Vibe coding tools

Codex vs Claude Code: which should you use?

OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code compared in November 2026: where they run, plans and pricing, how they handle permissions, and how to choose.

Codex and Claude Code are AI coding agents that read a repository, edit files, run commands and handle Git. Codex is OpenAI's and is included in every ChatGPT plan, including Free, with a cloud mode for parallel tasks. Claude Code is Anthropic's and comes with paid Claude plans from Pro. Try both on a real task.

Published 9 November 2026 · Last updated 9 November 2026

By Michal Měřínský. Audit methodology.

What they have in common

Both work as agents: they plan, edit across files, run tests and fix failures.
Both run in a terminal and in editors such as VS Code, and both have desktop or web options.
Both ask for permission before running commands, with settings to loosen or tighten that.
Both read a project instructions file, AGENTS.md for Codex and CLAUDE.md for Claude Code.
Both can be billed by subscription or through their company's API.

Where they differ

Plans: Codex is included in ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Edu and Enterprise. Claude Code is included in Claude Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, not Free.
Entry price for paid use: ChatGPT Go at 8 dollars a month or Plus at 20. Claude Pro at 17 dollars a month billed annually or 20 monthly. Prices as of 9 November 2026.
Cloud work: Codex's cloud mode runs several tasks in parallel in isolated environments and returns changes for review. Claude Code also offers web and background options, and many users run it locally in the terminal.
Models: each uses its own company's models, which change frequently.
Open source: the Codex CLI is open source.

How to choose

Already paying for ChatGPT or Claude: start with the agent your plan includes.
Want to delegate many small tasks in parallel: Codex's cloud mode fits that pattern.
Prefer working interactively in the terminal on one larger task: Claude Code is built around that.
Unsure: give both the same real task, such as fixing a bug with a failing test, and compare the diffs.

Benchmarks change with every model release. Your own repository is the only benchmark that matters for your work.

Whichever you use

Both write code that passes the checks they can run. Neither knows how your deployed site looks to crawlers, browsers and attackers. Review diffs, keep secrets out of the agent's reach, and check the deployed result.

What a scan can and cannot tell you

WebAuditOS checks the deployed result of either agent: security headers, console errors, duplicate titles and error disclosure.

It does not compare the agents or read their changes.

Paste scan findings with their evidence into either agent, then rescan to confirm the fix.

Short answers

Is Codex better than Claude Code? Neither is better for everyone. Test both on your own code.

Which is cheaper? Codex is included in ChatGPT Free and Go. Claude Code starts with Claude Pro.

Can I use both? Yes. Many developers do, for different kinds of tasks.

Do they work in VS Code? Yes, both have editor integrations.

In the product

The checks this maps to

Every check named here runs on every scan, on every plan - what a plan changes is how many pages are crawled, how long the history is kept and what you can do with the result. These are the ids the findings carry, so you can match a line in a report to the explanation above.

sec.headers.csp - Content-Security-Policy header
tech.console-errors - No JavaScript errors in the console
seo.title.unique - Titles are unique across pages
sec.error-disclosure - Error pages do not leak stack traces

Run a free audit See a full sample report See the whole check library