Which AI tool should I use?

Featured use case: coding
S tier. Cursor92/100

For coding, use Cursor (92/100, S tier). If you work from the terminal, use Claude Code (88, A tier). Updated .

Why Cursor

Cursor is strongest on momentum (97) and capability (96). Claude Code (88) trails most on ease, by 8.

How the score works

Score = capability 40% + ease 25% + value 20% + momentum 15%. Momentum is the editor's judgment of whether builders still work with the tool, not a measurement. Method

OpenRouter rankings and Arena rank models, by real token use and by blind votes. This list ranks the product you open.

Money. Nothing in the ranking pays us. Any paid placement is labelled and sits outside the ranking.How we make money

Coding tier list, top 7 of 16 tools

Full coding page

S is 90 and up, A 80 to 89, B 70 to 79, C under 70. Order uses the score before rounding.

S tier. Default. Start here if you want one tool.
  1. 1Cursor92Builders who want a VS Code-like editor with a repo-wide agent.Capability 96, ease 92, value 80, momentum 97
A tier. Strong. Excellent, with a real tradeoff.
  1. 2Claude Code88People who already like Claude and want an agent in the terminal or IDE.Capability 95, ease 84, value 74, momentum 97
  2. 3GitHub Copilot87Teams already on GitHub who want the least new editor to learn.Capability 86, ease 93, value 82, momentum 84
  3. 4Codex86Builders who want one OpenAI agent in chat, the terminal, and the cloud.Capability 90, ease 84, value 76, momentum 94
  4. 5OpenCode86Builders who want one open-source agent in the terminal, an IDE, and on the desktop.Capability 86, ease 78, value 94, momentum 90
  5. 6Replit83Building and hosting a small app entirely in the browser.Capability 84, ease 86, value 78, momentum 80
  6. 7Devin82Teams that want to delegate a task and review the pull request later.Capability 88, ease 78, value 68, momentum 92
All sub-scores for these 7 tools
Coding tier list sub-scores, 14 Oct 2026
ToolTierScoreBefore roundingCapabilityEaseValueMomentum (editor)
CursorS9291.9596928097
Claude CodeA8888.3595847497
GitHub CopilotA8786.6586938284
CodexA8686.3090847694
OpenCodeA8686.2086789490
ReplitA8382.7084867880
DevinA8282.1088786892

Get an email when a tier list moves.

Only when a tool changes tier. The first issue goes out the first time one does; nothing has moved since the first edition on 14 Oct 2026.