Claude Code is great, but alternatives exist with unique strengths. I tried a few.

TL;DR: the "coding agents" space is extremely dynamic with fierce competition. We can expect a lot of changes in the coming months, from form factor to mental models. Competition is good! Trying other coding agents may help you:

stay open-minded about the UX / form factor

increase your performance by using their unique strengths

save credits: they have free tiers 💰

Here is a short list, in order of personal preference/relevance:

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Codex by OpenAI

"The same agent everywhere you build"

✅ generous free tier

✅ frontier models

✅ built-in worktrees and cloud environments

💡 not a CLI! Codex is primarily an app (though they do have a TUI version)

💡 integrated browser that the agent can access, with annotation tool

Overall the strongest contender. Integrated browser is extremely useful (all coding agents can access the browser, but some setup is required).…