Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex vs GitHub Copilot

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 27 October 2026.

Written head to head: Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex · GitHub Copilot vs OpenAI Codex · GitHub Copilot vs Claude Code, with when to choose each side.

Compared on	Claude Code From $17/mo Visit Remove	OpenAI Codex Free plan · from $8/mo Visit Remove	GitHub Copilot Free plan · from $10/mo Visit Remove
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	GitHub's AI coding assistant for code completion, chat, agents and review
Free plan	No	ChatGPT Free includes limited Codex use for quick coding tasks; Free and Go use GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout	2,000 code completions per month and a limited monthly allowance of AI credits for chat and agent features; models by auto selection; agent mode and Copilot CLI included; no cloud agent or code review; no credit card required
Cheapest paid plan	$17/mo billed annually (Claude Pro)Claude Code pricing	$8/mo (ChatGPT Go)OpenAI Codex pricing	$10/mo (Pro)GitHub Copilot 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.	Unlimited code completions and next edit suggestions; 1,500 AI credits a month (1,000 base and 500 flex).
Free trial	None stated	None stated	None stated
Platforms	macOS, Windows, Linux, Web, iOS, Android, API	macOS, Windows, Linux, Web, API	Web, macOS, Windows, Linux
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated
Open source	No	Yes	No
Good for	Fixing a bug by pasting in the error message Writing tests and updating dependencies across a project Automating code review on GitHub	Building a small feature from a plain-language description Reviewing code changes before merging Investigating and fixing failing builds	Getting code suggestions while writing scripts or apps Asking questions about an unfamiliar codebase Reviewing pull requests before merging
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	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	The Free plan is capped at 2,000 completions per month Paid plans include a monthly AI credit allowance (1,500 on Pro); extra usage costs $0.01 per credit Cloud agent and code review are not in the Free plan
Made by	Anthropic	OpenAI	GitHub (Microsoft)

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

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