More capable tools ask you to learn more

All of them write and change code for you. Listed from the gentlest learning curve to the steepest.

The tool

What it does

What it asks of you

Describe a website, and get a working website back

Works through tasks for you, including the folders on your computer you give it

Runs several agents at once, in a code editor built around them

Reads, writes and runs code across a whole project

A description in plain English

No terminal, and no code editor

Comfort in a code editor*

Comfort in a terminal, an IDE, or a desktop app

* Cursor was acquired by Elon Musk's SpaceX in 2026.