Cheapest coding agents: price, plans and background runs
| Tool | What it is | Pricing (official) | Subscriptions or keys it can use | Runs in background |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| opencode | Open-source (MIT) coding agent for the terminal, desktop and IDE | Free; optional OpenCode Go $10 or Go Plus $40 a month | ChatGPT Plus/Pro, GitHub Copilot or GitLab Duo sign-in, or API keys for 75+ providers (Claude by API key only) | No hosted runner documented; runs on your computer |
| Aider | Open-source (Apache-2.0) AI pair programmer in your terminal | Free; you pay your model provider | API keys for OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, xAI, DeepSeek, OpenRouter and others, local models, or a GitHub Copilot sign-in | No: runs on your computer |
| 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 |
| Kilo Code | Open-source coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains and the CLI, with a Cloud Agent | Free; Kilo Pass from $19 a month; Teams $15 per user | Your own Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Azure or Bedrock keys, Kilo Gateway, or local models | Yes: Cloud Agent, compute billed per second |
| Google Antigravity | Google's agent-first development platform: app, IDE and CLI | $0 for individuals with basic weekly rate limits; higher limits with Google AI Pro and Ultra | A Google account, Google AI Pro or Ultra, or Gemini Enterprise | Not documented on its pricing page |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 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.
Use the subscriptions you already pay for 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. Sending work to Reason needs a Pro or Max plan.
Connect the plans you already pay for
In Settings › Models, under Subscriptions, connect ChatGPT (Plus, Pro or Business), Claude (Pro or Max), Grok (SuperGrok or X Premium+) or GitHub Copilot, and add API keys if you have them. Work on those accounts is billed by their provider, not in Reason credits.
Pick the model per task
In the composer, choose the model for each Session: a smaller model for routine fixes, a larger one for hard changes. Each Session shows the model and account it ran on.
Keep going at a limit
When the account a turn runs on hits its limit, Reason moves the turn to your other connected accounts for that provider, then to Reason credits if your workspace can pay, and says so in the conversation.
Coding agents by price
| Agent | Free option | Lowest paid price | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| opencode | Free, MIT; free models for a limited time | OpenCode Go $10 a month | 75+ providers and local models; Go has five-hour, weekly and monthly dollar limits |
| Aider | Free, Apache-2.0 | None; you pay your model provider | Terminal pair programming with almost any LLM, local ones included |
| Cline | Free for individual developers | None; you pay for inference | Bring your own key, or local models through Ollama and LM Studio |
| Kilo Code | Free and open source | Teams $15 per user; Kilo Pass $19 a month | Gateway at provider rates; usage billed separately |
| Codex | ChatGPT Free, desktop app, subject to rollout | ChatGPT Go $8; Plus $20 a month | Plus adds the CLI, IDE extension, web and iOS |
| GitHub Copilot | Free: 2,000 completions a month, auto model only | Pro $10 a month | All plans include Copilot CLI |
| Google Antigravity | $0 a month with basic weekly rate limits | Google AI Pro | Google's agentic coding app |
| Cursor | Free: limited agent requests | Plus $8 a month, Grok models only | Other vendors' models are billed separately |
| Devin | Free: light quota, limited models | Pro $20 a month | Allowances refresh daily and weekly |
| Jules | 15 tasks a day free | Google AI Pro | Paid plans for personal Google accounts |
| Claude Code | None | Claude Pro $20 a month ($17 billed annually) | Or API billing; Anthropic says about $13 per developer per active day on average |
From each vendor's pricing page, docs or license, checked Nov 2, 2026; US list prices.
Free isn't free once you count the model
Open-source agents are free to run, but the model isn't: you pay your provider per token, or run a local model, which costs nothing per token but limits quality to what your hardware can run. $0 plans from Codex, Copilot, Antigravity, Devin and Jules are real but small, and meant for trying the product.
What a task really costs depends on the model, how many tokens the agent spends, and whether it finishes. Compare agents on the same task, on your own repository, rather than on list price alone.
What people on Reddit say
Two Reddit threads on the same question, read in full:
In an r/LocalLLaMA thread from April 2026 (over 150 replies) asking for a Claude Code-style agent for local models, many replies recommend opencode as the most plug-and-play option, several prefer pi for its small system prompt on consumer hardware, and others suggest Cline, Kilo Code or Roo Code in VS Code. A few point out that Claude Code itself can talk to a local model once its base URL is set.
In a small r/GithubCopilot thread from June 2026 (18 replies) asking which assistant developers actually use, the top reply likes both Claude Code and Codex, several say they moved to Codex for its limits, a few call Cursor the default answer, and several use Copilot because it's the tool their employer approves. Others mention opencode with DeepSeek and Antigravity for lower cost.
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 isn't the lowest-priced agent on this page: Pro is $50 a month with 1,250 credits a week, and Max is $200 with 5,000; a credit is $0.04. Work on your own connected subscriptions or API keys is billed by that provider, not in Reason credits, so you don't pay twice for a plan you already have.
On cost: in Reason's published benchmark on GPT-6 Astra at xhigh effort, with the same tasks and graders, Reason 1.1 scored 65.1 against Codex's 62.5 on Coding Agent Index v1.5, at 22% lower cost per solved task. That's Reason's benchmark of its own harness, with the runner published to reproduce it.
Sources (checked Nov 2, 2026; table and FAQs checked Nov 5, 2026)
- anomalyco/opencode on GitHub (MIT)
- opencode docs: OpenCode Go
- Aider-AI/aider on GitHub (Apache-2.0)
- Cline: pricing
- Kilo Code: pricing
- OpenAI: Codex pricing
- GitHub Docs: Copilot plans
- Google Antigravity: pricing
- Cursor: pricing
- Devin: pricing
- Jules docs: usage limits
- Anthropic: Claude plans and pricing
- Claude Code docs: manage costs effectively
- Reason: Reason 1.1 Coding Agent Index results (Oct 10, 2026)
- Reason docs: plans
- OpenCode Go
- opencode docs: providers
- Aider docs: connecting to LLMs
- Aider docs: GitHub Copilot
- Cline Cloud
- GitHub Docs: about Copilot cloud agent
- Cursor docs: API keys
- Cursor docs: Cloud Agents
- Anthropic: what is the Ultra plan?
- Claude Code docs: Claude Code on the web
- r/LocalLLaMA: What is the best coding agent (CLI) like Claude Code for local development? (Apr 2026)
- r/GithubCopilot: Which AI coding assistant are developers actually using in 2026? (Jun 2026)
Questions
What is the cheapest coding agent?
The free, open-source ones: opencode, Aider, Cline and Kilo Code cost nothing to use, and you pay only your model provider, or nothing with a local model. Among hosted plans, Codex in ChatGPT Free, Copilot Free, Antigravity, Devin and Jules have $0 tiers.
Is there a free coding agent?
Yes. opencode (MIT), Aider (Apache-2.0) and Cline are free and open source, and Codex, Copilot, Antigravity, Devin and Jules have free plans with small limits.
Are bring-your-own-key agents really free?
The agent is; the model isn't. You pay your provider per token, or run a local model, which is free per token but depends on your hardware.
What is the cheapest paid coding plan?
ChatGPT Go and Cursor Plus are $8 a month (Go runs Codex in the desktop app; Cursor Plus is Grok models only), GitHub Copilot Pro is $10, and OpenCode Go is $10.
Is Claude Code free?
No. It comes with Claude Pro at $20 a month ($17 billed annually) and higher plans, or bills the API by token.
Is Reason the cheapest coding agent?
No. Reason's plans start at $50 a month. It saves money when you already pay for AI subscriptions, because it runs on them instead of charging for that usage again, and in its own benchmark it cost 22% less per solved task than Codex on the same model.
What happens when I hit the limit on a cheap plan?
Copilot sells more AI credits; OpenCode Go lets you top up or fall back to its free models; Codex on Plus and Pro sells credits. In Reason, the turn moves to your other connected accounts or Reason credits.
Can I use cheap open models with Claude Code or Codex?
OpenCode Go, a $10-a-month subscription to open-weight models, says Claude Code and Codex have been validated as clients. Anthropic itself doesn't support non-Claude models in Claude Code.