Claude Code, Codex and Cursor all start at $20 a month and can all edit code, run commands and work across a repository. Claude Code is Anthropic’s agent, built around the terminal and Claude models. Codex is OpenAI’s, included with ChatGPT plans. Cursor is a full code editor with an agent built in and models from several labs.
Claude Code vs Codex vs Cursor at a glance
| Claude Code | Codex | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Anthropic | OpenAI | Anysphere |
| What it is | A coding agent you run in the terminal, your IDE, a desktop app or the web | A coding agent in a CLI, IDE extension, desktop app and cloud tasks | A code editor with an agent built in, plus a CLI and cloud agents |
| Models | Anthropic’s Claude models | OpenAI’s GPT models | Models from several labs, plus Cursor’s own |
| Cheapest plan with the agent | Claude Pro, $20 a month ($17 billed yearly) | ChatGPT Plus, $20 a month for the CLI, IDE and cloud; Free and Go get the desktop app | Pro, $20 a month; the free Hobby plan has limited agent requests |
| Team plan | Team, $25 a seat a month ($20 yearly) | Business, $25 a user a month ($20 yearly) | Teams, $40 a user a month |
| How limits work | Usage per five-hour session; more on Max and Team Premium seats | Limits set by plan and shared with ChatGPT | Included usage, then billed on demand |
| Project instructions file | CLAUDE.md, and AGENTS.md when there is no CLAUDE.md | AGENTS.md | Rules in .cursor/rules, and AGENTS.md |
Last checked: 12 October 2026
Prices are from each maker’s own pricing page on 12 October 2026, in US dollars. All three change their plans often, so check the sources at the end of this page before you buy.
Claude Code vs Codex
Both are agents first: you describe a task and they plan, edit files and run commands until it is done. The biggest difference is the model behind each one, Claude for Claude Code and GPT for Codex, and teams often find one suits their codebase better after a week of real tasks.
- Choose Claude Code if you live in the terminal, want fine control through skills, hooks and subagents, or your team is already on a Claude plan.
- Choose Codex if you already pay for ChatGPT, want to hand work to cloud tasks and check it from your phone, or prefer GPT models for your stack.
- Both read an AGENTS.md file, so one set of project instructions can serve both.
Claude Code vs Cursor
Claude Code is an agent you add to the tools you already use. Cursor replaces your editor: you get tab completion, inline edits and an agent panel in one app, with a choice of models that includes Claude.
- Choose Claude Code if you want an agent that works the same in any editor or none, and the deepest support for Claude models.
- Choose Cursor if you want completions and an agent in one editor, or want to switch between models from different labs without leaving it.
- You can run both: Claude Code has an extension for VS Code-based editors, which includes Cursor.
Codex vs Cursor
Codex comes with ChatGPT, so many people already have it. Cursor costs the same for one person but more for a team, $40 a user against $25, and gives you a whole editor for it.
- Choose Codex if your team already has ChatGPT Business and wants an agent without changing editors.
- Choose Cursor if your team wants one editor everyone shares, with team rules, code review and usage analytics.
What about Gemini CLI and OpenCode?
Gemini CLI is Google’s open-source terminal agent, built around Gemini models. OpenCode is an open-source terminal agent that works with many model providers, including models you run yourself. Both are worth a look if you want an open-source agent or already have the models they use. Both also read AGENTS.md, according to the AGENTS.md project.
Which one should you pick?
- Start with the plan you already pay for. A Claude plan includes Claude Code and a ChatGPT plan includes Codex, so the cheapest agent is often the one you have.
- Try each on the same real task in your own repository for a few days. Benchmarks rarely match your codebase.
- Pick by how you work: terminal and fine control (Claude Code), cloud tasks and ChatGPT (Codex), or one editor with completions (Cursor).
- Keep your project instructions in AGENTS.md, so switching later costs nothing.
Can you use Claude Code, Codex and Cursor together?
Yes, and many developers do: one agent writes, another reviews, and the third takes over when the first hits its usage limit. The friction is keeping them in step, since each has its own window, history and limits.
Friday Work runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and 11 more coding agents side by side in one session, on your own plans. Smart routing suggests the agent and model most likely to get each task right for the least, every tool’s usage limits sit in one place, and a project brain briefs whichever agent comes next. It is free for one person. See how to use them together.
How we compared them
We read each maker’s pricing page and documentation on 12 October 2026 and compared what each says about itself. We build Friday Work, which runs all three, so we have no reason to favor one. Where a fact depends on a plan or version, the table says so.
- Claude pricing, Anthropic
- Codex pricing, OpenAI
- Cursor pricing, Anysphere
- AGENTS.md, the Agentic AI Foundation