OpenAI Codex CLI

#1 on Terminal-Bench with GPT-5-series

What OpenAI Codex CLI does

  • #1 on Terminal-Bench with GPT-5-series
  • Runs in terminal, IDE or the cloud
  • Sandboxed autonomous edits
  • Included with ChatGPT plans

OpenAI Codex CLI — straight answers

What is OpenAI Codex CLI?

OpenAI Codex CLI is listed under Terminal & CLI Agents, in the Code & Development category on Flocci AI Tools. #1 on Terminal-Bench with GPT-5-series. It is freemium — a usable free tier with paid plans above it, and it lives at openai.com.

Is OpenAI Codex CLI free?

OpenAI Codex CLI is freemium: there is a free tier you can work in and paid plans above it. It is one of 391 freemium tools in the catalog, all labelled the same way so you are never surprised by a paywall.

What can OpenAI Codex CLI do?

OpenAI Codex CLI does 4 things the catalog singles out: #1 on terminal-bench with gpt-5-series; runs in terminal, ide or the cloud; sandboxed autonomous edits; included with chatgpt plans.

What is the best free alternative to OpenAI Codex CLI?

Aider is the closest free alternative: it sits in the same Terminal & CLI Agents sub-category and is free. Cline, Crush and Gemini CLI also start free. The full list is on the alternatives page.

See the full list →

OpenAI Codex CLI alternatives

Compare all alternatives →

Claude Code

Terminal & CLI Agents
  • Terminal-native agent, best on large codebases
  • Top reasoning quality (Opus-class)
  • MCP tools, subagents and hooks
  • Included with Claude paid plans

Gemini CLI

Terminal & CLI Agents
free
  • Open-source terminal agent from Google
  • Huge free daily model quota
  • Built-in tools and MCP support
  • Great value for everyday coding

Aider

Terminal & CLI Agents
free
  • Open-source AI pair programmer in your terminal
  • Git-aware commits and edits
  • Works with any model (bring your key)
  • Free to use

Cline

Terminal & CLI Agents
free
  • Open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code
  • Plan/Act modes with approvals
  • Bring your own API key or model
  • MCP tool support

OpenCode

Terminal & CLI Agents
free
  • Fully open-source terminal/IDE/desktop coding agent, MIT licensed
  • Bring-your-own model across 75+ providers, free models included
  • Parallel agent sessions with shareable session links

Crush

Terminal & CLI Agents
free
  • Terminal coding agent from Charm with LSP-aware context
  • Cross-platform incl. Android/BSD, MCP server support over HTTP/stdio/SSE
  • Agent Skills standard support for extensibility

Head-to-head comparisons