What AI Coding Tools Developers Actually Use in 2025

TL;DR

Cursor, ChatGPT, Wispr Flow, DeepAgent, Warp, and Lovable are the AI tools this developer actually uses in 2025. Cursor is his preferred IDE for hybrid projects, while ChatGPT stays open for multiple hours per day and Wispr Flow raises his dictation speed from 60–70 to nearly 200 words per minute. Read on to see which tool fits each development task.

Transcript

I have gone over a lot of AI tools on this channel. I've made probably 30 plus videos at this point covering those various tools. So in this video I want to talk to you about which ones I actually use on a day by day basis as a developer, what tools are open on my computer and are getting the most use, stick around. I'm going to go through a bunch ... Read More

Key Insights

• Cursor is the preferred day-to-day AI IDE for hybrid projects that combine back-end, front-end, and many components, because it now outperforms Windsurf after rapidly copying and adding the features Windsurf originally led with.
• ChatGPT gets the most daily use of any tool because years of accumulated personal context (car, travel, plans) let it give more relevant replies than newer AI tools that lack that history, despite security tradeoffs.
• Wispr Flow is a background dictation tool triggered by a keyboard shortcut that works in any application on Windows, Mac, and iPhone, and reportedly triples productivity by enabling roughly 190-200 words per minute versus 60-70 typed.
• Voice dictation produces better AI prompts because speaking encourages more detail and context than typing, since users are lazier when they have to type long prompts out manually.
• Wispr Flow can tag individual variables and files inside Cursor and Windsurf as you dictate, using each tool's built-in features to supply the right context to the AI rather than dumping plain text.
• DeepAgent by Abacus AI handles complex, long-running agent tasks like searching the internet, building apps, generating PowerPoints, or researching nearby construction timelines with high accuracy that ChatGPT cannot match.
• Warp is an AI terminal that generates code and runs commands, excelling at automation, deployment, containerization, and Kubernetes work, and can run multiple agents in parallel across tabs like multithreaded agents.
• Lovable is used only for generating simple frontends such as landing pages and basic sites, not full-stack apps; the dev launch vault landing page was built in Lovable then refined in Cursor.

Questions & Answers

Q: What AI coding tools does the developer actually use in 2025?

His regular toolkit includes Cursor, Windsurf, ChatGPT, Wispr Flow, DeepAgent by Abacus AI, Warp, and Lovable. Cursor handles most hybrid development, while the other tools cover general assistance, dictation, long-running agent tasks, terminal work, deployment, and simple frontends.

Q: What is the best AI IDE for hybrid development projects?

Cursor is the creator’s current go-to AI IDE for projects combining a back end, front end, and many components. He previously found Windsurf better, but now mostly uses Cursor because it accelerated quickly and added features that Windsurf had introduced.

Q: How does an AI IDE such as Cursor work?

The developer can select a model, such as GPT-5, and request a change like updating a website title. The IDE writes code, makes the changes, and lets the developer inspect them inside the editor while retaining control over code and files.

Q: Why does the developer use ChatGPT more than other AI tools?

Years of accumulated context make ChatGPT’s responses especially relevant to him, including context about his car, travel, and plans. He uses it for emails, queries, contracts, students, resumes, video scripts, accounting, and photo-based questions, often keeping it open for multiple hours per day.

Q: How much does Wispr Flow improve the developer’s productivity?

He says Wispr Flow triples his productivity. His normal typing speed is about 60–70 words per minute, while Flow lets him dictate at nearly 200 words per minute, with roughly 190 shown as his average.

Q: What makes Wispr Flow useful for AI prompting and coding?

Wispr Flow works in any application on Windows, Mac, and iPhone, starts with a keyboard shortcut, and saves dictation history. In Cursor and Windsurf, it can also tag variables and files while he speaks, helping provide the AI with relevant context.

Q: What are DeepAgent and Warp used for?

DeepAgent by Abacus AI handles complex, long-running work such as internet research, app building, PowerPoint generation, and document creation. Warp is an AI terminal used for automation, deployment, containerization, and Kubernetes work, with support for multiple agents running across tabs.

Q: When should developers use Lovable instead of a full AI IDE?

Lovable is used for simple frontends such as landing pages, basic designs, and relatively simple websites rather than complete full-stack applications. The creator built the dev launch vault landing page in Lovable and then refined it in Cursor.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The creator, a developer who has made 30-plus AI tool videos, shares only the tools he actually uses daily. Cursor is his primary AI IDE for hybrid projects because it now beats Windsurf, though he still keeps Windsurf open and values controlling and editing code himself.

• ChatGPT is his most-used tool overall, kept open for hours on a second monitor for emails, contracts, resume reviews, video scripting, accounting, and random photo questions. Years of fed-in personal context make its replies more relevant than newer tools, despite the security downside he acknowledges.

• Wispr Flow dictation triples his coding productivity by enabling near-200-words-per-minute prompting across every app, and can tag files in Cursor and Windsurf. DeepAgent handles complex agent tasks, Warp serves as a parallel-agent AI terminal for deployment, and Lovable spins up simple frontend landing pages.