Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex
| Claude Code | OpenAI Codex | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal. | OpenAI's coding agent for CLI, IDE and cloud. |
| Pricing | Included in Claude Pro $20/mo ($17/mo annual, $200 upfront); Max from $100/mo (5x or 20x); or API pay-as-you-go | Included in ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro ($100 and $200 tiers), Business ($20 and $100 tiers), Enterprise. Plus price not shown on page (search excerpt: $20/mo) |
| Free tier | No (not included in Claude Free) | Yes: limited Codex on ChatGPT Free and Go |
| Last checked | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-16 |
| Agent score | Not yet tested | Not yet tested |
Verdict
Pending head-to-head agent tests on identical tasks.