Choosing your tool in November 2026

Compare the three kinds of vibe coding tool and the main products in each, as of November 2026, and pick the one that fits your computer, budget and goals.

There are more AI coding tools than ever, and they change every month. The good news: they fall into three kinds, and every project in this course has a track for each kind. Pick the kind first, then the product. You can switch later, and a lot of what you learn carries over.

Everything below is accurate as of November 12, 2026. Prices and plans drift, so check the vendor's pricing page before you pay for anything.

Three kinds of tool

	Terminal agent	AI code editor	App builder (no install)
What it is	An agent you chat with in a terminal window. It edits files in a folder on your computer	A code editor with an agent panel. You see files, changes and a terminal side by side	A website where you describe an app and watch it appear in a live preview
Examples	Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, Antigravity CLI	Cursor, VS Code with GitHub Copilot, Kiro, Devin Desktop, Antigravity	Lovable, Bolt, v0, Replit, Google AI Studio Build
You need	A Mac, Windows or Linux computer you can install software on	Same, plus some patience with a busier screen	A browser. Works on a Chromebook or a work laptop
Best for	Learning how software really works; full control	Seeing every change as it happens	The fastest first result; hosting is built in
Watch out for	The terminal feels unfamiliar at first	Many buttons and panels to learn	Free credits run out fast; check what's public

Sort itExercise 1 of 4

Sort each product into its kind of tool.

Card 1 of 6

Cursor

Terminal agents

Claude Code (Anthropic). Needs a paid Claude plan; the free plan doesn't include it, and Pro is $20 a month. It uses Claude Opus 5.5 by default on every plan and starts in auto mode, where a background safety check approves or blocks each action.
Codex (OpenAI). The Codex CLI signs in with your ChatGPT account. ChatGPT Free and Go include limited Codex use; Plus expands it. /init writes an AGENTS.md instruction file for you.
Grok Build (SpaceXSI, the company that now publishes xAI's Grok). A terminal agent that runs Grok 4.7. It's included from the $8-a-month Plus tier of The X Subscription, one plan that covers Grok, Cursor and X.
Antigravity CLI (Google). Google's terminal agent runs as the agy command. Since June 18, 2026, free individual access and Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers use it instead of Gemini CLI, which is now aimed at Gemini Code Assist business licenses.

AI code editors

Cursor (Anysphere). Sold through The X Subscription. The Free plan has limited use of Agent with Cursor's own models; Plus is $8 a month. Cursor's own models are Composer 2.5 and Grok 4.7. Claude and GPT models need the $30 Premium tier or above and are billed at API list price from prepaid credit.
GitHub Copilot in VS Code (GitHub). Copilot Free costs $0 and includes agent mode and the Copilot CLI. Pro ($10 a month) adds the cloud coding agent that opens pull requests, and code review. Its model picker includes Claude Fable 5.2, GPT-6 Astra, Gemini 4 Carbon and Grok 4.7, depending on your plan.
Kiro (AWS). An AI code editor that turns your idea into a spec first: requirements.md, design.md and tasks.md, then builds from the task list. Free includes 50 credits; Pro is $20 a month for 1,000.
Devin Desktop (Cognition). The new name for Windsurf. Same editor and plans: Free is $0 and Pro is $20 a month.
Antigravity (Google). Google's agent-first desktop app, free to start with basic weekly limits; Google AI Pro and Ultra raise them.

App builders

Lovable. The free plan gives 5 build credits a day (up to 30 a month). Every project gets a free security scan before publishing.
Bolt (bolt.new). Free includes 300,000 tokens a day (1 million a month) and website hosting with Bolt branding; custom domains start on Pro, $25 a month.
v0 (v0.app, by Vercel). Free includes 7 messages a day, deploys to Vercel and GitHub sync. Plus is $30 a month.
Replit. A full cloud workspace with the Replit Agent. Paid plans start with Core at $20 a month; check its pricing page for current free options.
Google AI Studio Build (aistudio.google.com/apps). Generates a React front end with a Node.js server, keeps your Gemini API key server-side, and publishes to Google Cloud Run, where Cloud Run pricing may apply.
Firebase Studio is closing: new sign-ups stopped on June 22, 2026, and it shuts down on March 22, 2027. Google points browser-based builders to AI Studio and code-first builders to Antigravity.

Match them upExercise 2 of 4

Match each tool to the fact that sets it apart in November 2026.

Pick one on the left, then its partner on the right.

Tool

What sets it apart

0 of 6 matched

Quick checkExercise 3 of 4

A friend says: “Cursor's Free plan lets me use Claude for nothing.” What's accurate as of November 2026?

Four questions to pick with

Can you install software on this computer? If not (a Chromebook, a locked work laptop), take the app builder track.
What do you already pay for? A ChatGPT plan includes Codex. A Claude Pro plan includes Claude Code. An X Subscription includes Grok Build and Cursor. Start there.
Do you want to see and own the code? Terminal agents and editors keep every file on your computer. With a builder, make sure you can export to GitHub or download the code.
How much will you build? Free tiers are fine for this course if you work in focused sessions. Daily credit limits reset, so a pause is often cheaper than an upgrade.

You make the callExercise 4 of 4

Pick a tool for Priya

Priya teaches fourth grade. She wants a class website with a homework page. At school she has a Chromebook; at home, a Windows laptop she owns. Her budget is $0.

She wants to start during her free period at school, on the Chromebook.

Your choice isn't permanent

Projects in this course use plain files, git and an AGENTS.md instruction file that most agents read. That's deliberate: you can start in one tool and move to another without starting over.

Check your understanding

Q1. You can't install software on your work laptop, but you want to build this course's project. Which track fits?

Q2. Why does this course keep projects in plain files with an AGENTS.md instruction file?

Q3. A 2025 tutorial tells you to start with Gemini CLI on your personal Google account. What's the November 2026 picture?

· Work through the 4 remaining exercises above (stuck? each one can show you the answer).

· Score 100% on the quiz.

Vocabulary in this lesson

AgentA model wired to tools and a loop: it reads, acts, checks the result, and goes again until the task is done or you stop it.AIAn umbrella word that keeps changing what it points at. In coding today it means a language model plus the harness that lets it act.ToolA named capability the harness lets the model invoke, such as reading a file, running a shell command or fetching a page.ModelThe trained network itself: billions of parameters that turn a context into the next token, and nothing more.AGENTS.mdThe instructions file at the repo root that every session reads first: commands, conventions, gotchas. CLAUDE.md in Claude Code.Usage limitThe cap on how much agent work your plan or API key allows in a window. Hitting it pauses you; it isn't the context window.

Plain-English definitions from the AI Coding Dictionary.