Comparison
Cursor vs Claude Code vs Codex: which one?
Short answer: it depends on what you're building. Here's who each one is for. We haven't run a hands-on benchmark yet, so this page sticks to what each vendor publishes.
- Pick Cursor if you want an AI-first editor and to see every change in an IDE.
- Pick Claude Code if you already pay for Claude and like working from the terminal.
- Pick Codex if you already use ChatGPT and want one agent across CLI, IDE, desktop and web.
| Tool | What it does | Free tier? |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor | AI-first code editor with agents that can edit across your whole codebase. | Yes Free plan for individuals · source |
| Claude Code | Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal, IDE and web. | No Needs a paid Claude plan (Pro and up) · source |
| OpenAI Codex | OpenAI's coding agent for the CLI, IDE, desktop app and web, tied to your ChatGPT plan. | Yes Limited trial access on ChatGPT Free · source |
Free tiers
Cursor has a free plan. Codex includes limited trial access on ChatGPT Free. Claude Code is not on Claude's free plan; it needs Pro or higher.
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