# Claude Code vs Codex CLI

> Two terminal-first coding agents. Claude Code is Anthropic's, and it now runs in your IDE, a desktop app and the browser too. Codex CLI is OpenAI's, open source under Apache-2.0, and shares your plan with the Codex app, IDE extension and cloud.

- Page: https://digidle.com/compare/claude-code-vs-codex-cli/
- All comparisons: https://digidle.com/compare/

## Side by side

### Claude Code

- What it is: Anthropic's agentic coding tool that runs in the terminal and works across your codebase.
- Category: AI Editors & Agents (https://digidle.com/category/ai-editors/)
- Tags: cli, agent
- Where It Runs: Terminal on macOS, Linux and Windows, plus VS Code, JetBrains, a desktop app, the web, Slack and mobile.
- Sign-In and Models: A Claude subscription or Anthropic Console account. The CLI, VS Code and JetBrains also support third-party providers.
- Scripting and CI: Run Claude in your own CI, plus Code Review on pull requests.
- Free Option: Not on the free Claude plan. Use a paid plan or API credits.
- Pricing: Included with Claude Pro: $17/mo billed annually, $20 monthly. Max from $100/mo for 5x or 20x Pro usage. Team standard seats $20/mo billed annually, $25 monthly.
- Official site: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code
- Listing: https://digidle.com/tools/claude-code/ (Markdown: https://digidle.com/tools/claude-code.md)
- Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/claude-code/

### OpenAI Codex CLI

- What it is: OpenAI's open-source (Apache-2.0) coding agent that runs locally in your terminal: it reads your repo, edits files and runs commands, with codex exec for scripts and CI. Sign in with ChatGPT or use an API key.
- Category: AI Editors & Agents (https://digidle.com/category/ai-editors/)
- Tags: cli, agent, open-source
- Where It Runs: Terminal on macOS, Linux and Windows. The same plan covers the Codex IDE extension, desktop app and Codex cloud.
- Sign-In and Models: Sign in with ChatGPT, or use an API key, where model access follows your key. Open source under Apache-2.0.
- Scripting and CI: codex exec runs non-interactive tasks in scripts and pipelines. API-key use suits CI but skips cloud features like GitHub code review.
- Free Option: The CLI is free to install. Using it starts with ChatGPT Plus, or an API key billed at API rates.
- Pricing: Included with ChatGPT Plus at $20/mo: CLI, IDE extension, web and iOS. Pro is $100, $200 or $500 a month. Business is $25 per user a month billed monthly. Or bring an API key and pay API rates.
- Official site: https://developers.openai.com/codex/cli
- Listing: https://digidle.com/tools/codex-cli/ (Markdown: https://digidle.com/tools/codex-cli.md)
- Alternatives: https://digidle.com/alternatives/codex-cli/

Pricing and plan details checked 2026-10-29 on the official pages: Claude pricing (https://claude.com/pricing), Claude Code docs (https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview), Codex pricing (https://developers.openai.com/codex/pricing), Codex CLI (https://developers.openai.com/codex/cli), openai/codex on GitHub (https://github.com/openai/codex). Plans change, so confirm before you buy.

## Which one to pick

- Pick Claude Code if: You already pay for Claude, want Anthropic's models, and like having one agent across your terminal, IDE, desktop and browser.
- Pick Codex CLI if: You want an open-source agent you can read and script, you already pay for ChatGPT, or you want codex exec running in CI.

## On these best-of lists

- [AI coding agents](https://digidle.com/best/ai-coding-agents/)

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Source: Digidle Tools (https://digidle.com/). Full index: https://digidle.com/llms.txt