A quick comparison of tools people use for vibe-coding and agentic coding. Fill in your own experience/notes as you try each one.
| Tool | Type | Runs where | Notes | Official site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | CLI / IDE agent | Terminal, VS Code, JetBrains | Deep agentic loop, tool use, subagents, hooks, MCP support | claude.com/claude-code |
| Cursor | IDE (fork of VS Code) | Desktop | Agent mode, inline edits, codebase-aware chat | cursor.com |
| GitHub Copilot / Copilot Workspace | IDE extension | VS Code, JetBrains, GitHub.com | Autocomplete + chat + task-level “workspace” planning | github.com/features/copilot |
| Aider | CLI | Terminal | Open-source, git-native, works with many model backends | aider.chat |
| Windsurf | IDE | Desktop | “Cascade” agent flow, multi-file edits | windsurf.com |
| Devin | Autonomous agent | Cloud sandbox | Longer-running autonomous tasks, less interactive | devin.ai |
| Conductor | IDE | Desktop (macOS) | Runs multiple agents in parallel, each in its own git worktree | conductor.build |
| superset.sh | IDE | Desktop (macOS, Linux) | Conductor alternative with Linux support; parallel agents in isolated worktrees, notifications, skills/hooks | docs.superset.sh |
| goose | CLI / desktop agent | Terminal, Desktop | Open-source, MCP-based extensions, subagents, recipes, scheduled runs | goose-docs.ai |