Trae
Free AI IDE by ByteDance
Best free AI IDE
Developers who want a powerful AI IDE without paying a subscription
Founded 2024 · China
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Full IDE with AI features, Access to Claude 3.7 Sonnet, GPT-4o, DeepSeek R1 |
Pricing last verified: 2026-03-13
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Completely free — no subscription required
- +Access to top-tier models (Claude, GPT-4o, DeepSeek) at no cost
- +Strong agentic coding with Builder mode
- +Backed by ByteDance — well-funded and fast-moving
Limitations
- -ByteDance ownership raises data privacy concerns for some users
- -Smaller extension ecosystem than VS Code/Cursor
- -Newer and less battle-tested than Cursor or Windsurf
- -May introduce paid tiers in the future — free pricing not guaranteed long-term
What Real Users Say
“Trae is shockingly good for a free tool. The Builder mode is basically Cursor Agent but you're not paying $20/mo.”
How It Compares
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Last updated: 2026-03-13