Did you know that refactoring can speed up software development by as much as 43%? This impressive boost is possible because cleaner, more maintainable code reduces bugs, simplifies updates, and streamlines feature development. The best part is that you don't have to do it manually! Modern tools now automate code optimization, making refactoring faster, safer, and more efficient than ever before. In this article, we’ll explore the 8 best code refactoring tools and how they can help you supercharge your development process. Let’s get started!
8 Best Code Refactoring Tools to Elevate Your Coding in 2025
1. Zencoder
Zencoder is an advanced AI coding agent that enhances your software development lifecycle (SDLC) by boosting productivity, accuracy, and innovation. At the core of Zencoder’s platform is Repo Grokking™, a powerful AI technology that deeply analyzes entire codebases. It understands structure, patterns, and project-specific logic to deliver precise, context-aware code suggestions that seamlessly integrate with ongoing projects.
With its AI Agents, Zencoder helps you eliminate tedious debugging and time-consuming refactoring by:
- Rapidly identifying and fixing bugs, cleaning up broken code, and seamlessly managing tasks across multiple files.
- Automating repetitive or complex tasks with intelligent workflows, saving you valuable time and effort.
- Accelerating full app development, allowing you to focus on creative, high-impact work that truly matters.
Additionally, Zencoder integrates with your existing development tools, supporting over 70 programming languages, including Python, Java, JavaScript, and more, and works effortlessly with popular IDEs like Visual Studio Code and JetBrains.
Key Features:
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 Code Generation – Accelerate your development with efficient, context-aware code generation. Instantly insert clean, production-ready code directly into your project, ensuring consistency, enhancing productivity, and helping you work faster.
3️⃣ Code Completion – Boost your coding speed with intelligent, real-time code suggestions. It understands your current context, delivering accurate and relevant completions to minimize errors and keep your workflow smooth.
4️⃣ Code Review Agent – Receive targeted code reviews at any level, from entire files to single lines. Get clear, actionable feedback to enhance code quality, strengthen security, and ensure adherence to best practices.
5️⃣ Unit Test Generation – Zencoder’s AI-powered system intelligently generates and executes detailed unit tests for various scenarios, ensuring your code is reliable, accurate, and maintains the highest quality standards.
6️⃣ Custom Agents – Design agents customized to your team’s specific workflow. Leverage deep code understanding and powerful automation to build unique solutions for your most critical tasks.
7️⃣ Chat Assistant – Access instant, accurate answers, personalized coding support, and smart recommendations, maintaining high productivity and a smooth workflow.
8️⃣ Zen Agents – Zen Agents are customizable AI teammates that understand your code, integrate with your tools, and are ready to launch in seconds.
Here is what you can do:
- Build smarter – Create specialized agents for tasks like pull request reviews, testing, or refactoring, tailored to your architecture and frameworks.
- Integrate quickly – Connect to tools like Jira, GitHub, and Stripe in minutes with our no-code MCP interface, letting agents operate seamlessly within your existing workflows.
- Deploy instantly – Deploy agents across your organization with one click, with auto-updates and shared access to keep teams aligned and expertise scalable.
- Explore marketplace – Discover a growing library of open-source, pre-built agents ready to drop into your workflow. See what other developers are building, or contribute your own to help the community move faster.
9️⃣ Security treble – Zencoder is the only AI coding agent with SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 & ISO 42001 certification.
Pros and Cons:
🟢 Pros:
- Automates refactoring, identifying and fixing bugs effortlessly.
- Ensures high code quality with intelligent reviews and unit tests.
- Seamlessly integrates with 70+ languages and popular IDEs.
🔴 Cons:
- May lead to over-reliance on automation, potentially limiting long-term skill growth.
Pricing
Zendocer offers a Free Plan, a Business Plan that starts at $19 per user/month, and an Enterprise Plan starting at $39 per user/month.
2. Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a free and open-source code editor developed by Microsoft that supports a wide range of programming languages and is highly customizable through extensions. It offers advanced AI-powered features that enhance coding productivity by providing intelligent code suggestions, automated workflows, and integration with cloud services. VS Code excels at code refactoring with built-in tools for renaming symbols, extracting methods, and updating imports, along with extension support for advanced refactoring techniques across multiple languages.
Key Features:
1️⃣ Agent mode – Automates complex, multi-step tasks by reading codebases, suggesting edits, running commands, and handling errors in a continuous loop.
2️⃣ Next edit suggestions – Provides AI-powered code recommendations, predicting your next move and allowing quick acceptance with the Tab key.
3️⃣ Customizable with extensions – Enhances functionality with various extensions, including Python, Stripe, C/C++, Jupyter, GitLens, MongoDB, and more, many of which offer refactoring tools.
4️⃣ Multi-language support – Supports nearly all major programming languages, including JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, and HTML, enabling refactoring across languages through the VS Code Marketplace.
Pros and Cons:
🟢 Pros:
- Customizable with 60,000+ extensions.
- Lightweight, fast, and cross-platform.
- Built-in Git integration for version control.
🔴 Cons:
- Slows down with large projects.
- Relies heavily on extensions for advanced features.
- Steep learning curve for beginners.
Pricing
Visual Studio Code is an open-source tool, and you can use it for free.
3. IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA is a professional integrated development environment (IDE) designed for Java and Kotlin developers, providing advanced tools to enhance productivity, code quality, and development efficiency. It supports the complete development lifecycle, from coding and testing to deployment, while integrating cutting-edge technologies and AI-powered features for faster and smarter coding. With powerful refactoring tools, intuitive debugging, and a vast plugin ecosystem, IntelliJ IDEA ensures clean, maintainable code and a seamless development experience.
Key Features:
1️⃣ Project-wide refactoring – Updates code across the entire project with safe and efficient refactoring options, including renaming, method extraction, and variable introduction.
2️⃣ Detection of code duplicates – Identifies and replaces repetitive code automatically, reducing redundancy and improving code quality.
3️⃣ Structural search and replace (SSR) – Finds and replaces code patterns with syntax-aware templates, ensuring consistent code structures.
4️⃣ Language injections – Supports embedded code from other languages with features like code highlighting, completion, and error detection for a multi-language experience.
Pros and Cons:
🟢 Pros:
- Intelligent code assistance for faster development.
- Built-in tools for version control, databases, and Docker.
- Extensive plugin ecosystem for customization.
🔴 Cons:
- High memory and CPU usage.
- Steep learning curve for beginners.
- Can be slow with large projects.
Pricing
IntelliJ IDEA offers 2 Paid Plans for organizations starting at €59.90 per month.
For individual use, it also offers 2 Paid Plans starting at €16.90 per month.
4. CodeScene
CodeScene is an AI-powered code analysis platform that helps you manage technical debt, improve code quality, and automate code reviews using its unique CodeHealth™ metric. It identifies productivity bottlenecks, enables AI-driven refactoring, and provides real-time quality feedback within IDEs, making code scalable and maintainable. CodeScene empowers teams to prioritize and prevent technical debt by visualizing high-risk code areas and providing actionable insights, enhancing software quality and accelerating development.
Key Features:
1️⃣ AI-powered refactoring – Refactors code directly in supported IDEs (IntelliJ, VS Code, Visual Studio) with AI-powered suggestions, helping you maintain clean, efficient code without manual effort.
2️⃣ Automated code reviews – Enforce code quality standards with code reviews and local quality gates, ensuring new code meets maintainability criteria.
3️⃣ Technical debt insights – Instantly visualize and quantify technical debt across your codebase, helping you identify and prioritize high-risk areas for refactoring to boost code quality and productivity.
4️⃣ Code health feedback – Receive instant feedback on code health directly in your IDE, empowering you to address quality issues immediately.
Pros and Cons:
🟢 Pros:
- Identifies code hotspots for targeted improvements.
- Analyzes team dynamics and knowledge distribution.
- Provides actionable insights within Git-based platforms.
🔴 Cons:
- Complex interface with a steep learning curve.
- Limited support for non-Git platforms and certain IDEs.
- Resource-intensive for large codebases.
Pricing
CodeScene offers 2 Paid Plans starting at €20 per month and an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing.
5. CodeRush
CodeRush for Visual Studio is a free coding productivity tool from DevExpress that significantly accelerates coding in C#, Visual Basic, and XAML through intelligent code generation, rapid refactoring, advanced code navigation, and formatting. It offers a fast .NET test runner, intuitive debugging features, and extensive support for code visualization, making it a good extension for Visual Studio developers. With over 100 refactorings, intelligent code providers, and customizable style settings, CodeRush helps you enhance code quality and development speed.
Key Features:
1️⃣ Automated code transformation – Instantly modifies API signatures, updates legacy code, and applies structural changes, minimizing manual work and ensuring consistent code quality.
2️⃣ Comprehensive refactoring options – Provides over 100 refactorings, enabling safe code restructuring, improving readability, and maintaining external behavior.
3️⃣ Intelligent code creation – Dynamically generates and modifies code elements based on usage patterns, ensuring accurate and efficient code updates.
4️⃣ Real-time code visualization – Highlights code blocks, previews values during debugging, and provides clear visual cues, making code easier to understand and maintain.
Pros and Cons:
🟢 Pros:
- Boosts coding speed with powerful templates.
- Real-time code analysis with quick fixes.
- Highly customizable for user preferences.
🔴 Cons:
- Steep learning curve for new users.
- Can slow down IDE on large projects.
- Complex settings may overwhelm users.
Pricing
CodeRush is completely free to use and doesn’t have any pricing plans.
6. PhpStorm
PhpStorm is a powerful IDE for PHP developers, offering intelligent code editing, easy navigation, and robust refactoring tools. It enables code refactoring across entire codebases, ensuring safe migrations, quick changes, and efficient project upgrades, all while maintaining code quality and compatibility. Additionally, it integrates with JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and popular frameworks like Laravel and Symfony, offering advanced debugging, testing, and AI-powered code completion to boost productivity.
Key Features:
1️⃣ Smart refactoring – Quickly and safely modify code across the entire codebase, ensuring compatibility and minimizing errors.
2️⃣ Test-driven code quality – Generate unit tests, assess code coverage, and inspect results to maintain high code quality.
3️⃣ Visual debugging – Instantly identify and fix errors using live debugging data, conditional breakpoints, and code execution insights.
4️⃣ Intelligent code editing – Streamline coding with smart suggestions, syntax checks, and keyboard shortcuts for faster, error-free refactoring.
Pros and Cons:
🟢 Pros:
- Powerful debugging with Xdebug and PHPUnit.
- Smart code completion and refactoring.
- Seamless VCS integration (Git, GitHub).
🔴 Cons:
- Resource-heavy on older systems.
- Limited support for non-PHP frameworks.
- Steep learning curve for beginners.
Pricing
PhpStorm offers 2 Paid Plans for organizations starting at €24.90 per month.
For individual use, it also offers 2 Paid Plans starting at €9.90 per month.
7. Refraction
Refraction is an AI-powered code generation tool that helps you automate various aspects of software development, including refactoring code, generating documentation, and creating unit tests across 56 programming languages. It offers a user-friendly interface where developers can simply paste their code, choose the desired language or framework, and instantly generate optimized code. Refraction integrates with popular development environments like VS Code, Sublime Text, and JetBrains, making it a versatile tool for developers across different workflows.
Key Features:
1️⃣ Code optimization – Refactors code to use modern practices, improving performance, readability, and maintainability.
2️⃣ Bug detection and fixing – Identifies bugs in code and suggests fixes, enhancing code reliability and reducing debugging time.
3️⃣ Literal separation – Extracts hardcoded strings or numbers into variables, increasing code flexibility and maintainability.
4️⃣ Style enforcement – Checks code for style issues and suggests improvements, ensuring consistent code quality and readability.
Pros and Cons:
🟢 Pros:
- Automated code generation across 56+ languages.
- Seamless IDE integration (VS Code, JetBrains).
- Generates unit tests, documentation, and CI/CD pipelines.
🔴 Cons:
- Struggles with highly complex code structures.
- Limited support for niche programming languages.
- May produce inaccurate code suggestions.
Pricing
Refactoration offers a Free Plan, 2 Paid Plans starting at $8 per month, and an Enterprise Plan with custom pricing.
8. Tabnine
Tabnine is an AI-powered code assistant that helps accelerate and simplify software development, providing context-aware code suggestions, code refactoring, and bug fixing tailored to your coding practices. It ensures complete code privacy with zero data retention and offers flexible deployment options, including on-premises, VPC, or secure SaaS. Tabnine supports various IDEs and languages, enabling you to generate, refactor, debug, document, and maintain code efficiently.
Key Features:
1️⃣ Code generation and completion – Automatically generates and completes code based on natural language prompts, accelerating coding workflows.
2️⃣ Code explanation – Provides clear, understandable explanations of existing code, even if written by another developer or in an unfamiliar language.
3️⃣ Fixing and refactoring – Helps in fixing bugs, adding new functionality, and refactoring code based on natural language instructions.
4️⃣ Context-aware suggestions – Offers personalized code suggestions that adapt to your coding style, supporting popular languages, libraries, and IDEs.
Pros and Cons:
🟢 Pros:
- Fast, context-aware code suggestions.
- Strong privacy with on-premises options.
- Supports 80+ programming languages and popular IDEs.
🔴 Cons:
- High memory usage in large projects.
- Less accurate suggestions than some competitors.
- Limited customer support responsiveness.
Pricing
Tabnine offers 2 Paid Plans starting at $9 per month.
To Wrap Things Up
Now that you know the 8 best code refactoring tools, it’s time to choose the one that best fits your development workflow. If you need a lightweight, highly customizable code editor with extensive refactoring support, Visual Studio Code is a good choice. For advanced, project-wide refactoring and intelligent code management, IntelliJ IDEA and PhpStorm provide powerful capabilities. However, if you are looking for a revolutionary AI tool that can streamline your refactoring, Zencoder is the perfect solution!
With Zencoder, you can:
⚡ Generate clean code – Quickly produce clean, production-ready code with AI, ensuring consistent quality and faster project delivery.
⚡ Boost code quality with smart reviews – Leverage AI-driven code reviews to maintain high-quality, secure code, simplify team collaboration, and support effective refactoring.
⚡ Automate comprehensive testing – Design and execute detailed unit tests automatically with AI, ensuring your code is accurate, reliable, and ready for deployment.
Sign up today and revolutionize your development workflow with our advanced AI-driven refactoring, code reviews, and automated testing!