OpenAI Codex CLI
Apache-2.0 OpenAI agent: CLI, IDE, app and cloud
AI Agents / Coding Agents · Freemium · 130k
Reviewed 2026-08-19 · last push 2026-10-21 · repo checked 2026-10-21
What's Good
Apache-2.0 (openai/codex), very active (release rust-v0.163.0, 2026-10-15). Install with the chatgpt.com/codex install.sh script (install.ps1 on Windows), npm install -g @openai/codex, brew install --cask codex, or a binary from GitHub Releases. Sign in with ChatGPT to use it on a Plus, Pro, Business, Edu or Enterprise plan, or set it up with an API key. The IDE extension covers VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf, codex app opens the desktop app, and Codex Web lives at chatgpt.com/codex. The CLI is open, so you can read exactly how the agent loop works. ★~129.8k.
The Catch
The CLI is open source, but the models are not free: you pay through ChatGPT plan quotas or API spend. Codex Web runs on OpenAI’s cloud, not on your machine. The install.sh, brew and npm routes are supply-chain choices, so pin a release binary when that matters. Vs Claude Code or OpenCode: this is OpenAI’s first-party agent, tied to ChatGPT plans or OpenAI API keys.
Verdict
OpenAI’s answer to terminal agents — open CLI, paid models; budget the plan or the API.
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