Short answer: OpenCode if you want one agent across every provider, Codex if your models come from OpenAI
Verified September 5, 2026. TL;DR: OpenCode is MIT-licensed, reaches 75+ providers, and signs in to a ChatGPT Plus seat with zero setup, so one OpenAI subscription can drive both agents. Codex is Apache 2.0 and costs $0 inside ChatGPT Free. Both are open source, and only one is provider-neutral. Pick by whether you ever expect to leave OpenAI.
| OpenCode | Codex | |
|---|---|---|
| Repo and licence | anomalyco/opencode, MIT |
openai/codex, Apache 2.0 |
| GitHub stars today | 204,473 | 121,689 |
| Models | 75+ providers, plus local | OpenAI's own, on your ChatGPT plan |
| Cheapest start | $0, bring your own key | $0 on ChatGPT Free |
| First-party plan | OpenCode Go, $10 a month | Bundled in ChatGPT, $8 to $200 |
Which is cheaper, OpenCode or Codex?
Codex at the very bottom, OpenCode everywhere above it. Codex is $0 on ChatGPT Free, $8 on Go and $20 on Plus, but it is never sold alone: the price is a ChatGPT plan. OpenCode's client costs nothing and adds nothing to a provider key you already hold. With no key and no subscription, Codex is the cheaper first hour.
Can you run Codex inside OpenCode?
Not the agent, but its models, yes. OpenCode's /connect command signs in to a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription with zero setup, alongside GitHub Copilot and GitLab Duo seats. Your OpenAI models then run inside OpenCode while Codex stays a separate program. Anthropic is the exception OpenCode names in its docs: driving a Claude Pro or Max seat this way is explicitly prohibited.
Is OpenCode Go worth $10 against Codex on Plus?
They meter different things. OpenCode Go is $10 a month for a roster of open coding models and counts dollars: $12 of usage per five hours, $30 a week, $60 a month. Codex on Plus is $20 and counts messages per five-hour window, with local and cloud work sharing one allowance. Go buys breadth cheaply. Plus buys OpenAI's own models and the rest of ChatGPT.
Codex CLI or the OpenCode TUI: is the terminal the difference?
No, both outgrew the terminal. Codex ships a CLI, an IDE extension, a desktop app, the web and iOS. OpenCode ships a TUI, a desktop app, an IDE extension and a web surface. So "Codex CLI vs OpenCode" compares two front doors to the same shape of agent, and the real fork is the model list behind each one.
How to choose, in one line each
Already paying for ChatGPT, run Codex and add nothing. Want one agent that survives a vendor switch, or local models behind your own gateway: install OpenCode. Add Claude Code to the shortlist in OpenCode vs Claude Code vs Codex, or weigh the two big vendors alone in Codex vs Claude Code. Weighing an editor too, see Codex vs Cursor vs Claude Code or the Codex, Claude Code and Copilot breakdown.