Did you know that about 30% of professional developers wrote Java code in the past year, making it one of the five most popular programming languages? However, even the most seasoned Java pro can burn hours wrestling with NullPointerExceptions, verbose boilerplate, and finicky build pipelines. That’s where a new generation of AI-powered tools steps in, autocompleting, refactoring, and performance-tuning your code before you’ve even hit Run. In this article, we will explore the 9 Best AI tools for Java developers to help you find the perfect fit for your workflow. Let’s get started!
Zencoder is an AI-powered coding agent that enhances the software development lifecycle (SDLC) by improving productivity, accuracy, and creativity through advanced artificial intelligence solutions. It integrates seamlessly with IntelliJ IDEA and is the only AI coding agent designed specifically for Java development — the first complete AI agent solution that covers everything from coding to testing, all within IntelliJ. Leveraging its powerful Repo Grokking™ technology, Zencoder thoroughly analyzes your entire codebase, identifying structural patterns, architectural logic, and custom implementations. This deep, context-aware understanding enables Zencoder to provide precise recommendations, significantly improving code writing, debugging, and optimization.
Seamlessly integrating with your existing development tools, Zencoder supports over 70 programming languages, including Java, Python, JavaScript, and more.
Zencoder is also the first complete AI coding agent built specifically for Java development in IntelliJ IDEA. With seamless IntelliJ integration, Zencoder goes beyond typical autocomplete features. It offers you full AI-powered support from coding to testing, all within your favorite Java IDE.
Additionally, Zencoder adheres to industry-leading standards such as ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA, empowering your organization to scale confidently and securely.
1️⃣ Integrations – Zencoder seamlessly integrates with over 20 developer environments, simplifying your entire development lifecycle. This makes it the only AI coding agent offering this extensive level of integration.
2️⃣ Coding Agent – Say goodbye to tedious debugging and time-consuming refactoring. Our intelligent coding assistant helps you work efficiently across multiple files by:
3️⃣ Code Review Agent – Get precise code reviews at any level, whether it's a full file or a single line. Receive clear, actionable feedback to improve code quality, security, and alignment with best practices.
4️⃣ Code Completion – Boost your coding speed with intelligent, real-time suggestions. Our assistant understands your context to deliver accurate, relevant completions that minimize errors and keep your workflow smooth.
5️⃣ Zentester – Zentester uses AI to automate testing at every level, so you can catch bugs early and ship high-quality code faster. Just describe what you want to test in plain English, and Zentester takes care of the rest, adapting as your code evolves.
Here is what it does:
6️⃣ Code Generation – Speed up your development process with clean, context-aware code generation. Automatically insert production-ready code directly into your project, ensuring consistency, boosting efficiency, and helping you move faster.
7️⃣ Chat Assistant – Get instant, accurate answers, personalized coding support, and smart recommendations to stay productive and keep your workflow running smoothly.
8️⃣ Zen Agents – Zen Agents allow you to bring the power of Zencoder’s intelligence to your entire organization. These customizable AI teammates understand your code, integrate seamlessly with your tools, and can be launched in seconds.
Here is what you can do:
9️⃣ Unit Test Generation – Automatically generate and run comprehensive unit tests with our AI-powered system. Ensure your code is reliable, accurate, and maintains the highest quality standards.
🔟 Security treble – Zencoder is the only AI coding agent with SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 & ISO 42001 certification.
Zendocer offers a Free Plan, a Starter Plan (free for 2 weeks) that starts at $19 per user/month, a Core Plan starting at $49 per user/month, and an Advanced Plan starting at $119 per user/month.
JetBrains AI Assistant is a powerful, context-aware tool integrated into JetBrains IDEs that enhances productivity through intelligent code completion, refactoring, and explanation features. It supports various programming languages, including Java, and is deeply integrated into the development workflow to help automate repetitive tasks, generate code, and assist with debugging. Powered by a combination of proprietary and third-party large language models, JetBrains AI prioritizes your privacy and gives you full control over your development environment.
1️⃣ Context-aware code completion – Delivers intelligent, context-based suggestions for code snippets, blocks, or functions using project structure and local code patterns.
2️⃣ Inline code explanation – Provides natural-language explanations of selected code to improve readability and developer understanding.
3️⃣ AI-assisted refactoring and fixes – Suggests code optimizations, detects issues, and applies best-practice refactorings directly within the IDE.
4️⃣ Smart documentation and commit generation – Automatically generates documentation and commit messages based on code semantics and recent changes.
For individuals, JetBrains AI Assistant offers a Free Plan and 4 Paid Plans starting at €10.00 per month.
For organizations it offers a Free Plan and 5 Paid Plans starting at €20.00 per month.
SonarQube is a self-hosted platform that automates code quality and security reviews, providing deep insights and real-time feedback across your development pipeline. It supports Java and 30+ languages, integrates with CI/CD tools like GitHub Actions and Jenkins, and helps enforce standards, detect bugs, and find vulnerabilities in all code. With its powerful features, SonarQube ensures your code meets the highest quality and security standards before it reaches production.
1️⃣ Clean as you code – Enforces quality and security rules only on newly added or modified code to improve maintainability without overhauling legacy systems.
2️⃣ IDE connected mode – Synchronizes IDEs with SonarQube server for in-editor issue detection, AI-assisted fixes, and real-time quality rule enforcement.
3️⃣ Static application security testing (SAST) – Detects security vulnerabilities, secret leaks, and misconfigurations across source code and IaC files using rule-based static analysis.
4️⃣ CI/CD integration with quality gates – Integrates into DevOps pipelines to enforce code quality gates, blocking merges or deployments if critical issues are detected.
SonarQube offers a cloud-based option, including a Free Plan, a Team Plan starting at $32 per month, and an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing.
It also offers a self-managed plan that includes a Developer Plan for $720 annually and 2 Plans with custom pricing.
aiXcoder is an intelligent software development tool that functions as a virtual programming expert, enhancing coding efficiency through AI-powered code completion, generation, and defect detection. It supports multiple mainstream programming languages, with strong capabilities for Java development. The tool predicts your intentions and automatically generates relevant code snippets, enabling faster and more accurate programming.
1️⃣ Code completion – Suggests context-aware code snippets in real-time to accelerate development and reduce syntax errors.
2️⃣ Code generation – Automatically produces boilerplate or structured code based on predefined patterns or input specifications.
3️⃣ Defect detection and repair – Identifies bugs or vulnerabilities in code and recommends or applies targeted fixes to improve reliability.
4️⃣ Comment generation – Creates descriptive code comments that enhance readability and assist in knowledge transfer.
aiXcoder doesn’t disclose any pricing plans on its website.
Qodo is an AI-powered code integrity platform that enhances software development by automating writing, testing, and reviewing code through agentic workflows. Its tools, such as Qodo Gen and Qodo Merge, leverage deep contextual understanding and company-specific best practices to generate high-quality, secure, and maintainable code. With robust Java support, Qodo integrates across the software development lifecycle, enabling you to code faster and with greater confidence.
1️⃣ Code review – Enables automated, semantic-level code reviews to enforce Java best practices and maintain consistent code quality.
2️⃣ Code generation – Produces context-aware, high-quality code to accelerate development and maintain standards.
3️⃣ Testing – Expands meaningful test coverage with smart automation for greater reliability and confidence.
4️⃣ Refactoring – Performs intelligent, context-driven refactoring to improve maintainability and code health.
Qodo offers a Free Plan, a Team Plan starting at $38 per month, and an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing.
Amazon Q Developer is a generative AI–powered assistant that boosts productivity by providing code suggestions, debugging help, and automated refactoring. It integrates with popular IDEs like JetBrains, VS Code, Visual Studio, and Eclipse, offering support for Java and other languages. Amazon Q Developer accelerates Java upgrades, feature implementation, testing, and modernization within your existing IDEs and AWS workflows.
1️⃣ Code generation and completion – Offers contextual code completions and full-function generation for Java directly within IDEs like IntelliJ and VS Code.
2️⃣ Bug detection and remediation – Identifies common coding issues, security vulnerabilities, and quality concerns in code, and suggests targeted, in-place fixes using AI-powered analysis.
3️⃣ Natural language to code – Converts plain English prompts into executable Java code, supporting rapid prototyping and accelerating development workflows through generative AI.
4️⃣ Context-aware assistance – Delivers customized code suggestions and insights based on your organization’s codebase, including private repositories, build files, and internal APIs.
Amazon Q Developer offers a Free Plan and a Pro Plan starting at $19 per month.
Tabnine is an AI-powered code assistant that accelerates and simplifies software development across the entire SDLC, with strong support for Java and other popular languages. It integrates seamlessly into major IDEs, offering intelligent code completions, debugging assistance, test generation, and documentation, all while keeping your code private and secure. With flexible deployment options, Tabnine delivers enterprise-grade AI development tools that integrate smoothly into your workflow while keeping your code fully private and protected.
1️⃣ Code generation and completion – Converts natural language prompts and inline comments into functional code for faster development.
2️⃣ Code explanation – Interprets and explains unfamiliar or legacy code to improve understanding and maintainability.
3️⃣ Code fixes and refactoring – Applies natural language instructions to debug, refactor, or enhance existing code.
4️⃣ Custom model fine-tuning – Enables training of bespoke AI models using your organization's codebase for tailored performance.
Tabnine offers 2 Paid Plans starting at $9 per month.
Snyk is a developer-first security platform that enables secure application development by integrating security directly into the software development lifecycle. It offers powerful tools for Java and other languages, including SAST, SCA, container, IaC, and AI-generated code security, all enhanced by its DeepCode AI engine. With its AI Trust Platform, Snyk empowers you to fix vulnerabilities faster while maintaining productivity and compliance.
1️⃣ Real-time issue detection and auto-remediation – Enables instant scanning and automated fixing of code issues directly in the IDE or pull requests without requiring builds.
2️⃣ Broad Java ecosystem compatibility – Supports Java and major IDEs, build tools, and libraries, ensuring seamless integration across the development lifecycle.
3️⃣ Automated vulnerability patching – Generates one-click pull requests with necessary dependency upgrades or security patches, reducing manual remediation effort.
4️⃣ High-accuracy hybrid AI scanning – Utilizes a unique combination of symbolic and generative AI to deliver precise code analysis and minimize false positives.
Snyk offers a Free Plan, a Team Plan starting at $25 per month, and an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing.
GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant that helps you write, test, and review code directly in your IDEs, with deep integration into platforms like Visual Studio Code, JetBrains, and GitHub itself. It supports multiple languages, including Java, offering contextual suggestions, code completions, and automated issue handling. With features such as Agent Mode, model switching, and next-edit suggestions, Copilot enhances productivity, particularly in large and complex Java projects.
1️⃣ Agent mode – Automatically plans, writes, tests, and iterates on code based on assigned issues, enabling autonomous development workflows and multi-file refactoring.
2️⃣ Model switching – Allows developers to choose between multiple AI models (e.g., GPT-4.5, Claude 3.7, Gemini 2.5) for optimal performance, speed, or reasoning depth depending on task complexity.
3️⃣ Next-edit suggestions – Predicts and proposes follow-up edits across your codebase to maintain consistency and integrity after an initial change is made.
4️⃣ Code completions – Generates intelligent in-line code suggestions in real time, including full lines or functions, based on the current coding context.
GitHub Copilot offers a Free Plan and 2 Paid Plans starting at $10 per month for individuals.
For businesses, GitHub Copilot offers 2 Paid Plans starting at $19 per month.
Now that we’ve explored the 9 best AI tools for Java developers, it’s time to choose the one that best fits your workflow, goals, and team needs. If you're focused on secure coding and vulnerability management, Snyk and SonarQube are a good fit. For a fast, IDE-native experience, JetBrains AI Assistant, Amazon Q Developer, and GitHub Copilot offer powerful real-time support. And if you want a truly all-in-one platform that handles everything from code generation to testing and intelligent reviews, Zencoder is a perfect choice.
With Zencoder, you can:
Sign up today and start building better, faster, and more secure Java applications with the power of our AI features!