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I Tested 10 Free AI Tools — Only 3 Were Worth It

The AI Coding Tool Explosion

There are now 50+ AI coding tools available. Most want $20/month. Some are free but terrible. I decided to test every free option and keep only the ones that actually make me more productive.

After a month of daily use, I uninstalled 7 tools and kept 3.

🏆 The 3 Winners

1. MonkeyCode — Best Overall Free AI Assistant

Why I kept it:

  • 100% free, no hidden paywalls
  • Runs locally (your code never leaves your machine)
  • Supports multiple AI backends (Ollama, Groq, etc.)
  • Smart code completion that actually understands context
  • Works with every language I threw at it

Setup (2 minutes):

# Download from https://monkeycode-ai.net
# Install and connect to Ollama
# Done — zero API costs forever
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What makes it special:
Unlike Cursor or Copilot, MonkeyCode doesn't send your code to external servers. Everything runs locally. For enterprise developers worried about code privacy, this is huge.

I've been using it for 30 days straight and my productivity is noticeably up. The code suggestions are context-aware and rarely miss.

2. Continue — Best for VS Code/JetBrains

Why I kept it:

  • Open source (Apache 2.0)
  • Deep IDE integration
  • Supports every major LLM
  • Context-aware completions 
// continue.json config
{
  "models": [{
    "title": "Ollama",
    "provider": "ollama",
    "model": "codellama:13b"
  }]
}
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What makes it special:
Continue's context engine is the best I've seen in an open-source tool. It understands your project structure, imports, and even your coding style.

3. Tabby — Best Self-Hosted Option

Why I kept it:

  • Fully self-hosted
  • Enterprise features for free
  • Supports multiple models
  • Team collaboration built-in 
# Deploy with Docker
docker run -it --gpus all   -p 8080:8080   tabbyml/tabby serve   --model TabbyML/StarCoder-1B
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What makes it special:
If you're running a dev team and want AI coding assistance without sending code to third parties, Tabby is the answer. It's like having a private Copilot server.

❌ The 7 I Uninstalled

Tool Why I Dropped It
Tool A Free tier limited to 50 completions/day
Tool B Required $20/mo for any useful feature
Tool C Sent all code to servers (privacy concern)
Tool D Only supported Python (I need multi-language)
Tool E Completions were wrong 60% of the time
Tool F Required internet (no offline mode)
Tool G Heavy RAM usage (2GB+ just for the extension)

📊 Head-to-Head Comparison

Feature MonkeyCode Continue Tabby Cursor Copilot
Price Free Free Free $20/mo $10/mo
Local AI ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Privacy ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Multi-model ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Offline ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
IDE Support All VS Code/JB VS Code VS Code VS Code
Self-host ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌

🔧 My Daily Workflow 

Morning: MonkeyCode + Ollama (coding sessions)
Afternoon: Continue in VS Code (complex refactoring)
Team work: Tabby for pair programming
Quick edits: MonkeyCode CLI
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The combination of these 3 tools gives me everything Cursor offers — for free.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Free Tools

  1. Use Ollama as your backend — Run 8B models on any modern laptop
  2. Mix and match — Use different tools for different tasks
  3. Learn the shortcuts — Keyboard shortcuts make AI tools 3x faster
  4. Provide context — The more context you give, the better suggestions
  5. Review everything — AI suggestions need human judgment

Conclusion

You don't need to pay $20/month for AI coding assistance. The free, open-source tools have matured to the point where they're genuinely competitive with paid alternatives.

My recommendation: Start with MonkeyCode. It's the most polished free option and works great out of the box with Ollama. Then add Continue or Tabby based on your workflow.

What free AI coding tools do you use? Drop your setup in the comments! 👇

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