Background coding agents compared: price, plans and where they run
| Tool | What it is | Pricing (official) | Subscriptions or keys it can use | Runs in background |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Codex | OpenAI's coding agent: CLI, IDE extension, desktop and web app, Codex cloud | Limited in ChatGPT Free and Go ($8); Plus $20; Pro $100, $200 or $500 a month | ChatGPT plan sign-in, or an OpenAI API key (no cloud features) | Yes: Codex cloud, on Plus and higher plans |
| Claude Code | Anthropic's coding agent for the terminal, IDE, desktop and web | Pro $20 a month ($17 billed annually); Max $100; Ultra $200 | Claude Pro, Max or Ultra sign-in, or an Anthropic API key | Yes: cloud sessions keep running after you close your laptop (paid plans, claude.ai sign-in) |
| Cursor | AI code editor with Cloud Agents and a CLI | Free; Plus $8 (Grok models only); Premium $30; Super $100; Ultra $200 a month | A Cursor or X Subscription plan; your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Azure or Bedrock key for chat models | Yes: Cloud Agents, on Premium and higher |
| GitHub Copilot | GitHub's coding assistant: IDE, Copilot CLI, Copilot app and cloud agent | Free; Pro $10; $39 plan; Max $100 a month; Business $19 per seat | A Copilot plan, billed in AI credits; Copilot CLI also takes your own provider keys | Yes: cloud agent; sessions on GitHub Actions run at most 59 minutes |
| Devin | Cognition's AI software engineer: Devin Desktop and Devin Cloud | Free; Pro $20; Max $200 a month; Teams $80 a month plus $40 per seat | A Devin plan | Yes: Devin Cloud, on Pro and higher |
| Jules | Google's experimental asynchronous coding agent for GitHub repositories | 15 tasks a day free; 100 with Google AI Pro; 300 with Google AI Ultra | A Google account; Google AI Pro or Ultra for more tasks | Yes: runs in a cloud VM you can leave |
| Cline | Open-source coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, the CLI and desktop | Free for individual developers; you pay for inference | Your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other API keys, or the Cline provider | Yes: Cline Cloud keeps working after you close your laptop |
| Amp | Multi-model coding agent that runs threads in cloud orbs | Free plan (pay as you go for orbs); Individual $20 a month | ChatGPT, Claude and other subscriptions, or your own keys | Yes: orbs keep working after you close your laptop |
| Augment Code | Coding agent platform with a Context Engine, CLI and Cloud Agents | Standard $20 a month; Business $100 a month; model usage at list price plus a 40% fee | An Augment plan; your own model keys on Enterprise | Yes: Cloud Agents keep working when you close your laptop |
| Reason | Always-on teammate and coding agent: its own cloud computer per Session, memory, Loops and Slack | Pro $50 and Max $200 a month; no free plan | ChatGPT, Claude, SuperGrok or X Premium+ and GitHub Copilot sign-ins, or your own API keys | Yes: Sessions run on Reason's cloud computers with your laptop closed |
Prices and plans from each vendor's official pricing page or docs, checked Nov 5, 2026; US list prices. Sources are listed at the end of the page.
Ona, formerly Gitpod, wound down Ona Cloud on October 31, 2026, so it's no longer listed.
Run your first background task in Reason
Open Reason on the web or the Mac app
Sign in at reasonmachines.com, or download the Reason app for macOS from reasonmachines.com/download. Both open the same Sessions. Cloud computers come with a Pro or Max plan.
Connect GitHub
In Customize, open GitHub and choose Connect GitHub, then pick the repositories Reason may work in.
Hand over the task before you log off
Push your branch and tell Reason in the composer what's done, what's next and how to check it, for example "finish the migration, keep the test suite green, and open a pull request". The Session runs on Reason's cloud computer, so it keeps going after you close your laptop.
Make it a Loop if it repeats
Open Loops in the sidebar and describe the job and when it runs, such as every night at 2am, or on each new GitHub issue or Slack message. Each run picks up the Loop's instructions and Reason's memory of your repository.
Background coding agents compared
| Where it works | Triggers and schedules | |
|---|---|---|
| Reason | Its own cloud computer per Session keeps working with your laptop closed; Loops run on a schedule, a webhook, a GitHub event or a Slack message; Slack, memory, and any connected model | Web, Mac, iOS, Slack, Grok Bot, API; Loops |
| Codex cloud | A workspace per task that keeps working while your computer is asleep | ChatGPT web, mobile and desktop, terminal; scheduled tasks |
| Claude Code on the web | Anthropic's cloud; keeps running after you close your laptop | claude.ai/code, Claude app, desktop, terminal, Slack; scheduled tasks (research preview) |
| Cursor Cloud Agents | Isolated cloud VMs; don't need your computer online | Cursor desktop, web, iOS, Slack, GitHub, Linear, API |
| GitHub Copilot cloud agent | A cloud environment; sessions on GitHub Actions run at most 59 minutes | GitHub and Copilot CLI; automations on a schedule or repository events |
| Jules | A cloud VM that clones your code | jules.google; recurring tasks, daily or weekly |
| Devin | Devin's cloud workspace with a shell, IDE and browser | Slack, Teams, web, CLI, API |
| OpenHands | Your machine by default, or OpenHands Cloud | Slack, GitHub, Linear; schedules and webhooks |
| Grok Bot | A persistent cloud computer per user; hands larger coding to Cursor cloud agents | Routines on a schedule or events, at least five minutes apart |
From each vendor's own docs, checked Nov 2, 2026.
What to look for
Where it runs (its own computer, not yours), what can start it (Slack, GitHub events, a schedule), what it hands back (a pull request with test results), and what happens at a usage limit. That last one decides whether a long job finishes overnight.
Hit your limit? Reason keeps going on your other connected accounts or Reason credits. Reason works on a branch, opens a pull request and leaves merging to your repository's own rules.
What people on Reddit say
In a small r/LLMDevs thread from April 2026 on running Claude Code unattended from task to pull request, the replies agree on the same pattern: run the agent in an isolated devcontainer, make CI the hard gate for tests and screenshots before a person sees the pull request, and give the agent narrow permissions so it can't touch secrets or delete containers.
In an r/ClaudeAI thread from September 2026 (about 190 upvotes) asking what "Claude coding 24/7" really means, the top replies describe an orchestrator session that plans, hands work to worker and reviewer agents, and resumes after the five-hour and weekly limits reset. Others run a task queue (GitHub issues or a TODO file) on a schedule or with headless mode on cron. The second most upvoted reply is skeptical: outside solo projects, unattended work turns into a pull request review bottleneck.
Reason: all your AI subscriptions in one coding agent
Use the subscriptions you already pay for (ChatGPT, Claude, SuperGrok/X Premium+, Copilot) or your own API keys in one coding agent. Hit your limit and Reason keeps going on your other connected accounts or Reason credits.
Reason is an always-on teammate that is also a coding agent: its own cloud computer per Session, memory across Sessions, Loops and Slack, with the model picked per task. Work that runs on your own subscription or API key is billed by that provider and keeps its limits; Reason's plans are Pro at $50 and Max at $200 a month, with no free plan, and it isn't open source.
Sources (checked Nov 2, 2026; table and FAQs checked Nov 5, 2026)
- OpenAI: Codex cloud
- Claude Code docs: Claude Code on the web
- Claude Code docs: cloud scheduled tasks
- Cursor docs: Cloud Agents
- Cursor help: background agents
- GitHub Docs: about Copilot cloud agent
- Jules docs
- Jules docs: scheduled tasks
- Devin docs: introduction
- OpenHands/OpenHands on GitHub (MIT)
- xAI: Grok Bot overview
- Reason docs: plans
- OpenAI: Codex pricing
- Anthropic: Claude plans and pricing
- Anthropic: what is the Ultra plan?
- Cursor: pricing
- Cursor docs: API keys
- GitHub Docs: Copilot plans
- Devin: pricing
- Jules docs: usage limits
- Cline: pricing
- Cline Cloud
- Amp: pricing
- Amp manual
- Augment Code: pricing
- Augment Code: Cloud Agents
- Ona: Ona Cloud shutdown
- r/LLMDevs: How are you wiring up Claude Code with devcontainers, tests and PRs? (Apr 2026)
- r/ClaudeAI: Claude coding 24/7 - how? (Sep 2026)
Questions
What are background coding agents?
Coding agents that work on a cloud computer or VM instead of your machine, so they keep going while you do something else or close your laptop, and hand back a change, usually a pull request.
How do background agents work?
You give one a task and a repository; it clones the code into its own environment, plans the change, edits files, runs commands and tests, and returns a pull request. Cursor says its background agents work over minutes or hours.
What's the difference between a coding agent and a background agent?
Where it runs. A coding agent in your terminal works on your computer while you watch; a background agent works on its own cloud computer, so it doesn't need yours.
Can I self-host a background coding agent?
Yes. OpenHands is MIT-licensed and runs on your own machine by default, with schedules, webhooks and Slack.
Which background agent keeps going at a usage limit?
Most stop at their plan's limit. Hit your limit? Reason keeps going on your other connected accounts or Reason credits.
What does Reason cost?
Pro is $50 a month and Max $200 a month per person, with cloud computers and weekly usage in credits; top-ups keep work going when a week's usage runs out. Models you run on your own connected plans or API keys are billed by that provider and keep its limits.
Do background coding agents open pull requests?
Yes. Claude Code's cloud sessions, Codex cloud, Cursor Cloud Agents, Copilot's cloud agent, Devin and Reason all work on a branch and hand back a pull request for you to review.
Do background agents cost extra?
Usually they draw on your plan: Claude Code's cloud sessions count toward your plan's limits with no separate charge for the VM, and Cursor's Cloud Agents use your plan's usage at the model's rate. Kilo Code and Amp bill cloud compute or usage on top.
Can I close my laptop while a background agent works?
Yes, that's the point: Anthropic says a cloud session keeps running after you close your laptop, and Codex cloud, Jules, Cline Cloud and Amp's orbs say the same.