10 Best Alternatives To ChatGPT: Developer Edition

ChatGPT has been on the rise since its introduction. It completely changed how everyone, including developers, uses AI. This chatbot has significantly improved numerous areas, such as precise search results, enhanced human skills, and most importantly, coding.

Due to ChatGPT’s widespread use around the world, it can become overloaded, resulting in lengthy wait times before it’s available for use. Also, it has trouble generating long-form, structured code snippets. Its knowledge is also limited to 2021.

To help with this, we have compiled a list of the top ChatGPT alternatives that are best suited for coding and the needs of developers. Each alternative is discussed alongside its benefits, features, limitations, and pros and cons.

1. Google Bard

Bard is built on a modern, research-based large language model (LLM), which is an organized and upgraded version of PaLM2.

Bard has had several updates since its first release. However, it recently got a core upgrade whereby it is now powered by the “most capable model” Google has developed — Gemini.

This upgrade even made some people consider Bard as the best alternative to GPT-4 as it has even surpassed ChatGPT 3.5.

During our test, its code analysis and debugging suggestions were nothing short of brilliant. It can now understand, explain, and generate complex codes with clear explanations.

Bard is based on Google’s in-depth knowledge of reliable information sources.

2. GitHub Copilot

This is an “AI Pair Programmer” developed by GitHub and powered by OpenAI technology. It is made for developers as it is a generative trained model built using trillions of lines of code from GitHub public repositories.

Using machine learning, it auto-completes your code based on context, such as comments, variable names, and the code structure. GitHub Copilot works as an extension in code editors with support for various programming languages.

GitHub Copilot is powered using GPT-4 and it provides extra features like copilot chat, pull request support, and even inbuilt CLI functionality — all within an IDE.

However, GitHub Copilot’s code suggestions are not always accurate, as it occasionally suggests long or deprecated codes instead of clearer, shorter alternatives.

GitHub Copilot offers a 30-day free trial to test out the AI, after which you pay a subscription fee. However, it is free for students, teachers, and people who maintain well-known open-source projects.

3. OpenAI Playground

OpenAI Playground is more of a demo version of ChatGPT but packed with lots of features that can be modified with ease. Its neural network is larger than ChatGPT’s, making it a more advanced developer AI tool.

OpenAI Playground lets you tweak various parameters like the model type, frequency penalty, token count, loading presets, etc. All these make it an ideal place for developers to test out the AI technology before integrating it into an app or website.

OpenAI playground is just as accurate and effective at answering and resolving coding-related questions.

The one core limitation is it is not entirely free. Upon access, you’re given a free trial credit of $18 that you use when prompting the AI. The free credit expires when you use it all up or after 3 months. After that, you’d need to purchase additional credits to access the playground.

4. Vertex AI

This is a platform designed by Google whereby developers can train and customize different AI models. Recently, the most versatile AI model by Google DeepMind- Gemini, can also be accessed through vertex AI.

When using Gemini through Vertex AI, it easily understands and responds to diverse prompts. We’ve tested it with image prompts and code snippets to work with, and each time, its accuracy is super impressive.

Vertex AI also offers the use of other generative AI models through its platform. These models include PaLM API, Codey APIs, and Imagen API which all generally consist of texts, codes, and image generation.

Some of Vertex AI’s notable capabilities are its ability to connect its output to a specific source of data, citation check, and safety filters that block unsafe/harmful contents

Vertex AI offers a free trial of $300 in credits for new users. Overall, it’s quite an extensive advanced AI platform that could further improve the use of AI for developers.

5. Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot stands out due to its ability to scour the web and provide up-to-date results with cited sources for additional reading.

It also generates further prompts automatically when you ask questions. For instance, when we asked for a JavaScript function that uses the map array method, it asked whether we would prefer to use any other array methods to address the issue.

Additionally, it runs on GPT-4, generates code snippets, and supports image generation on the fly which are all helpful to developers.

The limitation is that there is a limit of 30 prompts per session. Thus, you may often find yourself establishing multiple sessions.

Microsoft Copilot is available for free, and like Google, Microsoft will likely keep providing users with this AI service for free.

6. Amazon CodeWhisperer

Amazon CodeWhisperer is similar to how GitHub Copilot works in that it uses AI to suggest code snippets as you type. CodeWhisperer is an AI tool that has been trained using a variety of open-source code and code found in Amazon libraries.

However, this doesn’t limit its capabilities to Amazon projects as it has been tested and performs remarkably well with major programming languages like JavaScript, Python, and Java.

CodeWhisperer can be accessed through IDEs like JetBrains, VSCode, etc. Once you’ve connected it to your IDE, it will examine the context of your code and assist with writing, refactoring, and even reviewing your code.

A core feature of Codewhisperer is that it flags code suggestions that resemble publicly available code which ensures originality. Plus it is also integrated with an AI chat assistant, Amazon Q which is also accessible within the IDE.

CodeWhisperer is free to use.

7. Tabnine

Tabnine was among the first to introduce auto-suggestion of code snippets in an IDE. Its AI has been trained on many open-source repositories and as a plus, developers can train and customize the AI model within Tabnine.

The intriguing thing about Tabnine’s AI is that it can run not only on IDEs but also on your computer, in the cloud, on a server, and even offline. Tabnine is also working on a chat system which is still in beta at the time of writing this article

Tabnine works with a variety of popular programming languages and many IDEs, including VSCode, Sublime, Vim, Android Studio, etc., making it one of the most adaptable generative AI tools on this list.

Despite its capabilities, Tabnine, unlike ChatGPT, is still unable to recommend precise code snippets. It has not been trained on as much data as ChatGPT, which might be the cause of this.

Both free and paid plans are available from Tabnine; $20 a month for the paid plan, which grants access to more features.

8. Codeium

This is another AI generative assistant built specifically for developers. For starters, it offers code autocomplete, refactor code for cleaner structure, and even generates comments for extra understanding.

The Codeium’s AI is also trained on publicly available codes. It features the support of a chat system, unlike some that confine such features behind a paywall. There is also a built-in Search feature that allows searching through your codebase efficiently and quickly.

Codeium can be used through an extension medium within popular IDEs like VSCode & JetBrains. With its live feature, Codeium also supports access through browsers which honestly comes in handy for those impromptu code ideas.

We used Codeium to run various coding tasks, and it did incredibly well. It generated a flawless JS minimax function for a tic-tac-toe game with explanatory comments and tests. It can even search for APIs and use it, all within the IDE.

Codeium is completely free for individual use (and $12 for teams).

9. Cursor

This AI tool takes a different approach than usual as it is an AI-powered code editor. Cursor is basically an editor that acts as a pair programmer that can assist in code brainstorming, debugging tricky errors, and even fixing lint errors efficiently.

Getting started with using Cursor is quite convenient as it easily imports your data and extensions from VsCode with just a single click. Cursor also supports the usual code generation, inbuilt AI chat system, and even terminal debugging.

However, we did encounter some instances whereby code generation stopped midway while working on some code tasks. Also, as you’d have to switch code editors to use Cursor, it might require some getting used to.

Cursor is free but with limited access as you get 50 slow GPT-4 uses and 200 GPT-3.5 uses per month which may not be ideal for heavy usage. Although, this can be bypassed through the Pro plan of $20/month.

10. Mutable.ai

Mutable.ai is an AI tool trained on open-source code; it works extensively with your codebase whether in the GitHub repository or within an IDE.

It goes deep into the provided codebase to analyze and understand the intricacies of the codebase. This further helps the AI tool provide relevant code suggestions based on the code context.

This AI tool can effortlessly generate code for various popular languages, frameworks, and libraries. It can generate efficient test cases, refactor codes, and have search functionality.

A core ability of this AI is how good it is in code documentation as it is said to be able to transform your codebase into a Wikipedia-style article, complete with citations!

Mutable.ai offers a free plan and as expected, its features are quite limited.

Honorable Mention – AskCodi

This AI tool is also fueled by OpenAI, trained using publicly-accessible source code, and built for developers of all levels. This allows it to have a deep understanding of various programming languages.

AskCodi has the distinctive ability to be completely integrated with almost every part of software development. It has specific sections for frontend use, backend use, code documentation, explanation, testing, and much more.

This chatbot is well made for developers, as it supports a wide range of programming languages and frameworks, from the popular ones like JavaScript to the lesser-known ones like LUA.

The limitation of AskCodi is that it provides only 50 free tokens for each prompt each month. If you should exhaust all of these tokens before the end of the month, you have to upgrade to the paid tier or wait until the following month.

Conclusion

While ChatGPT is undoubtedly a powerful AI tool, it’s always a good idea to explore other options and find the one that best fits your needs and preferences. If used well, these alternatives can perform countless time-consuming activities like explaining programming concepts, writing complex code, finding bugs in code, giving best practices in software development, and so on.

To sum up, developers should take advantage of the latest advancements in AI (by using one of these options) to enhance their work and achieve better results.