JetBrains is selling independence as the rest of AI coding picks sides

JetBrains is positioning itself as the only major independent AI coding-tool vendor, contrasting with Cursor's ties to xAI, Windsurf's split between Google and Cognition, and Copilot's Microsoft/OpenAI alignment. VP Mikhail Vink argues that JetBrains' lack of VC funding and 26-year profitable IDE business allows it to remain model-neutral, supporting Gemini, Anthropic, and OpenAI interchangeably. The company is pitching JetBrains Central — a governance and consumption-based billing layer for AI agents — as an enterprise solution to the unpredictable costs of agentic coding. The independence argument doubles as a marketing differentiator for enterprise buyers who want flexibility to switch models without vendor lock-in.