Home / Compare / OpenAI Codex vs Claude Code
OpenAI Codex vs Claude Code: what each really costs
OpenAI Codex: $0–$100/month (cheapest paid: Go $8). Claude Code: $20–$100/month (cheapest paid: Pro $20). OpenAI Codex has the lower entry price. Which one is cheaper for you depends on your usage and preferred model; use the calculator below.
At a glance
| OpenAI Codex | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|
| Price range / month | $0–$100 | $20–$100 |
| Cheapest paid plan | Go ($8) | Pro ($20) |
| How usage is billed | free tier · flat price, unpublished quota | flat price, unpublished quota · plan + API-priced usage |
| Model families | openai | anthropic |
| Category | Agent (CLI, IDE, cloud) | Terminal agent |
Verdicts
OpenAI Codex
Codex comes with ChatGPT plans, and OpenAI publishes unusually concrete limits (local messages per 5 hours by model) plus a credit rate card. Plus ($20) suits a few focused sessions a week; Pro tiers ($100/$200/$500) remove the 5-hour limit.
Claude Code
Claude Code comes with any paid Claude plan and shares one usage pool with chat. For steady daily agent work on Claude models, a flat Max plan is usually easier to budget than paying per token, but the limits are published only as multiples of Pro, not as token counts.
Estimate both for your usage
What will my AI coding cost per month?
| Tool · plan | List price | Est. monthly cost |
|---|
Estimates only. Quota-based plans (Claude, Codex, Windsurf) don't publish limits in tokens, so we can't tell whether your usage fits; we show the flat price and say so. Prices come from the snapshot dated 2026-10-21; each row links its source.
OpenAI Codex plans
| Plan | Price / month | Key limits | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited | developers.openai.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Go | $8 | Lightweight | developers.openai.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Plus | $20 | Per 5h local msgs: GPT-6.1 Sol 15-160, GPT-6 Astra 5-45, Luna 350-3,000; weekly limits | developers.openai.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Pro | $100 | Tiers $100/$200/$500; no 5-hour limit; Ultrafast on $500 | developers.openai.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Business | $25 per user / from | per user/month billed monthly (annual cheaper, 2+ users) | developers.openai.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
Claude Code plans
| Plan | Price / month | Key limits | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | $20 | $17/mo billed annually ($200/yr); ≥5x Free per 5-hour session + weekly limits; Claude Code included | claude.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Max 5x page says 'From $100' | $100 | 5x Pro per 5-hour session; $100/mo API credits; Fable 50% of weekly limits | claude.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Max 20x price not explicitly shown on page fetched; third-party sites report $200 | Not published | 20x Pro per session; $200/mo API credits | claude.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
| Enterprise | $20 per user / from | per seat/month + usage at API rates, annual | claude.com checked Oct 21, 2026 |
FAQ
- Is OpenAI Codex cheaper than Claude Code?
- OpenAI Codex: $0–$100/month (cheapest paid: Go $8). Claude Code: $20–$100/month (cheapest paid: Pro $20). OpenAI Codex has the lower entry price. Which one is cheaper for you depends on your usage and preferred model; use the calculator below.
- How do OpenAI Codex and Claude Code bill AI usage?
- OpenAI Codex: free tier; flat price, unpublished quota. Claude Code: flat price, unpublished quota; plan + API-priced usage.
- Which models can I use?
- OpenAI Codex: openai. Claude Code: anthropic. (Provider families from each vendor's published model list.)