claude-code vs codex
The two are close in size: 144.1k stars for claude-code, 121.6k for codex. Over the days we have tracked them claude-code moved +4.4% and codex +23.1%, so codex is growing faster right now.
claude-code leads on customization. codex does not take any axis by a clear margin.
Stars and commit dates come from our own daily tracking. The six axes are read off each project's documentation by our review pipeline, so they describe what a project says about itself, not what we measured in its code.
Where they stand today
A terminal-first agent that executes routine coding tasks and integrates git workflows, plus @claude GitHub tagging.
- Stars
- 144.1k
- Tracked growth
- +4.4%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 15h ago
- Language
- Python
- License
- none declared
- Cost to run
- Anthropic cloud; see docs
A lightweight, local-first terminal coding agent that you can install and run with one command while signing in to ChatGPT or using your OpenAI API key.
- Stars
- 121.6k
- Tracked growth
- +23.1%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 5h ago
- Language
- Rust
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Cost to run
- Sign in with a ChatGPT plan or use your OpenAI API key
Six axes, head to head
Each axis runs 0 to 5. The label under a score is what that project's own docs claim, not a category average.
| Axis | claude-code | codex |
|---|---|---|
Context depth How much of your codebase it sees before it answers: the open diff, the diff plus related files, or the whole repository. | ●●●●● Diff / file only | ●●●●● Diff/file only |
Noise control How it keeps output volume down — severity thresholds, deduplication, incremental runs over new commits only. | ●●●●● No noise controls | ●●●●● None mentioned |
Customization How far it bends to your team: custom rules, prompts, style guides, per-path config. | ●●●●● Plugins & config | ●●●●● No customization |
Privacy Whether your code stays on your own infrastructure: fully local, self-hostable, or cloud API only. | ●●●●● Cloud service only | ●●●●● Cloud (ChatGPT/API) |
Model freedom Whether you can point it at any provider, or it is wired to one. | ●●●●● Anthropic only | ●●●●● OpenAI only |
Setup ease What it takes to get a first useful run out of it. | ●●●●● One-command install | ●●●●● One-command install |
Which one to pick
Pick claude-code if…
Easy setup — install with one command to get a local, terminal-native coding assistant that helps with git workflows and code explanation.
- Customization: Plugins & config (3/5 against 1/5)
Pick codex if…
Easy setup — one-command install to run a local CLI coding agent that integrates with your ChatGPT plan or OpenAI API key.
What people want from each one
anthropics/claude-code
Hacker News: Issue: Claude Code is unusable for complex engineering tasks with Feb updates drew 1364 points and 753 comments.
openai/codex
Hacker News: Replit's new Code LLM: Open Source, 77% smaller than Codex, trained in 1 week drew 891 points and 220 comments.
Questions people ask
Is claude-code better than codex?
claude-code leads on customization. codex does not take any axis by a clear margin. claude-code is worth picking when easy setup — install with one command to get a local, terminal-native coding assistant that helps with git workflows and code explanation.
Which of claude-code and codex keeps my code private?
claude-code: Cloud service only (2/5). codex: Cloud (ChatGPT/API) (3/5).
What does each one cost to run?
claude-code: Anthropic cloud; see docs. codex: Sign in with a ChatGPT plan or use your OpenAI API key.
Full profiles: anthropics/claude-code and openai/codex. Everything else in CLI coding agents.