JetBrains AI Assistant

What is JetBrains AI Assistant?

JetBrains AI Assistant is the generative artificial intelligence-based software development copilot created by JetBrains (the famous programming tools creator founded in 2000). Officially launched in 2023, the assistant operates natively and deeply integrated across its renowned line of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), such as IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand, Rider, PhpStorm, and CLion.

How it works

Unlike generic AI extensions that only analyze the open code file on the screen, JetBrains AI Assistant takes advantage of the advanced project indexing characteristic of JetBrains IDEs. The AI understands the full structure of the project, including relationships between classes, modules, dependencies, and data types. It securely connects to the JetBrains AI Service cloud, which dynamically selects the best language models on the market (such as OpenAI's GPT-4o and Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet, in addition to proprietary JetBrains models) to provide full-line autocompletion, explain bugs, and suggest complex refactorings safely.

Key features

• Smart Multi-line Autocomplete: Real-time suggestion of entire code blocks based on your project context and writing style.
• Integrated Contextual Chat: Side panel to ask questions about the code, request explanations of third-party logic, or ask for new functions.
• Unit Test Generation: Automatic creation of consistent test suites (using Jest, PyTest, JUnit, etc.) to cover project functions.
• AI-Suggested Refactorings: Suggestions to improve the performance, clarity, or readability of old code snippets.
• Git Commit Summary: Analyzes code changes in the IDE and generates concise, explanatory commit descriptions ready to send.

Available integrations

As a native ecosystem feature, the assistant is integrated with all internal tools of the IDEs: local terminal, version control (Git), debugger, and native database tools of each JetBrains IDE.

Who it is for

• Software developers and engineers who already use JetBrains tools (WebStorm, PyCharm, IntelliJ, Rider, etc.) and want an AI copilot without losing performance or leaving their environment.
• Agile development teams focused on increasing code delivery speed and coverage testing.
• Beginner developers who need step-by-step explanations of complex legacy software projects.

Real-world use cases

1. Accelerated Test Writing: A WebStorm developer creates a complex validation route in TypeScript and uses the AI command to automatically generate 15 unit tests covering edge cases.
2. Explanation of Stack Traces: When a critical execution error occurs in the IDE terminal, the developer right-clicks the error log and the AI assistant details in natural language what caused the problem and points to the exact line that needs correction.

Pricing

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Fluid native integration that consumes less memory than heavy third-party plugins.
• Project-level code understanding rather than just isolated files.
• Switches between high-quality AI models depending on task complexity.

Cons:

• Requires a recurring paid subscription (no continuous free tier).
• Does not work in competing editors like VS Code or Cursor.

Alternatives to JetBrains AI Assistant

The main code copilot solutions in the technology market are:

• GitHub Copilot: The most widely adopted code copilot worldwide, integrated into VS Code and JetBrains IDEs.
• Cursor: A full fork of VS Code modified specifically to be an editor focused on integrated AI.
• Codeium: A fast code copilot with excellent free features for individual developers.
• Tabnine: A pioneering autocompletion solution focused on local data security and privacy.