Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex
Claude Code or OpenAI Codex? Here is how they compare on price, free plan, platforms and the jobs each does best, from each vendor's own pages.
| Compared on | Visit | Visit |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal, IDEs, desktop and web | OpenAI's coding agent for the terminal, IDEs, desktop app and cloud |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $17/mo billed annually (Claude Pro)Claude Code pricing | $8/mo (ChatGPT Go)OpenAI Codex pricing |
| What it covers | Claude Code is included in Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise and shares usage limits with the subscription. Annual Pro billing is $200 up front. Console accounts pay standard API rates instead. | Codex comes with ChatGPT plans; Plus ($20/month) expands Codex usage. Codex can also be used with an API key at standard API rates. |
| Free trial | None stated | None stated |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux, Web, iOS, Android, API | macOS, Windows, Linux, Web, API |
| Integrations (vendor's figure) | Not stated | Not stated |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Made by | Anthropic | OpenAI |
Choose Claude Code if…
- You want a mobile app (iOS and Android).
- The job is fixing a bug by pasting in the error message.
- The job is writing tests and updating dependencies across a project.
Choose OpenAI Codex if…
- You want a free plan: Claude Code does not have one.
- Price matters: its cheapest paid plan is $8/mo against $17/mo.
- You need to run it on your own servers or want the source code.
- The job is building a small feature from a plain-language description.
- The job is reviewing code changes before merging.
Still weighing it up?
If neither is quite right, Claude Code and OpenAI Codex are also compared with their other rivals: GitHub Copilot vs OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot vs Claude Code and Cursor vs GitHub Copilot.
To see them doing real work, read How to Post to Social Media From Claude, Step by Step and How to Post to Social Media From ChatGPT, Step by Step.
What Claude Code does
- Reads the codebase, edits files and runs commands
- Creates commits, branches and pull requests
- Connects to external tools through MCP
- Project instructions in CLAUDE.md files, plus skills and hooks
- Parallel subagents and scheduled routines
- GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD and Slack integrations
Watch out for
- Not included in the free Claude plan
- Usage counts against the same limits as the Claude subscription
- The desktop app requires a paid subscription
What OpenAI Codex does
- Open-source Codex CLI (Apache-2.0) for macOS, Linux and Windows
- IDE extension for VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf
- Codex desktop app
- Cloud agent (Codex Web) at chatgpt.com/codex
- Code review and fixing of issues and failures
- Sign in with a ChatGPT plan or use an API key
Watch out for
- Usage limits depend on the ChatGPT plan, the model and task size, measured per five-hour window
- Free and Go include only limited Codex access
- API-key use is billed separately at API rates
Questions
Is Claude Code or OpenAI Codex cheaper?
On published entry prices, OpenAI Codex is cheaper: $17/mo billed annually (Claude Pro) for Claude Code against $8/mo (ChatGPT Go) for OpenAI Codex. What each plan includes differs, so compare the limits too.
Do Claude Code and OpenAI Codex have free plans?
OpenAI Codex does; Claude Code does not.