I'm an experienced developer, and Cursor's Tab autocomplete is the AI coding feature I rely on most. I occasionally use Plan and Agent for quick proofs of concept, while Ask mode is useful when I'm exploring a new repository or preparing to contribute to an open-source project.
Recently, though, Cursor has become increasingly frustrating. Code Actions often fail when importing TypeScript libraries or fixing lint errors, and the import suggestions opened with Ctrl+Space can jump back to the top while navigating with the arrow keys. Restarting doesn't consistently fix these problems. I'm also uncomfortable with recent company changes and the possible security implications for my team.
I'm not looking to complain about Cursor—I'd like practical recommendations for alternatives, especially tools with strong, reliable inline autocomplete. I've tried Windsurf and Zed before but ended up returning to Cursor because it felt more robust. What are you using now?
4 Answers
Windsurf is another common choice, particularly in consulting environments where teams can afford the subscription. It provides a broader AI-assisted coding workflow, though whether its autocomplete feels better than Cursor will depend on your language and project.
GitHub Copilot’s inline suggestions are still one of the better options, especially if you mainly want autocomplete rather than an agent that tries to rewrite large sections of code. The older versions felt faster, more predictable, and better at completing the statement you had already started. A lot of newer tools tend to generate several extra lines or make assumptions that aren’t useful.
A solid setup is Zed or VS Code with GitHub Copilot inline suggestions, while using Claude Code separately for larger tasks and repository-level work. That keeps autocomplete lightweight and gives you a more capable tool when you actually need multi-file reasoning.
I tried Copilot a while back and stopped using it because it didn’t seem aware of the files I had open or the text on my clipboard. Has its context awareness improved since then?
If autocomplete is the only AI feature you care about, VS Code with GitHub Copilot is usually good enough. It may not feel as ambitious as Cursor, but the inline completions are dependable and the overall setup is straightforward.
That matches what I’m looking for. I’d much rather have a focused completion that finishes the current line than a large suggestion trying to invent the next function.