JetBrains survey: Claude Code surges as Copilot growth stalls
A JetBrains AI Pulse survey of over 10,000 developers worldwide finds that 90% use AI tools at work, with Claude Code emerging as the fastest-growing coding agent while GitHub Copilot's adoption has plateaued.
Score breakdown
Developers and engineering leaders evaluating AI tooling budgets should note Claude Code's rapid professional adoption and top-ranked satisfaction scores, which suggest it is displacing incumbent tools even in enterprise settings where ecosystem lock-in was previously a barrier.
- 01JetBrains surveyed over 10,000 professional developers worldwide in January 2026, localized into eight languages.
- 0290% of developers regularly used at least one AI tool at work for coding tasks as of January 2026.
- 0374% had adopted specialized AI developer tools (coding assistants, editors, agents) beyond general chatbots.
JetBrains' second-wave AI Pulse survey, conducted in January 2026 with a sample of over 10,000 professional developers worldwide and localized into eight languages, paints a clear picture of how AI coding tools are gaining — or losing — professional traction. The headline finding is that AI usage at work is now near-universal: 90% of developers regularly used at least one AI tool for coding and development tasks, and 74% had adopted specialized AI developer tools such as coding assistants, editors, or agents — not just general-purpose chatbots like ChatGPT.
GitHub Copilot holds the top spot in both awareness (76%) and adoption (29%), but the survey notes its growth in both dimensions has stalled since the prior year.
GitHub Copilot holds the top spot in both awareness (76%) and adoption (29%), but the survey notes its growth in both dimensions has stalled since the prior year. It remains strongest in large enterprises, where 40% of developers at companies with over 5,000 employees use it. Cursor, the second most recognized tool at 69% awareness, has also seen its growth slow and now shares second place in work adoption with Claude Code, each used by 18% of developers worldwide.
Claude Code is the survey's breakout performer. Its awareness climbed from 31% in April–June 2025 to 49% in September 2025 and 57% by January 2026, while work adoption grew approximately 6x from roughly 3% to 18% over the same period — a 1.5x increase from September 2025 alone. In the US and Canada, adoption reached 24%. Claude Code also leads the market on loyalty metrics, posting a CSAT of 91% and an NPS of 54 (on a scale of -100 to +100). By contrast, OpenAI's Codex had 27% awareness and only 3% work adoption as of January 2026, though the survey data predates the public launch of the Codex desktop app. The article argues this shift toward best-of-breed agents signals that product excellence is now overcoming ecosystem lock-in.
Key facts
- 01JetBrains surveyed over 10,000 professional developers worldwide in January 2026, localized into eight languages.
- 0290% of developers regularly used at least one AI tool at work for coding tasks as of January 2026.
- 0374% had adopted specialized AI developer tools (coding assistants, editors, agents) beyond general chatbots.
- 04GitHub Copilot leads in awareness (76%) and adoption (29%), but growth has stalled; adoption reaches 40% at companies with 5,000+ employees.
- 05Claude Code's work adoption grew ~6x from roughly 3% (April–June 2025) to 18% (January 2026), reaching 24% in the US and Canada.