Hi. This is just meant as a review and is not to bash on any AI products.
Anyway, here is my review:
So I’ve been using Cursor, ChatGPT, Copilot, and now Claude for a while now.
ChatGPT (
) 3/5 stars
At first, I started using ChatGPT because it was a new AI tool that I still use today, but only for small code issues when I have used up all my credits on my main AI tool. It’s great, but it doesn’t have your codebase, so it often makes invalid code that doesn’t work. It is what it is, but it’s great for just code sippers that aren’t too complicated.
Pros:
Free and easy.
Does code alrightish.
Great for chatting and usual text things.
Cons:
Doesn’t know your codebase.
Need to paste the context that is forgotten because of the free version.
Just not very good for large code.
Cannot find issues by itself without doing a lot of manual copy-pasting.
Copilot () 2.5/5 stars
I tried Copilot when it was free beta, I think? And I used it some days ago.
Back when it didn’t used to have the agent, it used to be lackluster and wasn’t so good. It constantly wanted to write non-existent code that didn’t even work. Though it has improved now since it has agent mode. I haven’t had a lot of time with the new one, though. But I must say it’s better than using ChatGPT since it can browse your codebase.
But I’m still skeptical of it. It doesn’t do code very well for me ever since I tried it.
Pros:
Free, but not much to use with.
Does code fairy well.
Great for chatting and editing your codebase.
Can use Copilot in the GitHub website, and it can do pull-requests, reviews, etc as a bot. (Very useful).
GitHub ecosystem.
Cons:
Often gets things wrong. (Example: it refactored my code, but completely forgot a file and just broke my entire project)
Honestly, the code is mid at most, I think. It doesn’t do it very well.
Cursor () 3/5 stars
After I got tired of Copilot costs and ChatGPT, this new YouTube trend started, “Cursor is the next gen AI tool” etc all that good stuff. Watched it on YouTube, and I thought to myself, I’d try it.
I’ve been using it since the early days when it was a new thing, but since then, things have gone downhill. It was good at the start, fast code editor, etc.
The start: It was a great, stable, and fast editor. Great multi-editing and all it used to be the best in class AI tool. But ever since then, things have gone downhill. Cursor is 3x or 5x slower than regular VSCode (just a random guess) with the exact same extensions installed. Cursor is so unstable and breaks. I’ve had the code editor break many times. I felt like a beta tester even though I was on the stable version of the editor.
The AI page would just go blank. And recently, the editor is so slow that I couldn’t even code anymore; it was a true dealbreaker. I had to WAIT to open a file compared to VSCode. I also had to wait many minutes just for the extensions to boot. It’s so slowwwwwwww.
Pros:
Good experience with the AI itself like Claude 3.5 and 4 sonnet etc.
Awesome multi-editing for many places.
Great for chatting and usual text things. Can even paste images etc.
Better than ChatGPT and Copilot (for the editor)
Cons:
Code editor is slow as a snail. I wanted to rip my skin off.
Often gets stuck on repeated issues trying to solve a coding problem.
I had to start a new conversation because it often got stuck.
A VSCode fork. I get it, but I don’t. WHY? Why use a different editor? I’ve since then moved back to using VSCode. Can’t even debug C# without MS VSCode.
Overall, Cursor is number 2 in my AI toolset. I’d rather use Cursor than Copilot or ChatGPT.
Claude () 4.5/5 stars
After all this mess, I wanted to move back to VSCode, and after I did, I transferred all my Cursor extensions back to VSCode, and I honestly was blown away by how fast VSCode is compared to Cursor. VSCode is snappy and fast, even with all the 100+ extensions I have.
I saw Claude on YouTube and some posts, so I said to myself: F**k it. Let’s just try it.
So I did. I installed Claude the Desktop app, installed the VSCode extension, and paid €22.50 for the subscription. I also installed the Claude mobile app.
I connected all my accounts, like Google, Zapier, Gmail, all those things, and MCP Servers. And let me tell you. IT’S GREAT!!!
I’m 100% honest here. The experience with Claude in VSCode is awesome!
I’d say it’s better than Cursor in some ways.
Claude runs in a terminal. At first, I thought ■■■■. Why does it run in a terminal??? I actually kinda missed the Accept buttons and all that Copilot and Cursor had. But it does it in its terminal way, but honestly, after using it for a while, I got used to it, and it works pretty seamlessly now.
And since I’m using it in VSCode, it’s fast, using Claude 4 version. And also the context and usage is wayyy wayy better in Claude compared to Cursor. I used to pay for the pro version in Cursor but I ran out of that Pro subscription wayyyy wayy faster than I’ve had with Claude.
Claude lets me use it more. At least that’s how I’ve noticed it when I used it.
I’m gonna go say right now that Claude is the number 1 AI tool out there right now. I have also tried Google Gemini, and it’s alrightish, but Claude is like the best of the best right now.
Pros:
Good experience with the AI itself, like Claude 3.5 and 4 Sonnet, etc.
Awesome multi-editing for many places.
Great for chatting and usual text things. Can even paste images etc same as Cursor and Copilot. Can’t in terminal I think but can in the Claude Desktop app.
Better than ChatGPT and Copilot (for the editor)
Runs in any terminal, VSCode included, and since it’s VSCode, it’s very fast!
It analyzes your project by doing /init, and it will scan your codebase and generate its own Claude.md (Similar to Cursor rules, but you need to type those manually unless you tell it to generate one) (If you have a Cursor rules file, it will read it and include important parts in it, and then delete the file)
MCP works wonderfully; it even works on my mobile phone.
Cons:
So far, I haven’t noticed any cons other than some small nitpicks.
In the VSCode extension, when you re-open a project, you need to close and open the Claude window. Kinda annoying, otherwise it’s just blank.
Runs in a terminal. It’s great! But it might be unlikable for users who prefer VSCode buttons, etc, but for me it’s not a deal breaker.
So far, I’m using Claude as my daily driver for now.
That’s all. That’s my honest review.
I will update this if I find any more issues with Claude, etc.