Compare
Claude Code vs Codex CLI
Rankings as of
Last updated
Short answer: pick Claude Code for this job: Repo-sized edits from the terminal. Pick Codex CLI for this job: A terminal agent on OpenAI models. Claude Code scores 8.3 and is #1 in Coding and CLI agents. Codex CLI scores 7.5 and is #3 in Coding and CLI agents.
| Compared on | Claude Code | Codex CLI |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Anthropic's coding agent for the terminal and supported editors. | OpenAI's open-source terminal agent for editing a repo. |
| StackPick job | Coding and CLI agents, #1 | Coding and CLI agents, #3 |
| Best for | Repo-sized edits from the terminal | A terminal agent on OpenAI models |
| Score | 8.3 | 7.5 |
| Ease / Power / Price / Fit | 8 / 9 / 6 / 9 | 7 / 8 / 6 / 8 |
| Pricing | Check siteIncluded with Claude plans and API usage. Current packaging and prices: check site. | Check siteThe CLI is open source. Model access depends on OpenAI or ChatGPT plans. Current prices: check site. |
| Also known as | — | OpenAI Codex CLI |
| Visit | Visit | Visit |
Where Claude Code fits
Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent. It reads a repository, edits files, and runs commands from the terminal, with editor integrations alongside. It is the pick when you want a strong agent on the current checkout and you are fine living in the terminal for the session.
Best use cases
- Implementing a feature across several files
- Running tests and fixing what they report
- A CLI agent paired with Claude models
Listed strengths
- Works on the repo you already have, in the terminal you already use
- Command execution is part of the loop, not a copy-paste step
- A natural pair with the Anthropic API if the product also calls Claude
Trade-off: You review diffs in a terminal-first workflow Access comes through Claude plans or API usage. Current packaging: check site
Where Codex CLI fits
Codex CLI is OpenAI's coding agent for the terminal. It edits a local repository, runs commands, and can use OpenAI models. The CLI is open source. Model access follows your OpenAI or ChatGPT plan — check site.
Best use cases
- Local repo edits from the shell
- Teams already on ChatGPT or the OpenAI API
- Scripting an agent you can read, because the CLI is open source
Listed strengths
- The CLI is open source
- Fits a terminal workflow next to git
- Uses OpenAI's models, which many builders already have a key for
Trade-off: Model access and plan limits are separate from the CLI itself Current plan packaging: check site
Where the score comes from
Both score 6 for Price. The 0.8 gap comes from ease (8 vs 7) and power (9 vs 8) and vibe-coder fit (9 vs 8). How scores work.
What changed recently
Claude Code 2.1.316
Released October 31, 2026. CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_ULTRATHINK turns the ultrathink keyword off. The Claude apps gateway adds pooled group budgets: one monthly budget that a group's members share, on top of each member's own limit, set with pooled_budget on the spend limits admin API. CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_EFFORT sets the effort level subagents run at when nothing else names one, instead of inheriting the session's. managed.policy_mode set to layered applies every matching gateway policy, each merged over the ones listed below it. guardrail.input_tagging on Bedrock upstreams wraps prompts in the input tags an Amazon Bedrock guardrail's prompt attacks filter needs, and all_messages_and_system also tags the system prompt. Fast mode for Opus 4.8 is deprecated as of October 30, 2026, and will be removed on November 30, 2026. After removal, fast mode requests on Opus 4.8 return an error and do not fall back to standard Opus 4.8. Migrate to Opus 5.5 to keep the speedup. VS Code can sign in to a Claude apps gateway from the chat panel, and ultrathink runs its turn at xhigh effort. Cloud sessions can fill in or decline a form an MCP server asks for, and Enterprise members can add and delete network secrets on their own cloud environments. The Code Review analytics page adds a findings-by-severity card. The release also includes a large fix sweep for the shell, permissions, MCP, cloud sessions, VS Code, Claude Tag, and the terminal UI.
Source for Claude Code 2.1.316 (opens in a new tab)Claude Code 2.1.314
Released October 30, 2026. permissions.blockWritesOutsideWorkingDirectories makes Write, Edit, and NotebookEdit refuse paths outside the working directories in every permission mode. Claude apps gateway upstreams can list IdP groups so only those developers are sent to that upstream, including on failover, and Bedrock upstreams can set guardrail_trace to log which Amazon Bedrock guardrail filter fired without the matched text. In VS Code and Claude Desktop's Code tab, a conversation of 200K or more tokens that is left idle is summarized, and that summary is used on the next message if the prompt cache has expired. Idle compaction also runs for subscribers with telemetry turned off, and on Bedrock, Vertex, Foundry, and LLM gateways once the one-hour prompt cache is on. File tools ask before editing the local copy of an organization's server-managed settings. Flagged requests retry on another model instead of ending in a refusal when ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL, availableModels, or deniedModels leaves only an older Opus model, or none. Cloud sessions from the web, desktop, and mobile apps start even when a setup script exits with an error. The release also includes a large fix sweep for permissions, MCP sign-in, Remote Control, cloud sessions, VS Code, Claude Tag, and the terminal UI.
Source for Claude Code 2.1.314 (opens in a new tab)Codex CLI 0.166.0
Released October 29, 2026. The TUI can select transcript text from the keyboard, with word, line, and page motions, integrated search, and configurable shortcuts, and it renders Markdown consistently in async questions, choices, answers, and transcript replies. GPT-6.1 Terra is added to the bundled, Vertex AI, and Amazon Bedrock model catalogs. codex queue --resume resumes unloaded threads after a message is queued. Safety blocks in the TUI explain the block more clearly and offer selectable safer follow-up prompts. codex doctor --network-only checks configuration, connectivity, and WebSocket diagnostics. The release also preserves acknowledged approval and permission settings when resuming or forking threads, keeps local image attachments when restoring killed composer text, fixes standalone release cleanup on macOS when installations are in use or paths contain non-ASCII characters, restores spawned descendant threads when their parent is unarchived, fixes app-server thread startup and shutdown races, improves TUI reconnection including offline /quit and /exit, and preserves reasoning-token accounting across resume and fork so compaction is not premature. The standalone executor ships in the canonical CLI and app-server release packages.
Source for Codex CLI 0.166.0 (opens in a new tab)Claude Code 2.1.312
Released October 27, 2026. The Claude apps gateway adds oidc.user_id_claim so a person can be identified by an id_token claim other than sub, such as Microsoft Entra ID's oid. In fullscreen, clicking the "to send now" hint under a queued message sends it right away. Write now asks Claude to read all of a very large CLAUDE.md, rules file, or @-included file in a subdirectory, or to edit it in place, instead of overwriting it after seeing only the start. Bedrock, Vertex, Foundry, and Mantle use the shorter system prompt for model names Claude Code does not recognize, such as custom deployment names and inference profile ARNs; CLAUDE_CODE_SIMPLE_SYSTEM_PROMPT=0 keeps the full prompt. Cloud routines can set an effort level, and the cloud environment setup script box has a Bash editor. Claude Code stops sending the claude_code.safety_event OpenTelemetry event. The release also includes a large fix sweep for skills, commands, VS Code, cloud sessions, Remote Control, Claude Tag, and Code Review.
Source for Claude Code 2.1.312 (opens in a new tab)Codex CLI 0.165.0
Released October 27, 2026. Adds a built-in Google Cloud Vertex AI provider, configured with model_provider = "gcp", and adds GPT-6.1 Terra to the model catalogs. The session picker can filter by repository, and the agent command center groups sessions by directory across linked worktrees. Reasoning effort can change during a conversation by default for supported models. Memory v2 is on by default for fresh profiles, and external-agent memories can be imported into it. The app-server API adds experimental attached thread forks. The release also fixes TUI approval defaults, MCP cancellation, queued messages after an interrupt or a switch to Plan mode, model-not-found retries, and a marketplace URL check that could let Git connect to a different host than the one checked against allowed patterns.
Source for Codex CLI 0.165.0 (opens in a new tab)Claude Code 2.1.311
Released October 26, 2026. self-hosted-runner adds --hold-idle-file and --max-hold-min to keep an idle session while the host reports processes it left running. In the interactive terminal, ultrathink runs its turn at xhigh effort on Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Haiku 5.5, and Fable 5.1 through Anthropic's API, and typing it while Claude is working raises the rest of that turn. A standard-context session whose request runs over 200K tokens compacts and continues instead of stopping with "Usage credits required for 1M context". Claude Code on Bedrock, Mantle, Vertex, and Foundry loads model settings from a signed file on downloads.claude.ai; CLAUDE_CODE_MODEL_CATALOG=off turns that off. Claude Tag analytics adds a Skills view for how often each attached skill runs in Slack channels. The release also includes a large fix sweep for startup freezes, MCP, compaction, subagents, VS Code, cloud sessions, and Code Review.
Source for Claude Code 2.1.311 (opens in a new tab)
Alternatives
Aider (7.4), Gemini CLI (7.2), Cline (7.6).
Also listed as alternatives: Cursor, GitHub Copilot.
FAQ
- Should I pick Claude Code or Codex CLI?
- Pick Claude Code for this job: Repo-sized edits from the terminal. Pick Codex CLI for this job: A terminal agent on OpenAI models. Claude Code scores 8.3 and is #1 in Coding and CLI agents. Codex CLI scores 7.5 and is #3 in Coding and CLI agents.
- What do Claude Code and Codex CLI cost?
- Claude Code: Included with Claude plans and API usage. Current packaging and prices: check site. Codex CLI: The CLI is open source. Model access depends on OpenAI or ChatGPT plans. Current prices: check site.
- Are these scores benchmarks?
- Initial editorial estimate. Not a measured benchmark. Price means value for an indie budget, not the sticker price.
- Do affiliate links change Claude Code or Codex CLI’s rank?
- Affiliate links may be used to monetize, but they never affect scores or rankings, and rankings are never sponsored.
Initial editorial estimate. Not a measured benchmark. Prices: check each vendor’s site. How scores work.
Some links may earn us a commission. It never changes scores or order.
Newsletter
Get this comparison when the scores move
Claude Code vs Codex CLI. One email when rankings change or one of these tools ships something that matters. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.