(01)The most complete agent overall, narrowly ahead of Codex. Runs in the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, a desktop app and the browser, all sharing one engine and one CLAUDE.md. Supports MCP, skills, hooks, subagents and background agents, reads AGENTS.md, and can run scheduled routines in the cloud. Limitation: tied to Claude models on a Claude subscription (third-party providers only via the CLI, VS Code and JetBrains), and usage limits are shared with the rest of your Claude plan.
Terminal-first agentic coding, large-repo refactors, subagents, hooks, skills, scheduled routinesIncluded in Claude Pro ($20/mo; $17 annual) and Max (from $100/mo); or API
(02)Practically tied with Claude Code and the natural choice for teams on ChatGPT. Codex runs as an open-source CLI (Apache-2.0), IDE extension, desktop app and cloud agent with automatic code review and Slack integration. Supports AGENTS.md, MCP, skills and subagents. With an API key it works in CI, but without the cloud features. Open source applies to the CLI only, not to the cloud service.
GPT-native agentic coding, cloud tasks, code review, AGENTS.md projectsIncluded in ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) and Pro (from $100/mo); Business $20/user/mo (annual); or APIAI-Native
(03)The strongest AI-native editor. Cursor combines its agent with cloud agents, MCP, skills and hooks, Bugbot code review and a CLI, and gives access to frontier models from several providers. SpaceX completed its acquisition of Cursor's maker in August 2026; the product continues, but watch how model access and privacy terms evolve. Best for developers who want to stay in an editor and review changes visually.
AI-native IDE, agent mode, cloud agents, Bugbot code reviewFree (Hobby); Individual from $20/mo; Teams $40/user/mo; Enterprise custom
(04)Close to Cursor and the best fit for organisations already on GitHub. The Copilot cloud agent takes an issue, works in an ephemeral GitHub Actions environment and opens a pull request; it is available on all paid plans. Third-party agents (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI Codex) can be enabled in public preview. Strong admin and policy controls; usage is now metered in GitHub AI credits.
Issue-to-PR cloud agent, broad editor coverage, enterprise governanceFree; Pro $10/mo; Pro+ $39/mo; Max $100/mo; Business $19 / Enterprise $39 per user/mo
(05)Google's agent platform, which replaced Gemini CLI for consumer and free users on 18 June 2026. Antigravity 2.0 manages several local agents in parallel; the IDE adds an agent manager and artifacts; Antigravity CLI brings skills, hooks, subagents and plugins to the terminal. The free individual tier includes Gemini and some third-party models with weekly rate limits. Jules remains Google's asynchronous cloud agent. Gemini CLI continues only for enterprise customers with paid API keys.
Agent-first IDE and desktop, parallel agents, browser-in-the-loop, generous free tierFree (individual, rate-limited); higher limits via Google AI Pro/Ultra; organisations via Google Cloud
(06)Windsurf was renamed Devin Desktop in June 2026 and now opens on an agent command center with the full IDE behind it. Its main differentiator is the Agent Client Protocol: it runs Codex, Claude Agent, OpenCode and other ACP agents natively, and the Pro plan includes Devin Cloud for long-running autonomous tasks. A good hub for teams that want to mix agents from several vendors.
Multi-agent desktop (ACP), autonomous cloud agent Devin, IDEFree; Pro $20/mo; Max $200/mo; Teams $80/mo + $40/user; Enterprise custom
(07)The leading open-source, provider-agnostic agent. OpenCode supports 75+ LLM providers and any OpenAI-compatible API, and runs local models via Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp. Built-in build and plan agents, MCP and LSP support, very active development. Best for teams that want to own the model layer.
Provider-agnostic terminal agent, local and open-weight models, no lock-inFree (MIT); you pay your model providerAI-Native
(08)The most established open-source agent inside the editor. Cline runs in VS Code, JetBrains, as a CLI and as a desktop app, separates Plan and Act modes with checkpoints, and supports MCP. Bring your own key for Claude, GPT, Gemini, Bedrock or local models via Ollama. Transparent step-by-step control, at the cost of managing keys and spend yourself.
Open-source in-editor agent, Plan/Act mode, checkpoints, BYO modelFree (Apache-2.0); you pay your model providerAI-Native
(09)AWS's spec-driven agent: it turns prompts into requirements, a design and a task list before writing code, and adds agent hooks and steering files. Available as IDE, CLI and web interface, with support for AGENTS.md, skills and MCP. A good fit for teams that want more structure than free-form prompting, especially in AWS environments. Credit-based plans make heavy use harder to predict.
Spec-driven development, agent hooks, steering, AWS integrationFree (50 credits); Pro $20; Pro+ $40; Pro Max $100; Power $200 per user/mo
