JetBrains opened the Early Access Program for Air in JetBrains IDEs on 1 Oct 2026. Air is a hub inside IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, and the other IntelliJ-based IDEs: agents you already pay for, not a new model you must buy from JetBrains. Codex, Copilot, Junie, Cursor, Claude, and other ACP agents can sit in the IDE you already invoice from. Junie Lite is the optional free try after a JetBrains Account. Terms can change. The quota is not published.
For JetBrains Air freelancers the choice is smaller than the launch. Try one non-secret task this week. Skip and stay on Cursor, VS Code plus Copilot, or AI Assistant alone if a second surface mid-SOW is friction. Wait for general availability if EAP risk, an org ban, or cloud seats block you. This is not a rewrite of Cursor Projects, not the desktop-click sheet Copilot computer use, and not a Claude or Agents API price ladder.
Affiliate disclosure: some tool or platform links may later be affiliate or referral. Product facts below are from JetBrains’ Air in IDEs EAP blog, the IntelliJ Air docs, the Air-in-IDEs product page, and the Marketplace listing as of 4 Oct 2026 (SAST) — re-check 2026.2 vs 2026.3 compatibility, Junie Lite terms, and cloud or mobile wording before you change a client IDE. Not legal advice; not a guarantee of clients, savings, or income.
What shipped — Air in JetBrains IDEs EAP in plain English
The EAP blog is still open. Dated 1 Oct 2026 (13:42 on the tag; timezone not labeled), updated 2 Oct 2026 at 15:29 SAST. No general-availability date.
Install paths on the blog: JetBrains Marketplace, the notification inside AI Assistant, or Air already in the 2026.3 EAP builds. The IntelliJ docs still say IntelliJ IDEA and other IntelliJ-based IDEs from 2026.2, and they still mark it EAP: UI changes, rough edges, frequent updates.
Marketplace is not one build. On 4 Oct 2026 Air (com.intellij.air, listing price free) had two updates that matter. 262.8665.481 covers IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, and WebStorm 2026.2 through 2026.2.3. 263.6259.32 is pinned to 2026.3 (since build 263.6259). On stable 2026.2, take the update offered for that IDE. Do not move a client repo onto a 2026.3 EAP IDE just to match the newest plugin number.
Air is a conduit. The blog’s line: it is not an AI provider, and it ships with no agents installed. It detects agents already on the machine and, per the docs, ACP agents from the registry. Nothing runs, and nothing leaves, until you sign in to an agent or a JetBrains AI plan. Disable the plugin and nothing else changes. With a third-party subscription, data goes to that provider, not through JetBrains. Air adds no new data-processing terms.
They built Air because a chat was the wrong shape for several tasks at once: you need to see them and steer them. Stuffing more agents into AI Assistant did not fix that.
Bring your agents — what works out of the box
The blog’s examples are Codex, GitHub Copilot, Junie, Cursor, and other ACP-compatible agents. The FAQ’s out-of-the-box line is Codex, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Claude Agent, and Junie, with others via ACP. The product page also names OpenCode, and Claude Code: your Claude subscription in Air’s terminal, opened as a full-screen tab, signed in as in any terminal. Which Claude model earns a hard week stays on the Opus 5.5 upgrade sheet.
You do not need JetBrains AI for your own agents. Cloud runs currently do. Junie Lite needs a JetBrains Account. The product page says JetBrains AI credits are billed at public API rates. It does not print the rates. Do not invent them in USD or ZAR.
Junie Lite is free after that account sign-in. The blog: terms and available models may change. The product page: limited time, terms and conditions apply. The cap, and which model is in Lite this week, are unknown.
Once connected you get sessions across projects, a cost line while you work, temporary worktrees, and a prompt on double-tap Ctrl with context attached. Docs add a session summary, notes on lines of a diff, sending local changes for review, and presets for agent, model, effort, and access. Diffs, inspections, and the debugger still apply to what the agent wrote.
Try Air now — when the hub earns a one-week EAP test
Try it when you already pay for Codex, Copilot, Claude, or a Cursor agent and you want that agent inside IntelliJ, PyCharm, or WebStorm. Parallel sessions, a visible session cost, and a worktree you can delete are what earn the week.
Junie Lite earns the same week only as that free-after-account smoke test, if you are not buying JetBrains AI yet. One everyday task, then stop. Do not schedule client work on a config whose models can change and whose quota is unpublished.
Meter one non-secret multi-file task before you change a default. Log rework minutes next to diffs, inspections, and the debugger, and next to the provider’s cost dashboard.
If the comparison is “ship this in Cursor instead,” use Cursor Projects. Do not rebuild that workflow here. If you want Copilot to click a desktop app with no API, that is Copilot computer use.
Joburg packaging only: many freelancers here keep IntelliJ or PyCharm as the IDE on the invoice and run Cursor or Copilot somewhere else. One task in the IDE you already bill from is the test — not a rand price for a seat this sheet does not quote.
Skip — stay Cursor, VS Code+Copilot, or AI Assistant alone
Skip when the week already ships in Cursor and an IDE change mid-SOW costs more than the hub. Stay there. Air does not replace that path.
Skip when you only want one chat. AI Assistant remains available and supported as its own Marketplace plugin. Blog, docs, and product page all say that. They do not agree about what install does. Both lines were still up on 4 Oct 2026. Do not merge them.
The blog, on the notification path: “If you install Air from the notification in AI Assistant, AI Assistant will be disabled to prevent both from running side by side. You can re-enable it at any time in Settings | Plugins, or reinstall it from Marketplace.”
The docs, on the plugin: “It is a separate plugin and does not replace or disable AI Assistant.”
Read those as two claims. If a notification install would wreck the week, skip until you have re-enabled AI Assistant on a machine you are not demoing from. Marketplace and a 2026.3 EAP build are not that notification path. Check which one you used before you tell a client the chat plugin is still there.
Skip cloud runs without JetBrains AI. Local use of your own agents does not need it. Cloud currently does. Skip entirely when the org forbids agents: nothing signed in means nothing runs and nothing is sent. A GUI click-through is Copilot computer use, not this hub. OpenAI session meters stay on the Agents API budget post — not a three-vendor price card in an IDE-shell choice.
Wait for GA — when EAP is the wrong move this week
Wait when the statement of work locks a stable IDE and a named plugin set. Rough edges on a side branch are fine. They are a bad Friday surprise in the repo you hand over.
Wait if free Junie Lite is the only reason. “Limited time” and “terms and available models may change” mean the offer can move. Wait for a published quota, or until you do not need the free tier to justify the plugin.
Wait if you need a general-availability doc and a clear JetBrains AI seat price first. Neither is on the pages we re-checked. This sheet will not invent the date or the price.
Wait on mobile. The blog says follow a cloud run on mobile coming soon, and that cloud runs are currently available to orgs with AI seats. The product page says follow from the web or your mobile device with Air Teams. The Air Teams post (28 Sep 2026) still limits that to JetBrains business customers, with individual access later, and calls mobile follow-up soon. IDE or web is what it describes as usable now. Roadmap and business language, not a solo remote this week.
Wait if you have not metered one parallel session. An EAP post is not a production default.
Buy/skip matrix (sheet)
One row decides the week. A dash means that column is not the point.
| Situation | Try Air EAP (own agents in the IDE) | Skip — stay Cursor | Skip — stay AI Assistant or VS Code+Copilot | Wait for GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IntelliJ or PyCharm daily; Copilot or Codex already paid | Yes — one non-secret task, throwaway branch | Only if this week already ships in Cursor | If you only wanted single chat | If the SOW locks a stable IDE |
| Cursor-first; JetBrains only sometimes | No — an occasional open is not a trial | Yes — stay | — | — |
| AI Assistant-only solo | Only if you want parallel sessions | — | Yes — leave the chat plugin | If you have not tested the notification disable |
| Org forbids agents | — | — | — | Yes — nothing runs until sign-in |
| Needs cloud or background runs | Only with JetBrains AI you already have | — | Local own-agent use is separate | Yes without a seat, or if you needed mobile |
| Wants free Junie Lite only | Smoke test after JetBrains Account; quota unknown | — | — | Yes if the free tier is the only reason |
| Wants desktop GUI click-through | Not this product | — | — | See live Copilot computer-use sheet — do not decide it here |
Get the 1-page Try Air now / Skip stay Cursor or AI Assistant / Wait for GA chooser
Optional printable of this free guide. Soft link until checkout. Not a “paid summary.” Not a guarantee of clients, savings, or income.
This week’s action — one non-secret task on a throwaway branch
On a throwaway branch, install from Marketplace or use a 2026.3 EAP build. On 2026.2, confirm you are getting the 2026.2 update (through 2026.2.3 on the listing we checked), not the 2026.3-pinned one. Connect one agent you already pay for, or Junie Lite after a JetBrains Account if the smoke test is the point. Run one non-secret multi-file task with a parallel session and cost visible. Compare rework minutes with your current Cursor or AI Assistant path. Fill one row.
If the notification install disabled AI Assistant, re-enable it in Settings | Plugins or reinstall it from Marketplace before client week. Do not flip production defaults off an EAP post. If the hub adds friction, skip and stay. Cursor Projects, Opus 5.5, and the Agents API are the live links above when the question is shipping in Cursor, the Claude rung, or API meters. Desktop clicks: Copilot computer use for freelancers.
Sources: EAP blog, IntelliJ docs, product page, Marketplace 33314, Air Teams. Re-check 2026.2 vs 2026.3 updates, Junie Lite terms, and cloud or mobile wording at paste time.