How do you choose an AI coding tool (Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code…)? What criteria do you use?
Suggested answer
A good answer doesn't rank the tools. It shows that you understand how they differ and how you stay in control of the result.
The first criterion is how much work you hand over. Suggestions as you type (Copilot, Cursor's Tab) keep you writing every line. An agent inside the editor edits several files and lets you review each change. An agent that runs commands, like Claude Code, runs the tests, reads the errors and keeps fixing. The more you hand over, the more carefully you have to review.
The second criterion is your company's rules: which tools are allowed, whether code may leave the company, and what data policies apply. At a company, this is usually the deciding factor.
The third criterion is cost and free plans; prices change constantly, so always check the official pricing page.
The most important part is how you check the result, whichever tool you use:
- write a short spec and tests before handing the task over;
- say explicitly "don't change the tests";
- run the tests yourself under the same conditions as production (for example, the UTC time zone);
- try a few cases beyond the tests, and be able to explain every part of the code before merging.
Bonus points: describe a specific bug that your tests, or your own extra checks, caught.