Claude Code alternatives
Claude Code by Anthropic costs $20/mo and is proprietary. If you need something cheaper, open source, self-hosted or simply different, here are 10 alternatives that do the same job, ranked by how widely they are used, with the differences that matter.
10 Claude Code alternatives, by popularity
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OpenAI's coding agent, offered as an open-source terminal CLI, an IDE extension, a desktop app and a cloud agent that works on repositories. Users sign in with a ChatGPT account or use an OpenAI API key.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Paid plans from $8/mo vs $20/mo
- Open source (Apache-2.0)
- Works with local models
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Minimal, extensible open-source coding agent harness with interactive TUI, print/JSON, RPC and SDK modes, created by Mario Zechner and now maintained by Earendil Inc. It supports 15+ model providers through API keys or OAuth and is customized with TypeScript extensions, skills and packages.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Open source (MIT)
- Works with local models
- Growing fast: usage up 54% in 30 days
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Open-source coding agent from Anomaly (the team behind SST) that runs as a terminal UI, desktop app or IDE extension and connects to 75+ model providers, including local models and existing ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot logins.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Paid plans from $10/mo vs $20/mo
- Open source (MIT)
- Works with local models
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Google's open-source terminal agent that brings Gemini models to the command line for code editing, shell commands and MCP tools. Since 2026-06-18 it no longer serves free, Google AI Pro/Ultra or Google One users, who were moved to Antigravity CLI.
- Open source (Apache-2.0)
- Less widely used (Gid Score 57 vs 80)
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Open-source terminal coding agent (`omp`), a variant of the Pi coding agent from Stencil Labs, with a native Rust core, IDE-style tooling and Windows-native support.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Open source (MIT)
- Works with local models
- Less widely used (Gid Score 56 vs 80)
- Growing fast: usage up 58% in 30 days
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Open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code (and JetBrains) that also ships a CLI, a desktop app and an SDK. It works with many model providers through the user's own keys, Cline's usage-billed provider or the ClinePass subscription.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Paid plans from $9.99/mo vs $20/mo
- Open source (Apache-2.0)
- Works with local models
- Less widely used (Gid Score 53 vs 80)
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Open-source AI software-development agent platform (formerly OpenDevin) with a local web GUI, a terminal UI/CLI, a hosted cloud and an SDK. It is model-agnostic and can use the user's own keys.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Open source (MIT)
- Works with local models
- Less widely used (Gid Score 50 vs 80)
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Open-source software-engineering agents from Princeton and Stanford researchers: SWE-agent (2024) and its roughly 100-line successor mini-SWE-agent, which uses only bash and works with any model through LiteLLM and similar routers. The SWE-agent README says development effort has moved to mini-SWE-agent.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Open source (MIT)
- Works with local models
- Less widely used (Gid Score 48 vs 80)
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Open-source coding agent available as a VS Code extension, JetBrains plugin and CLI, with a gateway to 500+ models and support for bring-your-own keys and local models. Kilo launched in March 2025 and was acquired by Anaconda in July 2026.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Paid plans from $19/mo vs $20/mo
- Open source (MIT)
- Works with local models
- Less widely used (Gid Score 46 vs 80)
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GitHub's standalone terminal coding agent (`copilot`, npm @github/copilot) that plans and edits code, runs commands and works with GitHub from the terminal. It runs on a Copilot plan and also supports bring-your-own model providers.
- Free to start; Claude Code has no free tier
- Paid plans from $10/mo vs $20/mo
- Works with local models
- Less widely used (Gid Score 45 vs 80)
Claude Code vs alternatives at a glance
| Agent | Price | Free to start | Open source | MCP | Local models | Gid Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | $20/mo | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ? | 80 |
| OpenAI Codex | Free + $8/mo | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 83 |
| Pi | Free (OSS) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 75 |
| OpenCode | Free + $10/mo | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 74 |
| Gemini CLI | Varies | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ? | 57 |
| Oh My Pi | Free (OSS) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 56 |
| Cline | Free + $9.99/mo | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 53 |
| OpenHands | Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 50 |
| mini-SWE-agent | Free (OSS) | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ✓ | 48 |
| Kilo Code | Free + $19/mo | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 46 |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | Free + $10/mo | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | 45 |
Prices from the vendors' pricing pages; features from official docs (“?” means not documented). Full feature comparison · All prices
How teams use these tools
Turn a Figma frame into code by connecting the Figma MCP server
Figma's hosted MCP server gives a coding agent the variables, components and layout data of a frame you link to, so the code it writes matches the design.
The agent gets design context such as variables, components and layout for the selected frame.
Run Claude Code and Codex agents in parallel on Mac with Offrun
Offrun is a free Mac app that runs coding agent CLIs such as Claude Code and Codex side by side, each in its own git worktree, using the user's own logins. The page is the product…
As reported by the Offrun site: each agent in a project works in its own git worktree, so two agents on the same repo do not touch the same files.
Route between coding-agent models with the open-source Weave Router 2.0
The Weave team presented Weave Router 2.0 in a Show HN post. It is an open-source routing model that sits in front of coding agents and switches between LLMs per turn, and the aut…
As reported by the Weave author on Hacker News: on Terminal Bench 4.0 and SWE Atlas, the router had equivalent pass rates to GPT-6 Astra.
FAQ
What is the best alternative to Claude Code?
By usage, the closest alternative is OpenAI Codex, followed by Pi, OpenCode, Gemini CLI.
Is there a free alternative to Claude Code?
None of the closest alternatives has a free tier.
Is there an open-source alternative to Claude Code?
Not among the closest alternatives we track.
How do these Claude Code alternatives compare on price?
OpenAI Codex: Free + $8/mo; Pi: Free (OSS); OpenCode: Free + $10/mo; Gemini CLI: Varies; Oh My Pi: Free (OSS); Cline: Free + $9.99/mo.
Claude Code: pricing, features and stats · All terminal coding agents · Find the right agent in 4 questions