Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex

Claude Code: Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal, IDE and web. OpenAI Codex: OpenAI's coding agent that writes, reviews and fixes code in the cloud or terminal. Here is how they compare on features, pricing, platforms, pros and cons.

Quick verdict

Claude Code

Best for: Developers who want to hand off larger coding tasks.

Stands out for: Handles large multi-step coding tasks; Works in the terminal, IDEs and web.

OpenAI Codex

Best for: Developers who want to hand off whole coding tasks.

Stands out for: Works across cloud, terminal and editor; Strong at multi-step tasks.

Side-by-side comparison

Comparison of Claude Code, OpenAI Codex
	Claude Code Visit anthropic.com (opens in a new tab)	OpenAI Codex Visit openai.com (opens in a new tab)
What it is	Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal, IDE and web.	OpenAI's coding agent that writes, reviews and fixes code in the cloud or terminal.
Pricing	Paid	PaidIncluded with paid ChatGPT plans
Free to use	No	No
Category	AI Coding	AI Coding
Editor rank	#3 in category	#11 in category
Made by	Anthropic	OpenAI
Best for	Developers who want to hand off larger coding tasks.	Developers who want to hand off whole coding tasks.
Key features	Works across the whole repository Runs commands and tests Terminal, IDE and web	Cloud tasks that run in parallel Open-source Codex CLI IDE extension Code review on pull requests
Pros	Handles large multi-step coding tasks Works in the terminal, IDEs and web Can run commands and check its own work	Works across cloud, terminal and editor Strong at multi-step tasks
Cons	Needs a paid Claude plan or API usage Best used by people comfortable with code	Needs a paid ChatGPT plan
Use it to	Fix bugs across a repository from the terminal Write and run tests for new features Explain how an unfamiliar codebase works	Ask the agent to fix a bug and open a pull request Generate tests for a module Review a teammate's changes
Web app
Windows
Mac
Linux
VS Code