Claude Code vs Copilot: 39% vs 21% Use at Work

Claude Code adoption reached 39% worldwide and 47% in the US

Around 39% of professional developers worldwide used Claude Code at work in May–July 2026, and 47% of US developers did, JetBrains Research reports. In January 2026 the worldwide figure was 18%. In the United States, almost half of developers use it.

Two terms recur below: adoption is the share of respondents who use a tool at work, and awareness is the share who have heard of it, a measure JetBrains also calls mind share. The adoption and awareness table gives both for six tools.

Workplace adoption and awareness, May–July 2026

Tool Adoption Previous Awareness
Claude Code ~39% 18% (January) Not reported
GitHub Copilot 21% 29% (a year ago) 79%
Codex 16% 3% (January) 65%
Cursor 12% 18% (January) 75%
OpenCode 7% Not reported 42%
Google Antigravity 6% Not reported 47%

JetBrains says Claude Code is used twice as often as GitHub Copilot. Claude Code is also the most used AI coding tool for 31% of developers, which JetBrains calls an almost 80% conversion rate from regular use at work to being the single most used tool.

AI coding agents as a group are widely used. In May–July 2026, 90% of professional developers used them at work at least weekly, and 68% used them daily. Local agents and remote cloud agents both count.

"As of May–July 2026, 90% of professional developers were using AI coding agents at work at least weekly in one form or another (local agents or remote cloud agents), with 68% using them daily"/"It is used twice as often as GitHub Copilot, a former long-standing leader of the market that brought AI-assisted coding into the spotlight in 2023."/"In the United States, its adoption is even higher at 47% – thus, almost half of US developers are using Claude Code at work."/"Claude Code is the most used AI coding tool for 31% of developers, which signifies an almost 80% conversion rate"(Key adoption trends section)— JetBrains Research
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Claude Code vs Copilot, Codex, and Cursor

Claude Code is used about twice as often as Copilot, at 39% against 21%. Codex and Cursor sit further back at 16% and 12%, and Copilot and Cursor fell from their earlier figures while Codex rose. The JetBrains post gives only adoption and awareness figures, with no feature or price comparison.

GitHub Copilot fell to 21% with 79% awareness

Copilot's adoption declined from 29% a year ago to 21% in May–July 2026, and JetBrains says it has lost its leadership. The post describes Copilot as a former long-standing leader that brought AI-assisted coding into the spotlight in 2023.

The tool is still well known. Awareness is 79% worldwide and 86% to 90% in Europe, the UK, and the US. Among Copilot users, 39% use it in JetBrains IDEs, alongside other surfaces.

"GitHub Copilot has lost its leadership, experiencing a decline from 29% adoption a year ago to 21% in May–July 2026."/"However, it is still one of the most widely known tools on the market, with 79% mind share (awareness) among developers. This metric is even higher in Europe, the UK, and the US, sitting at 86%–90%."/"according to the Developer Ecosystem Survey 2026, 39% of GitHub Copilot users use it, among other surfaces, in JetBrains IDEs."(Key adoption trends section)— JetBrains Research
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Codex grew from 3% to 16% since January

OpenAI's Codex went from 3% adoption in January 2026 to 16% in May–July, roughly a fivefold rise. Awareness rose as well. In January only 27% of developers worldwide had heard of Codex, despite the OpenAI brand behind it, and by May–July the figure was 65%.

"Codex is rapidly catching up, showing adoption growth of roughly 5x, from just 3% in January 2026 to 16% in May–July 2026."/"In January 2026, only 27% of developers worldwide had heard about Codex despite the huge OpenAI brand behind it, while by May–July 2026 that number had risen to 65%."(Key adoption trends section)— JetBrains Research
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Cursor slipped from 18% to 12% in adoption

Cursor's adoption fell from 18% in January to 12% in May–July, while its awareness rose from 69% to 75%. On adoption alone, the Claude Code vs Cursor figures are 39% and 12%.

The biggest drop was in China. There, 28% of developers used Cursor in January and 16% in May–July 2026.

"Although Cursor has gained some mind share (from 69% in January to 75% in May–July), it has experienced a small decline in adoption, from 18% in January to 12% in May–July."/"The biggest drop in adoption occurred in China, where it was used by 28% developers in January and by only 16% in May–July 2026."(Key adoption trends section)— JetBrains Research
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OpenCode and Antigravity trail in adoption

OpenCode, the open-source coding agent, reached 7% adoption and 42% awareness without a large company behind it. Google Antigravity held at 6% adoption while its awareness rose from 29% in January to 47% in May–July.

JetBrains calls India Antigravity's stronghold. There, 15% of developers use it at work, up from 10% in January, and it is practically tied with Cursor for third place among AI coding tools.

"OpenCode – the open-source coding agent – has reached 7% adoption. Even more remarkably, it enjoys a 42% mindshare among developers worldwide without a big company name behind it."/"Google Antigravity is stable in terms of adoption (6%) amid a significant leap in awareness: from 29% in January to 47% in May–July 2026. India is continuing to be Antigravity’s stronghold, where it is practically tied as the third most-popular AI coding tool, on par with Cursor: 15% of developers in India use Antigravity at work, up from 10% in January 2026."(Key adoption trends section)— JetBrains Research
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Adoption rates are not market share

The adoption figures count who uses a tool at work, not which one a developer picks, so they are not market share. Adding the six May–July adoption figures (39, 21, 16, 12, 7 and 6) gives 101 percentage points, which is possible only if some developers use more than one tool. The JetBrains post does not say this itself; it follows from the arithmetic.

So 39% counts the developers who use Claude Code and is not a slice of a fixed total. The nearest single-choice figure is 31%, the developers who name Claude Code the tool they use most, 8 points below its adoption rate. When quoting the survey, call the 39% figure adoption and the 31% figure most used.

"Claude Code is the most used AI coding tool for 31% of developers, which signifies an almost 80% conversion rate"(Key adoption trends section)— JetBrains Research
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Awareness and adoption don't move together

For Cursor and Google Antigravity, awareness rose while adoption fell or held flat. For Codex, both rose.

  • Cursor: awareness rose from 69% to 75% while adoption fell from 18% to 12%.
  • Google Antigravity: awareness rose from 29% to 47% while adoption stayed at 6%.
  • Codex: awareness rose from 27% to 65% and adoption rose from 3% to 16%.
  • GitHub Copilot: awareness is 79%, yet adoption is 21%, down from 29% a year ago.

Knowing a tool and using it at work are separate measures. The figures above show both side by side and do not explain the gaps.

"Although Cursor has gained some mind share (from 69% in January to 75% in May–July), it has experienced a small decline in adoption, from 18% in January to 12% in May–July."/"Google Antigravity is stable in terms of adoption (6%) amid a significant leap in awareness: from 29% in January to 47% in May–July 2026."/"In January 2026, only 27% of developers worldwide had heard about Codex despite the huge OpenAI brand behind it, while by May–July 2026 that number had risen to 65%."(Key adoption trends section)— JetBrains Research
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How JetBrains ran the Developer Ecosystem Survey 2026

The figures come from JetBrains' Developer Ecosystem Survey, now in its tenth year, which covers more than 15,000 professional developers worldwide. In the post, professional developers are respondents who code in one of six roles: developer, AI/ML engineer, DevOps engineer, architect, data scientist, or QA engineer. About 90% of the sample are developers, programmers, or software engineers.

The survey was translated into eight languages. JetBrains set response quotas by region, in proportion to the number of developers in each region. It also reweighted the results to better represent the global developer population by four factors: region, employment status, programming language, and familiarity with JetBrains products.

JetBrains also sells AI tools of its own. Around 9% of developers worldwide use JetBrains AI in IDEs or Junie at work, and Claude Agent, Codex, GitHub Copilot, and OpenCode are built into the AI chat of JetBrains IDEs. That is the context for the figures: the publisher has a product in this market and integrates several of the tools it measures.

"We recently ran the Developer Ecosystem Survey 2026 – a large-scale, globally representative survey of more than 15,000 professional developers worldwide, currently in its tenth year."/"Roughly 90% of the sample falls into the Developer / Programmer / Software Engineer job category."/"The Developer Ecosystem and AI Pulse surveys are localized into eight languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, and Portuguese."/"The quotas are proportionate to the number of developers in each region"/"The Developer Ecosystem Survey has been statistically reweighted to better represent the global developer population by region, employment status, programming language, and familiarity with JetBrains products."/"around 9% of developers worldwide using JetBrains AI in IDEs and/or Junie at work"/"Claude Agent, Codex, GitHub Copilot, and OpenCode are integrated directly into the AI chat of JetBrains IDEs"(Methodology notes and JetBrains AI sections)— JetBrains Research
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FAQ

Does Claude Code have more market share than GitHub Copilot?
Claude Code has more users at work, by about two to one, but the survey's figures are not market share. JetBrains puts Claude Code at around 39% adoption in May–July 2026 against 21% for GitHub Copilot. The adoption figures for the six tools add up to 101 points, so they overlap rather than splitting a fixed total.
How many developers use AI coding agents at all?
In May–July 2026, 90% of professional developers used an AI coding agent at work at least weekly, and 68% used one daily. Both local agents and remote cloud agents count toward these figures.
Is Cursor losing users?
The share of developers using it at work fell. Cursor's adoption dropped from 18% in January 2026 to 12% in May–July, even though awareness rose from 69% to 75%. The steepest regional drop was in China, from 28% to 16% over the same period.