Codex CLI logo

Codex CLI

OpenAI's open-source Rust agent, with the strongest local sandboxing on this page.

developers.openai.com/codex/clidevelopers.openai.com/codexgithub.com/openai/codex
Overall in coding agents
4of 17 · score 76.1
Data coverage
100%
26 of 26 fields sourced

Best for

  • •Unattended local runs where a real OS sandbox is non-negotiable
  • •Teams already on ChatGPT business plans wanting agent use covered
  • •Anyone who wants an Apache-2.0 harness they can audit and fork

Strong on

  • +Permissions allowlist + OS sandbox 1/17
  • +Opens PRs Yes 1/16
  • +Background agents Yes 1/16
  • +Where it stops 4 1/15
  • +Terminal-Bench 62.9% 1/5
  • +Surface CLI, IDE extension, web, cloud delegate 2/17

Weak on

  • −Subagents No 12/16
    Better: Claude Code: Yes
  • −Entry price $20/seat/mo 13/16
    Better: Gemini CLI: $0/seat/mo
  • −Skills / commands Partial 12/17
    Better: Claude Code: Yes
  • −Model breadth one vendor + custom endpoint 12/17
    Better: opencode: any provider / router

vs Gemini CLI

  • •Ahead on Local models: Yes vs No
  • •Ahead on Opens PRs: Yes vs Partial
  • •Behind on Subagents: No vs Partial
  • •Behind on Checkpoint & undo: Partial vs Yes

How Codex CLI scores among 17 coding agents26 of 26 fields known

Features8

Surface2nd
CLI, IDE extension, web, cloud delegate
2/17
Leader: GitHub Copilot (Agent HQ) · GitHub-native, IDE extension, CLI, web, cloud delegate
developers.openai.com · 2026-01-15
Default model
Latest GPT-5 Codex model
Model breadth
one vendor + custom endpoint
12/17
Leader: opencode · any provider / router
github.com · 2026-01-15
Repo indexing
agentic grep
9/16
Leader: Devin · hybrid index + agentic
Plan mode
Partial
10/17
Leader: Claude Code · Yes
Checkpoint & undo
Partial
10/16
Leader: Claude Code · Yes
Headless / CI1st
Yes
1/17
learn.chatgpt.com · 2026-11-06
Local models1st
Yes
1/17

Agentic7

Where it stops1st
4
1/15
MCP1st
Yes
1/17
learn.chatgpt.com · 2026-11-06
Subagents
No
12/16
Leader: Claude Code · Yes
Hooks
Partial
8/14
Leader: Claude Code · Yes
Skills / commands
Partial
12/17
Leader: Claude Code · Yes
Background agents1st
Yes
1/16
· 2026-01-15
Opens PRs1st
Yes
1/16
· 2026-01-15

Governance & control3

Permissions1st
allowlist + OS sandbox
1/17
github.com · 2026-01-15
BYOK1st
Yes
1/17
· 2026-01-15
Licence1st
Apache-2.0
1/16
github.com · 2026-11-06

Pricing3

Pricing model
subscription + token overage
9/16
Leader: opencode · BYOK tokens only
· 2026-01-15
Entry price
$20/seat/mo
13/16
Leader: Gemini CLI · $0/seat/mo
openai.com · 2026-01-15
Token markup
No
5/16
Leader: Windsurf · Yes

Traction3

GitHub stars
42,000
5/11
Leader: Claude Code · 155,000
Terminal-Bench1st
62.9%
1/5
tbench.ai · 2026-11-07
Bench model
GPT-5.2
tbench.ai · 2026-11-07

Positioning1

Positioning
A coding agent that runs locally, in your terminal.
github.com · 2026-11-06

Timeline1

First release
2025-04-16

Alternatives8

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Sources6