is maintained by the DevTk.AI team and updated regularly. Prices and free tier limits may change — always verify on each tool’s official website. Last verified: February 2026.