> I'm really looking for tools that provide high-quality code suggestions without too many hallucinations. Sooo, I had a moment to think about this more. Basically, the AI hype train makes it feel like you gotta spend a fortune just to stay current, but that's actually not true. The core issue is context... if the AI cant see ur whole React component tree, it's gonna hallucinate. Honestly, I was so disappointed with the GitHub Copilot Individual Subscription lately. It felt like it was getting dumber or something? For ur Node.js stack, I highkey recommend checking out the Codeium Individual Free Tier. It's literally free for individuals and handles the boilerplate just as well as the paid stuff. If you REALLY want that advanced reasoning, skip the pricey ChatGPT Plus sub and use the Claude 3.5 Sonnet model inside the Cursor Pro Plan. It's $20 a month, but since it replaces your Copilot sub and adds deep codebase indexing, it's the best value for money. Tbh, paying for multiple subs is just what they want you to fall for! Anyway, that's what I'm sticking with.

Seconding the recommendation above! If ur worried about data leaks or costs, I totally get it. I recently shifted to a local setup thats $0 and highkey secure.

• Continue for VS Code: Free, open-source IDE extension.
• Ollama with Llama 3.1 8B: Runs local, 100% private.
• Amazon Q Developer Free Tier: Free tier for AWS devs. Local LLMs are definitely the best choice for privacy-obsessed devs like me!! Peace 👍

I've tracked these tools for a decade and honestly seen every hype cycle. To sum up what's been said:

• Cursor leads for codebase indexing.
• Copilot is the standard.
• Local setups are the new meta. WATCH OUT tho: don't let prompt fatigue win! I've seen senior devs ship broken logic cuz they trusted the AI blindly. Lesson learned? Always verify EVERYTHING before committing... gl!

> It is honestly getting a bit hard to keep track of what is actually useful and what is just hype. I totally feel this! It is honestly so frustrating trying to get these tools to work together without everything crashing or lagging. I spent hours last night just trying to figure out why my AI autocomplete was fighting with my linter and it is just exhausting when you are trying to be productive but the tech gets in the way. Compatibility between all these different plugins and Node versions is such a massive headache lately and it makes me want to pull my hair out! If you want some practical suggestions that actually stay stable and dont break the bank, I have been using these lately:

• Supermaven Free Tier: This tool is incredible! The speed is basically instant and the huge context window is a total game changer for complex React projects. It feels way lighter than the standard extensions.
• Sourcegraph Cody Free Tier: This has been fantastic for me because it handles repo-wide context really well without a complicated setup. I love how these feel way more reliable and dont seem to mess with my other VS Code settings as much!

Quick reply while I have a sec... Honestly most people just default to the standard 20 dollar subscriptions but they can be inefficient if you arent hitting the usage caps. I am curious tho, do you have a specific monthly budget ceiling, or are you open to managing your own API keys? Knowing your approximate daily token throughput would help me calculate the best cost-to-performance ratio for your stack. If you want to optimize for budget, check out Aider AI CLI. It is a command-line tool that allows you to connect directly to different providers. I have been running it with the OpenRouter API lately to access DeepSeek Coder V2. The pricing on that model is significantly lower—often under $0.30 per million tokens—compared to the much higher rates for Claude or GPT-4o, while maintaining high logic scores for React and Node.js. It is a decent option if you want to pay for actual consumption rather than a flat fee that might go to waste.

This is exactly what I needed to hear. Youre a lifesaver honestly.

> I'm curious about what everyone is actually using in their daily workflow. so basically, AI accuracy depends on context. if your tool doesnt index your whole repo, it just guesses. i switched to Cursor recently.

• Cursor: amazing codebase indexing but feels a bit different than normal vs code.
• GitHub Copilot: easy to use but honestly hallucinates way more. using Claude 3.5 Sonnet within cursor has been a huge boost for my react apps, i think?

Solid advice 👍

Same here!

Seconded!

Saw this thread earlier and wanted to chime in because I've seen some messy situations lately. Over the years, I've tried many of these 'auto-coding' workflows and honestly, the speed is usually a trap. In my experience, focusing solely on how fast you can churn out React components leads to major performance bottlenecks that are a nightmare to debug later. Watch out for these specific issues:

• Subtle logic bugs that look perfectly fine but fail under high concurrency
• Drastic increases in bundle size because the AI suggests three different libraries for one simple task
• Hidden security flaws in 'optimized' snippets that nobody actually audits I'm all for saving time, but letting a tool handle a whole PR is just asking for trouble. Real productivity comes from code that actually runs efficiently in production, not just code that passes a local test. Dont trade long-term stability for short-term convenience... seen it happen too many times.

Jumping in here since I've spent way too much time testing these tools. Quick question tho, are you mostly dealing with complex state management in React or is it more about the Node.js backend logic? Knowing where you hit the wall most often helps narrow it down. Personally, I've been experimenting with OpenRouter API to get access to specific models like DeepSeek Coder V2 which is actually killer for TypeScript and avoiding those weird logic hallucinations. If you want a totally different feel, the Zed Editor with AI features is worth a look. It is built in Rust so it's crazy fast compared to anything Electron-based, and the AI integration is getting much tighter lately. Another one that flies under the radar is DoubleBot for VS Code, which is decent if you want a more guided experience than just a chat window. It really depends on if you're a leave it on autopilot dev or a I want to tweak every prompt person lol. Both styles have their place but the token costs can add up if you arent careful.

This is exactly what I needed to hear. Youre a lifesaver honestly.