Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex CLI
Claude Code and OpenAI Codex CLI are both terminal AI coding tools. Here's how they line up on the things that actually decide it — price, platform, and what they plug into.
| Claude Code | OpenAI Codex CLI | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free tier |
| Platform | windows, mac, linux | windows, mac, linux |
| Works with | claude | chatgpt |
| In one line | Anthropic's agentic AI coding CLI — runs in your terminal, reads your files, edits code, runs commands, and works through multi-step tasks autonomously. | OpenAI's free, open-source terminal coding agent — runs agentic file editing, shell commands, and multi-step tasks powered by o4-mini. |
Which should you pick?
On budget alone, OpenAI Codex CLI is the lower-cost entry (free tier), so it's the safer place to start if you're not ready to pay. They target different setups, so let what you already use break the tie. For the full picture, read the reviews below — the verdict is where the real difference shows up.