Promptshelf Tool Decision Flowchart · 23 leaves · 2–3 questions
Decision tree · 4-bit-per-step ?path= URL · 23 leaves · updated 2026-04-24

Which AI coding tool actually fits your workflow?

A shortlist of 23 tools is too long to compare feature-by-feature — vendor pages all claim they do everything. This tree flips the decision: start with your constraint (workflow, editor, budget, governance), answer 2–3 questions, land on one tool with a rationale, a cost number, and the cross-links you need to install it. Every step is encoded in the URL, so your recommendation is a shareable link.

2–3 questions to reach a leaf 23 leaves · 16 distinct tools ?path=<hex> shareable URL no account · no tracking · single-file HTML
Bay 01 · Decide Walk the tree
Bay 02 · All 23 leaves Or just browse the recommendations

Every leaf of the tree is a concrete tool recommendation with its own path. Clicking a tile below walks you to that leaf — same destination you would reach by answering the questions, just faster when you already know the profile that fits you.

Bay 03 · How it works The ?path= URL format

Each hex character in ?path= names which option you chose at that step. The root has five options indexed 0–4. Follow-up nodes have up to four options indexed 0–3. Examples:

?path=00
Agentic → $100+/mo
→ Claude Code (Opus tier)
?path=101
Assistive → VS Code → Agent + chat
→ Cursor Pro
?path=22
CLI-first → Gemini
→ Gemini Code Assist CLI
?path=41
Enterprise → 100+ SSO + audit
→ GitHub Copilot Enterprise
Bay 04 · FAQ Questions about the flowchart
How does the flowchart pick a tool?
You walk a fixed decision tree. The first question splits by primary goal (agentic, assistive, CLI-first, free/OSS, enterprise). Each follow-up narrows on the axis that most distinguishes tools in that branch — budget for agentic, editor for assistive, model family for CLI, need for OSS, governance for enterprise. After 2–3 clicks you land on a leaf with one tool named, a rationale, and an estimated monthly cost.
Why isn't my favorite tool here?
The tree names 23 tools that cover the common AI-coding shapes as of 2026-04. It skips tools that only exist as research demos, that have shut down, or that are strict subsets of a tool already named (for example, a Cursor fork with no distinct pricing or feature wedge). If you want a particular tool added, open an issue — the tree is hand-maintained, not scraped.
Are the monthly cost estimates accurate?
They are list prices as of 2026-04 pulled from each vendor's public pricing page. Real usage can vary — pay-per-token plans can be cheaper for light use and more expensive for heavy agentic work. Use the numbers as a first-order comparison, then cross-check with our AI Stack Cost Estimator for your team size and language mix.
How do I share a recommendation?
The URL updates as you click. At the root, the URL is /tool-decision-flowchart. Pick agentic, and it becomes /tool-decision-flowchart?path=0. Pick $100+ budget after that, and it becomes /tool-decision-flowchart?path=00. Copy the URL from your address bar, or use the Share URL field that appears on every leaf card — it restores the full path when opened.
What does the ?path= URL format mean?
Each character is a hex digit naming which option you chose at that step. The root has five options encoded 0–4. A two-character path like ?path=12 means: at the root choose option 1 (assistive), then at the next node choose option 2. The format is 4-bit-per-step with a max depth of 8, leaving room to deepen the tree without breaking older share links.
How often is the tree updated?
Whenever a named tool ships a meaningful pricing change, a major feature, or goes end-of-life. New tools enter the tree only if they carve out a distinct wedge from everything already named. The last update is visible in the page footer and the sitemap's lastmod. Broad rebuilds are infrequent; point edits are frequent.
Which tool is the best?
No tool is best across all five branches. Claude Code wins for agentic with generous budget; Cursor wins for VS-Code-native agent chat; Copilot wins for enterprise governance; Aider wins for OSS CLI with model-agnostic API; Continue.dev wins for zero-cost extension. The flowchart exists because the best-for-you tool depends on constraints the vendor homepages can't see.
What if no tool fits me?
Walk the tree twice with different priorities — once by budget, once by editor — and see where the leaves overlap. If nothing in the 23 leaves hits your constraints, your profile is unusual; drop a BTC-funded commission request at /commission and we'll build a custom kit. Or pick the closest leaf and swap the tool for its nearest neighbor — the cross-links on every leaf point at comparison pages that help.