# The AI coding stack I actually use: what's in my workflow > Source: > Published: 2026-06-17 00:00:00+00:00 The Primer · Tools & Stacks # The AI coding stack I actually use: what's in my workflow No affiliate links · vendor-neutral · nothing here pays us No affiliate links in this post. Nothing here pays me. Just what I actually reach for after a year of building with AI tools daily, and where each one stops being worth it. **For writing code:** I bounce between an AI-in-the-editor tool and a chat model in a browser tab. The editor integration is faster for small, in-context edits; the chat window is better when I need to think through a problem out loud before touching code. Using both, not picking one, is the actual answer most “X vs Y” posts won’t give you. ## Where it shines Boilerplate, test scaffolding, unfamiliar APIs, and “explain this legacy file.” Genuine multi-hour-per-week savings, no exaggeration. ## Where it stops being worth it Anything where being subtly wrong is expensive: auth, payments, security-sensitive logic. I still write those by hand and use AI only to review. The tool is a strong junior, not a senior; I don’t merge what I can’t read. ## The subscription math I pay for two tools. It’s real money each month, and it’s worth it *for me* because I ship for a living. If you’re learning or building nights-and-weekends, one paid tool plus free tiers is plenty, don’t let anyone guilt you into the full stack before you’re earning from it. ## The one habit that matters more than tool choice Keep a running file of prompts that worked. Your own library beats any tool’s defaults within a month. What’s in your setup, and where have *you* found the AI tools stop earning their keep?