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The AI Tools Our Dev Team Uses Every Day — Claude, Claude Code, Copilot & Cursor

Feroz Khan15 June 2026

Why we use multiple AI tools

A common question we get: do you just use one AI tool for everything?

The answer is no — and that is intentional. Different AI tools are built for different moments in the development workflow. Using the right tool at the right time is what makes vibe coding genuinely fast rather than just theoretically fast.

Here is an honest breakdown of the four tools that power our team every day.

1. Claude (Anthropic) — our primary AI for reasoning and architecture

What it is: Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant, available via claude.ai and the Claude API. We use Claude Fable 5 and Sonnet depending on the complexity of the task.

What we use it for:

  • Designing system architecture from scratch — database schemas, API structures, microservice boundaries
  • Solving complex bugs that require reasoning across multiple files and layers
  • Reviewing security-sensitive code before it hits production
  • Writing and refining technical specs, RFCs, and design documents
  • Explaining a complex codebase to a new team member in plain language
  • Brainstorming approaches to a problem before writing a single line of code

Why Claude stands out: Claude handles long, complex context better than any other tool we have used. When we feed it an entire module and say "find the issue," it actually reasons through it rather than guessing. Its responses are also notably thoughtful — it will push back if your approach has a flaw, which saves us from bad decisions.

Best for: Deep thinking, architecture, complex debugging, long-context reasoning.

2. Claude Code — our agentic coding powerhouse

What it is: Claude Code is Anthropic's command-line tool that lets Claude work autonomously inside your terminal. It can read files, run commands, edit multiple files, and work through multi-step tasks while you watch and review.

What we use it for:

  • Refactoring large codebases across many files at once
  • Running database migrations with validation steps built in
  • Scaffolding an entire new project end-to-end from a brief
  • Automating repetitive multi-step tasks (renaming, restructuring, updating configs)
  • Writing and running tests against newly generated code

Why Claude Code stands out: This is where vibe coding gets truly powerful. Instead of copy-pasting code between a chat window and your editor, Claude Code works directly inside your project. You describe what you want, it executes, you review, and you approve. It feels like having a junior developer who never gets tired and never loses context.

Best for: Agentic multi-file tasks, refactoring, scaffolding, automation.

Pro tip: Combine Claude Code with a clear CLAUDE.md file in your repo root — it gives Claude persistent context about your project's conventions, stack, and coding standards.

3. GitHub Copilot — our inline autocomplete engine

What it is: GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant built into your editor (VS Code, JetBrains, etc.) that suggests code completions as you type.

What we use it for:

  • Autocompleting repetitive boilerplate (getters, setters, CRUD operations)
  • Finishing a function based on its name and comments
  • Suggesting imports and common patterns mid-flow
  • Speeding up typing in familiar languages and frameworks

Why Copilot stands out: Copilot lives inside the editor and works in real time. You do not context-switch — suggestions appear inline as ghost text, and you accept with a single key. For the kind of fast, flow-state coding where you know what you want to write but just want to write it faster, nothing beats it.

Best for: Inline completions, boilerplate, staying in flow without switching windows.

Honest caveat: Copilot suggestions are not always right. You still need to read what it produces. On complex logic, it can confidently suggest the wrong thing. We treat it as a fast typist, not a thinker.

4. Cursor — our AI-native code editor

What it is: Cursor is a code editor built on VS Code with AI deeply integrated throughout — not bolted on. It supports Claude, GPT-4, and other models natively and lets you chat with your codebase directly inside the editor.

What we use it for:

  • Chatting with our codebase — asking questions like "where is the auth logic handled?" across the whole project
  • Applying AI-suggested edits directly to files with one click
  • Running multi-file edits from a natural language instruction
  • Onboarding new developers to an unfamiliar codebase quickly

Why Cursor stands out: Cursor collapses the gap between your AI and your code. Instead of switching between a browser and your editor, everything happens in one place. The "chat with codebase" feature is especially powerful — it indexes your whole repo so the AI has full context without you having to paste anything.

Best for: Codebase-aware chat, fast multi-file edits, new developer onboarding.

How we combine all four tools

Here is how a typical feature build looks in our workflow:

1. Claude (chat)     → Discuss the approach, design the architecture
2. Cursor            → Open the codebase, chat with existing code for context
3. Claude Code       → Scaffold the new module and write the core logic
4. GitHub Copilot    → Fill in the details, boilerplate, and repetitive parts
5. Claude (chat)     → Review the final output, catch edge cases, write docs

Each tool handles what it does best. The result is a workflow that is dramatically faster than writing everything by hand — without sacrificing quality or control.

Quick comparison

Tool Best moment Works inside editor? Agentic?
Claude Architecture, reasoning, review No (browser/API) No
Claude Code Multi-file autonomous tasks Yes (terminal) Yes
GitHub Copilot Inline autocomplete Yes No
Cursor Codebase-aware chat + edits Yes Partial

Our honest verdict

No single tool does everything. The teams that get the most out of AI are the ones who stop looking for one perfect tool and start building a stack where each tool plays its role.

If you are just starting out, our recommendation is simple:

  • Start with Claude for thinking and planning
  • Add Cursor as your daily editor
  • Layer in Copilot for speed
  • Graduate to Claude Code for agentic workflows once you are comfortable

This is part of our vibe coding series. Read the full series: How We Use Vibe Coding | Claude Models We Use | Claude Fable 5 & Mythos 5 Explained

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