--- title: "Junie: JetBrains coding agent, free tier and alternatives" canonical_url: https://cookiesforai.app/tools/junie last_updated: 2026-10-03T15:11:25+02:00 type: tool summary: "Junie is a coding agent by JetBrains that runs as a CLI on macOS, Windows and Linux, inside JetBrains IDEs and in GitHub or GitLab pipelines, with any model you choose." --- # Junie Junie is a coding agent by JetBrains that runs as a CLI on macOS, Windows and Linux, inside JetBrains IDEs and in GitHub or GitLab pipelines, with any model you choose. | Fact | Value | |---|---| | Made by | JetBrains | | Type | Terminal coding agent | | License | Proprietary | | Runs on | macOS, Windows, Linux, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand, PhpStorm, RubyMine, RustRover, CLion, Rider, Android Studio, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD | | Free tier | Free plan | | Website | https://junie.jetbrains.com | | Page updated | 2026-10-03 | | Facts checked | 2026-10-01 | ## What it does Junie is JetBrains' coding agent. Junie CLI runs in the terminal on macOS, Windows and Linux, and the same agent works inside JetBrains IDEs such as IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand, Rider and Android Studio, where the recommended route is through the AI Assistant chat. It also runs in GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD to work on issues and merge requests. Junie lets you pick the model. The CLI accepts your own keys for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI and OpenRouter, a GitHub Copilot token, and custom endpoints such as LiteLLM, Ollama and LM Studio. Bring-your-own-key is not supported in the IDE plugin. Plan mode stores plans in .junie/plans, Remote Control lets you watch a session from the web, and junie --acp true runs it as an Agent Client Protocol server for other editors. Junie is free to start with a few AI credits and no card, and paid JetBrains AI plans add monthly credits. JetBrains also offers Junie Local, which runs a local model on a Mac, but it needs macOS 26 or later, an Apple M5 chip or newer and 64 GB of RAM. ## Who it is for - Developers who work in JetBrains IDEs and want an agent from the same vendor - People who want a terminal agent that accepts their own model keys at provider rates - Teams that want the agent to run in GitHub Actions or GitLab CI/CD - Organizations already buying JetBrains AI plans ## Who should pick something else - IDE users who want to bring their own API key: BYOK is not supported in the Junie IDE plugin - Heavy users who want large included usage: AI Pro includes only a small monthly credit allowance - VS Code users who want an extension in their editor; Cline, Kilo Code or GitHub Copilot fit better Strength: Junie supports more than ten JetBrains IDEs plus a CLI on three operating systems, and its free route takes your own model keys at provider rates with no markup. Limit: Junie's included usage is small on the Free and AI Pro plans, and bring-your-own-key works in the CLI but not in the IDE plugin. ## What it costs Free tier: Free plan. Free to start with a small credit allowance and no card, or with your own keys at provider rates; paid JetBrains AI plans add monthly credits. Current prices: https://junie.jetbrains.com/#pricing (we do not list prices; vendors change them often). ## Agent skills and MCP Skills: Junie supports Agent Skills natively in both the CLI and the IDE, using the open Agent Skills format. It reads project skills from .junie/skills and .agents/skills (trusted projects) and user skills from ~/.junie/skills and ~/.agents/skills, plus custom folders set with --skill-location. Junie CLI spots .cursor/skills, .claude/skills and .codex/skills and offers to import them. The open skills CLI 1.7.0 installs Junie skills into .junie/skills. The docs give no version for when skills were added. MCP: Junie CLI adds MCP servers with /mcp: press Ctrl+A to search preconfigured servers, pick project or user scope, then local or remote. Servers are stored under mcpServers in .junie/mcp/mcp.json (project) or ~/.junie/mcp/mcp.json (user): command, args and env for a local server, url and headers for a remote one. In the IDE, the MCP Settings page opens the same mcp.json format. ## Alternatives - [GitHub Copilot](https://cookiesforai.app/tools/github-copilot): GitHub Copilot is an AI coding assistant by GitHub that works in VS Code, JetBrains and other editors, in a CLI, and as a cloud agent that opens pull requests on GitHub. - [Claude Code](https://cookiesforai.app/tools/claude-code): Claude Code is a terminal coding agent by Anthropic that reads a codebase, edits files and runs commands, and also works in VS Code, JetBrains, a desktop app and the web. - [Kilo Code](https://cookiesforai.app/tools/kilo-code): Kilo Code is an open source coding agent by Kilo Code, Inc., acquired by Anaconda in 2026, that runs in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, a CLI and cloud agents with 500+ models. - [Cline](https://cookiesforai.app/tools/cline): Cline is an open source coding agent by Cline Bot Inc. that runs as a VS Code or JetBrains extension and a CLI, using your own model keys or local models. - [OpenAI Codex](https://cookiesforai.app/tools/codex): OpenAI Codex is a coding agent by OpenAI that runs as an open source CLI on your machine and as a cloud agent in ChatGPT, editing code, running commands and opening pull requests.