Look at what a coding agent does in a normal week. A few hard problems: an architecture call, a refactor that touches forty files, a bug that only shows up under load. Then everything else. Renaming a field across a module. Writing the test scaffold. Updating the changelog. Bumping a dependency and fixing what broke.
Most tools bill all of it at frontier-model rates. We've been arguing against that habit since Junie launched, and Junie Lite is where the argument ends up. For everyday work, the model costs nothing.
Junie Lite is a free AI coding agent tier included with every JetBrains account. It isn't a trial, and there's no countdown*. It runs on a capable model hosted on JetBrains infrastructure, usage is virtually unlimited, and it's available now in JetBrains Air and Junie CLI.
Keep frontier models for the hard part
You already know which tasks deserve your best model. The problem is that everything else ends up on the same bill. With Junie Lite, the routine work goes to the free tier and your paid credits go where they change the outcome. Plan the migration with a frontier model, then switch to Junie Lite for the mechanical edits.
Stop rationing attempts
A metered run makes you careful in ways that cost you. You try one approach instead of three. You don't rerun a task that came back almost right. You skip the experiment because it probably won't pan out.
When another run is free, those calls change. Try it the obvious way, then the clever way, and keep whichever reads better. Throw away a branch without thinking about what it cost.
Run more in parallel
Air runs several agent sessions side by side in your IDE, each in its own worktree. Put Junie Lite on the small jobs in the background, fixing lint warnings in one session and filling in missing tests in another, while you and a frontier model work on the thing that needs your attention.
Your code stays with JetBrains
Inference runs only on JetBrains infrastructure. Your prompts, code, and outputs aren't shared with the model provider, and none of it is used to train the model.
Try it
Junie Lite is a baseline. It won't out-argue a frontier model on a gnarly multi-file refactor, and it isn't trying to. It's there so the boring work stops costing you anything.
Sign in to Junie with your JetBrains account, in Air or in Junie CLI. Junie Lite works from your first request with nothing to set up. In the CLI, run /model to pick it directly. Then hand it the task you've been putting off.
FAQ
Where does Junie Lite work? In JetBrains Air in your IDE, and in Junie CLI.
Who gets Junie Lite? Every JetBrains account: free accounts, AI Pro and AI Ultimate subscribers, and both individual and business customers.
Which model is behind Junie Lite? Qwen 3.6 27B today. We may switch to a different model over time. Terms and available models may change.
Is my code used to train the model? No. Inference runs only on JetBrains infrastructure, and nothing you send is shared with the model provider.
Related reading
- Junie Lite docs
- A New Agentic Experience: JetBrains Air in IDEs
- Junie Can Now Run Entirely on Your Mac
*Applies to Junie Lite configuration, after signing in with your JetBrains account. Terms and available models may change. Offer is valid until 31 Dec 2026.