Claude Code Overtakes GitHub Copilot as Top AI Coding Tool for Developers
The AI skills landscape saw significant movement as Claude Code surged in developer adoption, while new platforms offered bundled access to multiple models.
New here? The 60-second primer
Skills are packaged expertise you install into an AI assistant: Claude Code has skills and plugins (from Anthropic's directory and open git marketplaces), ChatGPT has custom GPTs (the GPT Store), and Google's Gemini has Gems (shareable custom experts). Every rank below comes from captured data — official install counts, GitHub star growth, and the GPT Store's own trending list — not from opinion.
The week
This week, the AI coding agent ecosystem saw a notable shift as Claude Code surpassed GitHub Copilot in adoption among professional developers. According to the JetBrains Research 'Developer Ecosystem Survey 2026,' released on August 24, 2026, Claude Code is now used by 39% of professional developers at work, a substantial increase from 18% in January 2026.
GitHub Copilot, previously the market leader, has been overtaken. The survey also highlighted the rapid growth of OpenAI's Codex, which saw adoption rise from 3% to 16% in the same period, and noted that OpenCode, an open-source agent, reached 7% adoption.
Overall, 90% of professional developers are now using AI coding agents at least weekly. This surge in specialized coding tool usage underscores a broader market trend towards integrated, multi-model AI access, as exemplified by platforms like 1min.AI, which offers lifetime access to various AI models including GPT, Claude, and Gemini Pro.
Pattern watch
A clear pattern of accelerated AI coding agent adoption is evident this week, with tools like Claude Code and Codex becoming central to professional workflows. The JetBrains survey indicates that developers are rapidly integrating these specialized skills, moving beyond experimentation to embed them as standard practice.
This shift suggests a consolidation around high-performing, task-specific coding agents that demonstrate tangible productivity gains. Concurrently, the emergence of platforms offering bundled access to multiple AI models points to a growing demand for cost-effective, aggregated skill access, potentially signaling a platform shift in how users acquire and manage their AI toolkit.
Try this week
Given Claude Code's increasing adoption, consider integrating a Claude Code plugin into your development workflow. Plugins can be installed directly from the Claude Code marketplace within your terminal.
The process typically involves a few commands to register specialized tools or commands that then persist across your sessions. Always review a plugin's permissions and compatibility to ensure it aligns with your project's security and functional requirements before installation.
Reporting + analyst voices: grounded via Google Search at publish time.