Whether you're a student, indie developer, or part of a dev team looking for a Copilot alternative, Codeium is worth a serious look. In this blog, we’ll dive into a full review of Codeium in 2025—its features, pros and cons, real-world performance, and how it compares to other tools on the market.
What is Codeium?
Codeium is a free AI-powered coding assistant that integrates with your favorite IDEs—like VS Code, JetBrains, JupyterLab, and even web editors like Colab and Replit. It uses large language models trained specifically for code to offer smart autocomplete, code generation, and contextual suggestions.
Its biggest draw? It’s 100% free for individual developers, unlike GitHub Copilot, which charges monthly.
Key Features of Codeium
Let’s explore the core features that make Codeium stand out:
1. AI Autocomplete
Codeium offers real-time, context-aware code suggestions. As you type, it predicts your next line or even an entire code block. It works well with:
- Functions
- Loops
- Class structures
- API calls
- Test cases
2. Multilingual Support
Codeium supports 40+ programming languages, including:
- Python
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- Java
- C++
- Go
- Rust
- HTML/CSS
This makes it versatile for frontend, backend, systems, and data science work.
3. IDE Integrations
Codeium supports a wide range of editors:
- Visual Studio Code
- JetBrains (IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.)
- JupyterLab
- Colab
- Replit
- Vim/Neovim
The installations are smooth, and extensions are updated frequently.
4. Zero-Cost Model
Unlike most AI coding assistants, Codeium is completely free for individuals. No credit card, no freemium traps. Teams can request enterprise features, but the core offering is robust and generous.
5. Privacy & Security
Codeium does send code snippets to the cloud for processing, but claims to never store code permanently or use it to retrain models. They also offer an on-prem enterprise version for teams with stricter privacy needs.
Codeium in Real-World Use
We tested Codeium review across a few real-world scenarios—building web apps in React, scripting Python utilities, and solving algorithm challenges in C++—to evaluate its performance.
✅ Autocomplete Accuracy
Codeium's suggestions were highly relevant in Python and JavaScript. It often completed entire functions based on minimal context and understood libraries like pandas, numpy, and express.js.
✅ Speed
Suggestions appear quickly with almost no lag. Even in larger files, the assistant keeps up well, with no noticeable slowdown.
✅ Learning Curve
Installation is straightforward, and there’s no setup required beyond installing the plugin. It’s beginner-friendly and ideal for students or bootcamp grads.
❌ Occasional Irrelevance
In less common frameworks or niche use cases, suggestions can be generic or unrelated. This is common with most code LLMs but worth noting.
❌ No Chat-Like AI Assistant (Yet)
Unlike Cursor or Copilot Chat, Codeium does not currently offer a side panel chat interface for debugging, explanations, or documentation lookups. It’s focused solely on autocomplete.
How Does Codeium Compare to GitHub Copilot?
| Feature | Codeium | GitHub Copilot |
| Price | Free | $10/month (individual) |
| IDE Support | VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, Web | VS Code, JetBrains |
| Language Support | 40+ | 20+ |
| Chat Feature | Not available | Copilot Chat (Pro) |
| Offline Mode | No | No |
Verdict: If you're just looking for a reliable, fast, and free autocomplete tool, Codeium easily rivals Copilot. If you need a more AI assistant-like experience (e.g., chat-based debugging), Copilot Chat might edge ahead—but only at a price.
Ideal Use Cases for Codeium
- Student Projects: Free access to quality suggestions helps accelerate learning.
- Side Projects & Startups: Save hours of dev time without increasing your budget.
- Experimentation: Try new languages and frameworks with intelligent guidance.
- Backend/API Development: Speeds up boilerplate and logic-heavy tasks.
Final Verdict
Codeium is arguably the best free AI coding assistant available in 2025.
It’s blazing fast, integrates seamlessly into popular IDEs, supports a wide range of languages, and doesn’t lock you behind a paywall. While it lacks the conversational AI features found in premium tools like Copilot Chat or Cursor, it more than makes up for it with intelligent autocompletion and excellent developer ergonomics.
For developers who want productivity without the price tag, Codeium is a no-brainer.
Read more on https://keploy.io/blog/community/codium-vs-copilot-which-ai-coding-assistant-is-best-for-you