VS Code has become the epicenter of modern development workflows — and with the rise of AI-assisted coding, it’s evolving fast. Developers no longer just write code; they collaborate with AI tools that can autocomplete, refactor, test, and even explain code in natural language.
Here’s a practical breakdown of the most valuable AI extensions for VS Code in 2025 — based on speed, usability, privacy, and real-world performance.
1. GitHub Copilot (by OpenAI + GitHub)
Still the most widely used AI coding assistant, Copilot can autocomplete entire functions, write boilerplate, and offer suggestions as you type. The recent updates in 2025 added better context awareness across large files and more intelligent docstring generation.
Best for: Rapid prototyping, boilerplate generation, real-time suggestions
Use case: Speeding up repetitive code and common patterns across JS, Python, and TypeScript
2. Amazon Q (Amazon's Developer AI Assistant)
Amazon Q (previously CodeWhisperer) now integrates directly into VS Code and offers multilingual support. It specializes in backend-heavy applications and can recommend secure coding patterns using AWS best practices.
Best for: Cloud-native apps, developers in AWS ecosystems
Use case: Writing secure Lambda functions, IAM configurations, and CDK templates with AI support
3. Windsurf (formerly Codeium)
A fast-growing alternative to Copilot that focuses on privacy and speed. It supports over 70 languages and offers autocomplete, explanations, and documentation suggestions.
Best for: Teams with data sensitivity concerns
Use case: Using AI locally without compromising on speed or model quality
4. Continue
This open-source VS Code extension allows you to chat with local or hosted LLMs directly inside your editor. You can plug in your own Ollama, GPT-4, Claude, or open-source models like Mistral.
Best for: Advanced users and teams building custom AI setups
Use case: Querying models from private datasets, self-hosted AI agents, or testing prompts
5. Tabnine
One of the original autocomplete AIs, now refocused on team-level privacy and enterprise compliance. Tabnine offers on-prem deployment and real-time model tuning.
Best for: Enterprises and regulated teams
Use case: Enhancing internal tool development with compliant AI coding assistance
6. Cody by Sourcegraph
More than just autocomplete — Cody can explain code, summarize files, generate unit tests, and refactor intelligently across repositories. It leverages Sourcegraph’s search engine and context indexing.
Best for: Code comprehension in large monorepos
Use case: Developers onboarding complex codebases or working with legacy code
Bonus: Useful LLM Integrators
- CodeGPT: VS Code interface to connect directly to OpenAI/GPT models via your API key
- ChatGPT - CodeUI: A flexible tool to highlight code and ask questions like “explain this”, “refactor”, or “add comments”
Final Thoughts
AI isn’t replacing developers — it’s amplifying them. These tools can save hours of work each week, improve code quality, and help teams onboard faster. The key is to choose tools that match your stack, privacy policy, and workflow speed.
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Which tools are you using in VS Code right now?
💬 Comment below and share your favorite AI tools or tips with the community.
Top comments (8)
Well, I use only the GitHub Copilot and the Windsurf, never heard of the rest. Thanks
🙌 🙌 🙌
Yes, and there will be much more in the near future
For most code stuff I use Copilot, but for anything docs, data, or AI workflow I swap to Dotallio - saves me tons of time. Anyone try integrating VS Code tasks with external AI apps?
Never heard of Amazon Q, very interesting!
Thank you
Great list, thanks!
You're welcome!