The 5 paid subscriptions I actually use in 2023 as a software engineer

I care a lot about the tools I use. Especially when they aren’t free. Some tools are too good to keep to myself. I have to share them! Here’s what I’ve spent my money on in 2022–23 that has genuinely improved my life as a software engineer. Please note: None of the links in this article are affiliate links. <h1>1. GitHub Copilot: an AI pair programmer</h1> When I’m writing code, Copilot works in the background by reading what I’ve written and quietly suggesting what I might want to write next. Copilot has improved my productivity by at least 30%.   GitHub Copilot code suggestions My biggest productivity improvements have come from: <ul> <li>Writing test cases. Most of the time I write the name for the test case and Copilot fills out everything else.</li> <li>Small things I would have to look up. e.g. Instead of searching for the correct RegEx to parse a string, I write a comment explaining what I want the RegEx to do and Copilot writes the RegEx for me.</li> </ul> <h1>2. Kagi: a better search engine than Google</h1> I measure the effectiveness of searches by how long it takes me to find what I was actually looking for. By that measure, Google has been steadily getting worse. When I search for something on Kagi, the correct result is in the first 2 links 95% of the time. It’s in the top 5 links 99% of the time. That just doesn’t happen with Google, Bing, etc. <a href="https://medium.com/geekculture/the-5-paid-subscriptions-i-actually-use-in-2023-as-a-software-engineer-9418515a315a">Visit Now</a>