Claude CLI
Agentic coding in your terminal
Codex CLI
Open-source terminal coding agent from OpenAI powered by GPT-5.3-Codex
Gemini CLI
Google's open-source AI agent for your terminal
/// THE_VERDICT
Claude CLI dominates the terminal AI race with the most mature agentic capabilities. It autonomously navigates codebases, creates files, runs commands, and iterates on errors with minimal hand-holding. Its deep reasoning about complex, multi-file tasks is consistently a step ahead, and its permission system gives developers granular control over what the agent can do. Gemini CLI impresses with Google's massive context window advantage and tight integration with the Google Cloud ecosystem, making it the natural choice for GCP-heavy teams who want terminal AI that understands their infrastructure. Its speed and ability to process enormous files in a single pass give it an edge for large-scale code analysis. Codex CLI from OpenAI earns a strong third place as a fully open-source terminal agent powered by GPT-5.3-Codex. Its sandboxed execution with network-disabled containers provides the strongest security model of the three, and its multi-model support lets developers swap between OpenAI models freely. The open-source nature means full transparency and community-driven improvements, making it the best choice for teams that need auditability and want to self-host their AI coding agent.
SCORE BREAKDOWN
DEEP DIVE
Claude CLI
Agentic coding in your terminal
/// JUDGE_SUMMARIES
"Claude CLI is the most capable agentic coding tool available, with reasoning depth and code quality that consistently outperform competitors on complex multi-file tasks. The addition of VS Code and JetBrains extensions alongside the terminal CLI broadens its accessibility significantly. Usage-based pricing remains the primary friction point — costs can spike unpredictably on large tasks."
"Claude Code is a coding assistant that can read a repository, propose multi-file patches, and iterate by running project commands. It’s available across multiple surfaces (terminal, IDE integrations, and web), which makes it easier to fit into different workflows and review styles. The main trade-offs are subscription/usage limits and the need for careful diff/test review on broad changes."
"Claude CLI is a glimpse into the future of autonomous software engineering. Its ability to reason about complex refactors, plan its approach, and executively verify its own work sets a new standard for agentic coding. While the terminal-centric workflow and usage-based pricing target a specific demographic of power users, the raw intelligence on display is currently unrivaled."
/// SYSTEM_DIAGNOSTICS
Experienced developers who prefer terminal workflows and want the highest quality agentic coding for complex, multi-file tasks
Codex CLI
Open-source terminal coding agent from OpenAI powered by GPT-5.3-Codex
/// JUDGE_SUMMARIES
"Codex CLI has matured into a serious terminal coding agent following its Rust rewrite and GPT-5.3-Codex integration. The three-tier permission system (Suggest, Auto Edit, Full Auto) is well-designed, and the sandboxed execution model with network-disabled containers provides the strongest security posture of any CLI coding tool. Strong on repo-scale reasoning and ML/STEM domain tasks, though the terminal-only interface limits appeal for developers who prefer visual diff review."
"Codex CLI is a terminal-native coding assistant that can read your repo, propose patches, and run commands under an explicit approval model. It’s strong for real maintenance work (tests, fixes, and multi-file edits) while keeping you in git-and-shell workflows, but you’re tied to OpenAI models and the cost/limits depend on how you authenticate and how much you iterate."
"Codex CLI is a high-performance, Rust-based terminal agent that leverages the cutting-edge GPT-5.3-Codex model for sophisticated autonomous workflows. With its robust three-tier permission system ('Suggest', 'Auto Edit', 'Full Auto') and deep sandboxing, it offers a secure and powerful environment for developers who want the intelligence of OpenAI's best models directly in their shell."
/// SYSTEM_DIAGNOSTICS
Terminal-centric developers who want an open-source CLI coding agent with repo-scale reasoning and fine-grained permission controls
Gemini CLI
Google's open-source AI agent for your terminal
/// JUDGE_SUMMARIES
"Gemini CLI combines the largest context window in the CLI agent space (1-2M tokens via Gemini 3) with a genuinely generous free tier (1,000 requests/day) and a massive open-source ecosystem (94K GitHub stars). The main obstacles to reliability are context rot that degrades performance after ~20% context fill, documented file-overwrite bugs that can remove previously implemented features, and startup latency that can reach 60 seconds."
"Gemini CLI is an open-source terminal coding assistant with an extension system and a strong free tier when you authenticate with a Google account. It’s practical for repo work (reading files, proposing edits, running commands) and can tap large-context models, but you’re still largely tied to the Gemini ecosystem and subject to quota limits."
"Gemini CLI is a premier open-source terminal agent that sets the standard for context management with its 1 million token window. Built by Google, it serves as both a powerful daily driver and a reference implementation for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), offering exceptional free-tier value and deep integration with the Gemini ecosystem."
/// SYSTEM_DIAGNOSTICS
Developers wanting the most generous free tier for AI-powered terminal coding with 1M token context
PRICING COMPARISON
| Metric | Claude CLI | Codex CLI | Gemini CLI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | — | — | ✓ 1,000 requests/day free with Google account |
| Pro Price | Usage-based (via Anthropic API) | $20/mo (ChatGPT Plus) or API costs | Pay-as-you-go via AI Studio or Vertex AI |
| Team / Enterprise | Usage-based (via Anthropic API) | $30/mo (ChatGPT Team) | Gemini Code Assist Standard |
RELATED BATTLES
Methodology & Disclosure ▼
How we rate: Each AI model receives the same structured prompt asking it to evaluate each tool across our criteria on a 1-10 scale. Models rate independently — no model sees another's scores. Consensus score = weighted average. Agreement level = score spread.
Data verification: Pricing and feature data is manually verified against official sources weekly.
Affiliate disclosure: Links to tool signup pages may earn us a commission. This never influences AI ratings.