I have been coding for 5 years. I have used every AI tool on the market. Cursor, Copilot, Windsurf, Cody, you name it.
Last month, I deleted all of them.
Not because they are bad. They are great. But I found something better. Something free. Something that runs on my machine and never sends my code to the cloud.
Every AI coding tool has the same issue: your code leaves your machine.
When you accept a suggestion from Cursor, your code context is sent to their servers. When Copilot completes your line, your code is processed on Microsoft's servers.
For personal projects, maybe that is fine. But for work? For client code? For proprietary algorithms?
That is a deal breaker.
Let us talk about money:
That is $54-648 per year. Per developer. For a team of 10, that is $5,400-6,480 per year.
For what? For code suggestions that may or may not be correct?
Three weeks ago, I discovered MonkeyCode. It is an open-source AI coding platform that runs locally.
Here is what makes it different:
Not "free tier with 50 requests." Not "free trial for 14 days." Actually free. Forever.
I have been using it daily for three weeks. Code completions, chat, code review, refactoring. All of it. No limits. No credit card. No catch.
MonkeyCode runs on your machine. Your code never leaves your computer. No cloud servers. No data collection. No "we may use your code to improve our models."
This matters for:
MonkeyCode is not locked to one AI provider. You can use:
Switch models based on your task. Use a fast model for completions, a powerful one for complex refactoring.
MonkeyCode integrates with:
It feels like Copilot, but free and private.
| Metric | Before (Cursor) | After (MonkeyCode) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $20 | $0 |
| Features shipped | 5/week | 8/week |
| Code privacy | Cloud | 100% Local |
| Model flexibility | Locked | Any model |
| Peace of mind | Low | High |
Getting started takes 5 minutes:
git clone https://github.com/chaitin/MonkeyCode.git
cd MonkeyCode
docker-compose up -d
ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:7b
That is it. No account creation. No credit card. No subscription.
I do not miss:
I do miss (a little):
The AI coding tool market is exploding. Every week there is a new tool, a new pricing model, a new "game-changing" feature.
But here is what most people miss: the core technology is commoditizing. The models are getting smaller, faster, and cheaper. Open-source models are catching up to closed-source ones.
The real value is not in the model. It is in the tooling around it. And MonkeyCode has nailed the tooling.
If you are paying for AI coding tools right now, ask yourself: why?
What AI coding tools do you use? How much are you paying? Would you switch to a free, private alternative?
P.S. I am not sponsored by MonkeyCode. I just think free, private tools deserve more attention.
P.P.S. If you are a student or indie developer, MonkeyCode is especially great. No budget? No problem.