Trae
Free AI-powered IDE with unlimited Claude and GPT-4o access
Last updated: February 2025
Free tier with unlimited Claude/GPT-4o, Pro $10/mo
Quick Verdict
An impressive free AI IDE with a significant privacy caveat. Great value for developers comfortable with ByteDance's data practices, but evaluate the privacy trade-offs carefully.
What is Trae?
Trae is a VS Code-based AI IDE from ByteDance offering free access to Claude and GPT-4o. It features Builder Mode for generating complete apps from natural language prompts and Chat Mode for step-by-step code analysis. With over 6 million registered users, it has gained rapid adoption — though significant privacy concerns have been raised regarding extensive telemetry and data collection.
Our Impression
"Trae's value proposition is compelling — free access to premium AI models in a familiar VS Code interface. Builder Mode is genuinely useful for rapid prototyping. However, the privacy concerns are significant and well-documented, with telemetry continuing even after opt-out. Users should make an informed choice about the trade-off."
— Giga Engineer Editorial Team
Key Features
Pros
- Free tier includes premium AI models
- Builder Mode is powerful for rapid prototyping
- Familiar VS Code interface with minimal learning curve
- Extremely competitive Pro pricing at $10/mo
Cons
- Significant privacy concerns with persistent telemetry
- Data transferred to ByteDance servers
- Uses approximately 3x more memory than Cursor
Who Should Use Trae?
- Individual developers wanting free AI coding assistance
- Students and hobbyists who cannot afford Cursor or Copilot
- Rapid prototypers using Builder Mode for quick app generation
- Developers evaluating different AI coding approaches
Trae Pricing
Free tier with unlimited Claude/GPT-4o, Pro $10/mo
Visit Trae's website for the most up-to-date pricing information.
Trae Alternatives
Looking for alternatives to Trae? Consider these options: