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Alternatives to Claude Code and Codex
Coding agents you can swap models in, read the source of, or switch off.
Ranked by score out of 30, most convivial first.
Aider
A terminal tool that pairs you with the language model of your choice, on new or old codebases.
goose
An open-source AI agent that runs on your machine and works with the model you choose.
Cline
An open-source coding agent for your editor, terminal or desktop that asks before it changes anything.
OpenCode
The open source coding agent for the terminal, desktop and your editor, with any model provider you like.
Zed
A fast code editor where the AI features are optional and can be switched off with one setting.
Open Interpreter
A terminal coding agent tuned to get strong results from cheaper open models, with commands run in a sandbox.
Kilo Code
An open-source coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the terminal that charges model prices with no markup.
For comparison
The big names these tools are measured against. We review them as benchmarks, so they sit outside the directory.
About these tools
The famous coding agents arrive with one company's models and one company's data policy. These ones separate the three. goose is a general agent that works well on code, Aider works in a terminal with almost any model, Cline and OpenCode do the same in editors and terminals, Kilo Code adds a cloud agent and bills at provider prices, Open Interpreter aims at cheaper open models, and Zed is an editor where the AI can be turned off with a setting.
You pay your model provider directly, so the bill moves with how much you use it, and a coding agent can run commands on your machine, so read what it asks to do before you approve it. We reviewed Claude Code, OpenAI Codex and GitHub Copilot as benchmarks.
How to choose
Decide where you want it to live. In a terminal, Aider, OpenCode or Open Interpreter. Inside your editor, Cline or Kilo Code. If you want a new editor with the AI optional, Zed. For an agent that does more than code, goose. Then check whether local models are supported, because that decides whether your code ever leaves the machine.
Frequently asked questions
What is an open-source alternative to Claude Code?
Aider, Cline, OpenCode and goose are open source and work with your choice of model, and Zed is an open-source editor with optional AI.
Can I use a local model for coding?
Aider says it connects to local models, Cline lists Ollama and LM Studio, and goose lists Ollama among its providers. We found no statement on local models for OpenCode or Kilo Code.
Is Codex open source?
The OpenAI Codex command line tool is Apache-2.0 licensed, but it is built to use OpenAI's models and a ChatGPT login, so we reviewed it as a benchmark.