Tips & Tricks

Codeium free tier for unlimited completions in VS Code

2026-09-11 - ABikram Mondal

Grab the extension from the VS Code marketplace

Open Visual Studio Code on your machine. Click the Extensions icon on the left sidebar. Type Codeium into the search bar at the top of the panel. The official listing shows up first with the name Codeium and a blue icon. Click Install on that entry. The extension downloads in a few seconds and activates right away.

No credit card or payment screen appears at any point during this step. The process works the same on Windows, macOS and Linux builds of VS Code. Indian users report no region blocks or extra verification prompts.

After installation a small Codeium icon appears in the status bar at the bottom of the editor. Click it once to begin the next part of the setup. The whole thing stays inside the familiar VS Code interface you already know.

Restart VS Code if the status bar icon does not show immediately. That single restart clears any cached extension state and makes the new commands available. Most people finish this part in under two minutes.

Create the free account and connect it

Click the Codeium status bar icon. A small panel opens with a button that says Sign in or Get started. Choose that option. Your browser opens to the Codeium login page. Sign up with a Google, GitHub or email address. The free individual plan is selected by default and requires no payment details.

Confirm the email if the service sends one. Return to VS Code. The extension now shows your account name in the status bar. Inline suggestions start appearing as you type in any supported file.

The account works across multiple machines as long as you sign in with the same email. No separate license key needs copying or pasting. Everything stays tied to the single free profile.

Indian developers have used this exact flow without VPNs or workarounds. The signup page accepts Indian phone numbers for verification when asked, though many people skip that step entirely.

Enable completions and chat in your editor

Open any code file or create a new one. Start typing a function name or comment. Gray inline suggestions appear automatically after a short pause. Accept them with the Tab key the same way you would with any other assistant.

Press Ctrl + I or Cmd + I to open the chat sidebar on the right. Type a question about your code or ask it to generate a new function. Responses arrive in the same panel and can be inserted directly into the file.

Go into Codeium settings inside VS Code if you want to change the trigger delay or disable suggestions in certain folders. The settings live under the Extensions section and take effect immediately. No restart is required for most changes.

Supported languages include Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Go, Rust and many more. The extension reads the file type automatically and adjusts its suggestions accordingly.

Stay inside the free limits without surprises

Codeium states the individual plan offers unlimited code completions and chat turns. The company keeps this promise for personal use as of the latest published terms in 2026. No monthly reset or hard cap appears in the usage dashboard for free accounts.

Heavy daily use still feels responsive because the backend routes requests through a mix of models that stay available. You will not hit a sudden stop sign after a fixed number of requests like some other free tiers.

The real limit shows up in model choice. Free accounts receive the standard fast models rather than the absolute latest frontier ones reserved for paid plans. Most routine coding tasks complete without noticeable difference in quality.

Check your usage once a month in the Codeium web dashboard. The page lists total completions and chat turns for the current period. The numbers stay well below any practical ceiling for solo developers.

Handle the single catch that actually matters

The catch is that Codeium reserves its most advanced agent features and custom model fine-tuning for paid plans. The free tier gives excellent inline completions and basic chat, but it does not run multi-step autonomous refactoring sessions across an entire repository.

That limitation only affects people who already rely on agent-style workflows every day. For the majority of editing, debugging and boilerplate generation the free experience stays complete and fast.

Privacy-conscious users can turn on local-only mode in the settings if their company policy requires it. The feature routes suggestions through an on-device model when available, though the quality drops compared with the cloud models.

Team or company accounts fall outside the free individual plan. Anyone sharing a seat or working inside an organisation subscription needs to move to a paid tier. Solo freelancers and hobbyists stay covered under the free rules.

Keep it running smoothly over time

Update the extension whenever VS Code prompts you. Codeium pushes fixes and new language support through the normal marketplace update channel. Staying current prevents small compatibility issues with newer VS Code releases.

Sign out and sign back in only if suggestions suddenly stop. That step refreshes the authentication token without losing any of your editor settings. Most people never need to do it.

Combine the tool with your existing Git workflow. Suggestions appear while you edit, and you still commit changes the usual way through the Source Control panel. No extra commands or file formats get introduced.

ABikram Mondal builds web development for exactly this kind of problem at https://abikrammondal.com/services/web-development. The extension pairs cleanly with any standard project structure.

The short version. Codeium gives Indian solo developers unlimited free inline completions and chat in VS Code with only one real restriction on advanced agent features.

Sources

Reported from the sources above on 2026-09-11. Figures are as published at the time of writing. If something here has moved on, the linked source is the one to trust.

From the desk of ABikram Mondal

If you got here because you are actually thinking about having it built properly once, instead of stitching six free tiers together and maintaining them forever, that is the work I do. I build for founders and small teams who want the thing to exist and work, not a deck about it.

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