Which Claude Code alternatives are still actively developed?

Goose (newest commit 7 Oct 2026), Codex CLI (newest commit 8 Oct 2026), Qwen Code (newest commit 8 Oct 2026), opencode (newest commit 8 Oct 2026). Those dates are the newest commit on each project's default branch, read from the GitHub API on 8 Oct 2026. We read the default branch rather than the repository's push timestamp, because a push to any branch moves the second one and makes a finished project look active.

How many Claude Code alternatives do you track?

We name 17 on this page. 8 carry judgments and prices we read and quoted, 3 carry live repository data with no judgment yet, and 6 are catalogue entries we have not researched. We say which is which on every row rather than presenting all of them as reviewed.

Best Claude Code alternatives (2026)

Claude Code is a CLI tool that runs in the terminal: Command-line AI coding agent that understands your codebase and automates tasks via natural language. We name 17 alternatives below.

Quick answer

Of the 17 alternatives here, 8 have been researched claim by claim. Start with Goose.

Choose Goose when: Automate work that is not coding — research, writing, data analysis — on the same machine and the same agent, through the desktop app, the CLI or the API. [github.com/aaif-goose/goose]

It costs: goose charges nothing for itself; you pay whichever provider you configure, and it accepts a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription in place of an API key. [goose-docs.ai/docs/getting-started]

How this list is ordered. Tools whose claims we have read and quoted come first, then tools whose repository we track, then catalogue entries we have not researched. Within each band the order is category and workflow overlap. A tool that has stopped is never the first answer. We publish no score out of five: every claim here traces to a source, and a number we could not justify would undermine the ones that can.

Why people leave Claude Code

You cannot audit, fork or patch the agent: the repository publishes the changelog, plugins and examples, not the CLI source, under an all-rights-reserved licence. GitHub Copilot CLI is the only other tool in this set that does the same.

“© Anthropic PBC. All rights reserved. Use is subject to Anthropic's [Commercial Terms of Service](https://www.anthropic.com/legal/commercial-terms).”

github.com/anthropics/claude-code

Subscribers report the plan limit arriving far earlier than the plan implies: the repository's most-commented open issue carries 1,487 comments and 724 reactions and has stayed open since 2026-01-03.

“[BUG] Instantly hitting usage limits with Max subscription”

github.com/anthropics/claude-code

On API-key billing the cost is per token, and Anthropic's own enterprise figure is $150-250 per developer per month.

“Across enterprise deployments, the average cost is around $13 per developer per active day and $150-250 per developer per month, with costs remaining below $30 per active day for 90% of users.”

code.claude.com/docs/en

A developer who must run a local or self-hosted model should choose goose or Crush; both accept an Ollama endpoint.

“Local model runner supporting Qwen, Llama, DeepSeek, and other open-source models.”

goose-docs.ai/docs/getting-started

8 researched alternatives to Claude Code

Goose

block.github.io

What it is: goose is the only agent in this set governed by a foundation rather than a vendor, and it can borrow an existing Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini subscription over the Agent Client Protocol instead of an API key. [github.com/aaif-goose/goose]

Where it hurts: Model choice is not free: goose leans on tool calling, so a weak or local model degrades it, and the vendor names Claude 4 as the model it works best with. [goose-docs.ai/docs/getting-started]

Price: goose charges nothing for itself; you pay whichever provider you configure, and it accepts a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription in place of an API key. [goose-docs.ai/docs/getting-started]

Stars: 55,064; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 7 Oct 2026; 0 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: Apache-2.0; Verified 8 Oct 2026

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Codex CLI

github.com

What it is: Codex CLI is the only agent in this set that confines itself in an OS-enforced sandbox on first run, with network access off and writes limited to the working directory. [developers.openai.com/codex/sandbox]

Choose Codex CLI when: Point an agent at a repository you do not trust: in the default `workspace-write` mode Codex edits inside the working directory and must ask before touching anything outside it. [developers.openai.com/codex/sandbox]

Where it hurts: Subscription spend is unpredictable: the most-commented open issue, 630 comments since 2026-03-13, is that Codex burns the plan budget too fast, and a second reports the 5-hour budget gone in 2-3 prompts. [github.com/openai/codex]

Price: ChatGPT plans that include Codex run $0 for Free, $8 a month for Go, $20 a month for Plus, and from $100 a month for Pro. [developers.openai.com/codex/pricing]

Stars: 128,366; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 8 Oct 2026; 0 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: Apache-2.0; Verified 8 Oct 2026

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Qwen Code

github.com

What it is: Qwen Code binds the local agent to Telegram, DingTalk, WeChat or Feishu with one command, `qwen channel`, and ships TypeScript, Python and Java SDKs beside the CLI. [github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code]

Choose Qwen Code when: Run the agent from a group chat your team already uses, with `qwen channel`. [github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code]

Where it hurts: Qwen Code is no longer free: the Qwen OAuth free tier was discontinued on 2026-04-15, and requests on an old token are now rejected. [qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en]

Price: The free tier is gone as of 2026-04-15; the vendor's recommended replacement is the Alibaba ModelStudio Coding Plan, whose weekly quota is priced on Alibaba's own page, which I did not read today. [qwenlm.github.io/qwen-code-docs/en]

Stars: 28,361; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 8 Oct 2026; 0 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: Apache-2.0; Verified 8 Oct 2026

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opencode

opencode.ai

What it is: OpenCode reaches 75+ LLM providers and local models from a single config file, because it resolves every model through the AI SDK and the Models.dev catalogue instead of a hand-written provider list. [opencode.ai/docs/providers]

Choose opencode when: Explore an unfamiliar codebase before you change it: the built-in plan agent refuses file edits and asks before each bash command. [github.com/anomalyco/opencode]

Where it hurts: A fresh install edits files and runs shell commands with no approval prompt, because every permission except `doom_loop` and `external_directory` starts at allow. [opencode.ai/docs/permissions]

Price: OpenCode Go, the optional subscription, costs $5 for the first month and $10 a month after that, and one workspace can hold only one subscriber. [opencode.ai/docs/go]

Stars: 212,333; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 8 Oct 2026; 0 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: MIT; Verified 8 Oct 2026

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Crush

github.com

What it is: Crush is configured by a `crushrc` that is Bash, and it runs that Bash identically on Windows because Crush embeds its own Bash interpreter rather than calling the host shell. [github.com/charmbracelet/crush]

Choose Crush when: Code in a terminal on a platform the other agents skip: Crush ships first-class builds for Android, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD as well as macOS, Linux and Windows. [github.com/charmbracelet/crush]

Where it hurts: Crush is not open source today: it ships under the Functional Source License 1.1, which bars any competing commercial use until each version turns MIT two years after release. [github.com/charmbracelet/crush]

Price: Charm Hyper, the provider built for Crush, gives 100 Hypercredits a month at $0 and 250 a day on a $20 monthly subscription; 1 Hypercredit is 5 cents. [hyper.charm.land]

Stars: 28,542; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 6 Oct 2026; 1 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: Other; Verified 8 Oct 2026

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GitHub Copilot CLI

github.com

What it is: Copilot CLI bills the agent from a dollar-denominated credit balance rather than per token: Pro carries $15 of GitHub AI Credits a month, Pro+ $70 and Max $200. [github.com/features/copilot]

Choose GitHub Copilot CLI when: Work across code and GitHub state — issues, pull requests, repositories — in one session, because the agent ships with GitHub's MCP server enabled. [github.com/github/copilot-cli]

Where it hurts: Your employer can switch the tool off: when Copilot comes from an organization, an administrator must enable the Copilot CLI policy first. [docs.github.com/en/copilot]

Price: Copilot CLI is on the $0 Free plan; paid plans are Pro at $10 per user per month, Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100. [github.com/features/copilot]

Stars: 11,244; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 7 Oct 2026; 0 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: Other; Verified 8 Oct 2026

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Warp

warp.dev

What it is: Warp replaces the terminal itself rather than running inside one, and ships that client as open source — AGPL v3, with the `warpui_core` and `warpui` crates under MIT. [github.com/warpdotdev/warp]

Choose Warp when: Keep the CLI agent you already use and change only the terminal: Warp runs Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI beside its own agent. [github.com/warpdotdev/warp]

Where it hurts: On the free plan you cannot switch telemetry off and keep the AI; only paid plans can opt out and still use it. [docs.warp.dev/support-and-community/privacy-and-security]

Price: Warp is $0 on Free, $20 per month on Build, $200 per month on Max and $50 per user per month on Business; annual billing takes Build to $18 and Max to $180. [warp.dev/pricing]

Stars: 65,396; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 8 Oct 2026; 0 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: AGPL-3.0; Verified 8 Oct 2026

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mistral-vibe

github.com

What it is: Mistral Vibe sets its risk level by picking one of four named agent profiles — ask, plan, accept-edits and auto-approve — rather than by editing a permission table, and accept-edits, which auto-approves edits but not shell commands, is the shipped default. [github.com/mistralai/mistral-vibe]

Choose mistral-vibe when: Refactor with edits applied but shell commands still gated: that is the shipped default, the `accept-edits` agent. [github.com/mistralai/mistral-vibe]

Where it hurts: Windows is not a supported target, only a working one; Mistral tests and aims at UNIX. [github.com/mistralai/mistral-vibe]

Price: Mistral's Free plan includes Vibe with limited coding sessions and $10 a month of API credits. [mistral.ai/pricing]

Stars: 5,079; Verified 8 Oct 2026
Last commit: 6 Oct 2026; 2 days old when we read it; Verified 8 Oct 2026
License: Apache-2.0; Verified 8 Oct 2026

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Claude Code alternatives at a glance

Tool	Price	State	Newest commit
Goose	stated, no figure	Active	7 Oct 2026
Codex CLI	$0 / $8 / $20 / $100	Active	8 Oct 2026
Qwen Code	stated, no figure	Active	8 Oct 2026
opencode	$5 / $10	Active	8 Oct 2026
Crush	$0 / $20	Active	6 Oct 2026
GitHub Copilot CLI	$0 / $10 / $39 / $100	Active	7 Oct 2026
Warp	$0 / $20 / $200 / $50 / $18 / $180	Active	8 Oct 2026
mistral-vibe	$10	Active	6 Oct 2026
GitHub Copilot	not verified	Not tracked	not tracked
Replit	not verified	Not tracked	not tracked
Windsurf	not verified	Not tracked	not tracked

Also close, not yet researched

These match Claude Code by category and workflow, and we have not read their vendor pages. We publish no judgment and no price for them, because we have no source to put beside one.

GitHub CopilotAI pair programmer with code completion chat and agent mode for agentic codingRegistry tracked
ReplitBrowser-based development environment with AI agent that builds and deploys appsRegistry tracked
WindsurfAgentic IDE where developers and AI flow together (formerly Codeium)Website checked
Gemini CLIOpen-source AI agent from Google bringing Gemini to your terminalCatalogue entry
AiderAI pair programming in your terminal with clean commitsCatalogue entry
RA.AidStandalone coding agent built on LangGraph's agent-based task executionCatalogue entry
RalphTerminal-first agent loop persisting state via gitCatalogue entry
langchain-codeLangChain-based coding agent for AI-assisted developmentCatalogue entry
MyCoder.aiOpen source AI coding assistant with Git/GitHub integration and parallel executionCatalogue entry

Questions people ask

What is the best alternative to Claude Code?: Goose is the one we can answer for in full. Automate work that is not coding — research, writing, data analysis — on the same machine and the same agent, through the desktop app, the CLI or the API. goose charges nothing for itself; you pay whichever provider you configure, and it accepts a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription in place of an API key. Every part of that answer is quoted from a page we read; the links are on this page beside each claim.
Which Claude Code alternatives are still actively developed?: Goose (newest commit 7 Oct 2026), Codex CLI (newest commit 8 Oct 2026), Qwen Code (newest commit 8 Oct 2026), opencode (newest commit 8 Oct 2026). Those dates are the newest commit on each project's default branch, read from the GitHub API on 8 Oct 2026. We read the default branch rather than the repository's push timestamp, because a push to any branch moves the second one and makes a finished project look active.
What do Claude Code alternatives cost?: Codex CLI: ChatGPT plans that include Codex run $0 for Free, $8 a month for Go, $20 a month for Plus, and from $100 a month for Pro. opencode: OpenCode Go, the optional subscription, costs $5 for the first month and $10 a month after that, and one workspace can hold only one subscriber. Crush: Charm Hyper, the provider built for Crush, gives 100 Hypercredits a month at $0 and 250 a day on a $20 monthly subscription; 1 Hypercredit is 5 cents. GitHub Copilot CLI: Copilot CLI is on the $0 Free plan; paid plans are Pro at $10 per user per month, Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100. Prices we have not read ourselves are marked "not verified" in the table above rather than copied from our catalogue, which is out of date on 43 of our 190 rows.
How many Claude Code alternatives do you track?: We name 17 on this page. 8 carry judgments and prices we read and quoted, 3 carry live repository data with no judgment yet, and 6 are catalogue entries we have not researched. We say which is which on every row rather than presenting all of them as reviewed.

How we check this page

Stars, licences, the newest commit on each default branch and the latest stable release are read from the GitHub API, and each one shows the day it was last confirmed rather than the day this page was built. Every judgment and every price is quoted from a page we read, and that page is linked beside the claim. Where a link is missing we wrote no claim. We have researched 8 of the 17 tools named here.