Agents that keep coding while you're away
| Tool | What it is | Pricing (official) | Subscriptions or keys it can use | Runs in background |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Grok Bot | xAI's always-on AI teammates, on a persistent cloud computer with a browser and terminal | Included with X Subscription Premium $30, Super $100 and Ultra $200 a month (not Plus) | The X Subscription, or a linked SuperGrok, SuperGrok Heavy or X Premium+ plan; Grok Bot picks the model | Yes: closing your laptop doesn't stop a background turn or routine |
| 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.
Keep coding work going around the clock with 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 the plans you already pay for
In Settings › Models, connect your Claude (Pro or Max), ChatGPT, Grok or GitHub Copilot plan, or add API keys. Reason runs on your own accounts first; a Reason plan's credits cover the rest.
Add Reason to Slack
Mention Reason in a channel or message it directly, and it picks up the task from the thread, works on its own cloud computer and replies there with the pull request.
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.
Review the pull request in the morning
Read the diff, the test results and anything Reason says it couldn't verify. Your branch protection and required checks still decide what merges.
What keeps Claude Code going, and what stops it
| Keeps going | Stops | |
|---|---|---|
| Your own computer | While the computer is awake and the session open | When it sleeps, restarts or the session closes |
| Cloud sessions | After you close your laptop | After a period of inactivity, when the session's VM is reclaimed |
| Cloud scheduled tasks | On a schedule, at most hourly, with your laptop closed | Research preview; up to 100 scheduled runs an hour per account |
| Remote Control | Lets you steer a local session from another device | Claude keeps running locally, so your computer has to stay on |
| Usage limits | Until the five-hour or weekly limit | At the limit, until it resets or you add usage credits |
From Anthropic's Claude Code docs and Claude's usage limit article, checked Nov 2, 2026.
An always-on teammate that codes
Always on means three things: something is listening (Slack, GitHub, a schedule), there is a computer to work on, and the work survives a usage limit. Claude Code's cloud features cover the computer; the listening and the limits are up to you.
Reason covers all three: Slack and Loops listen, each Session gets its own cloud computer, and hit your limit? Reason keeps going on your other connected accounts or Reason credits. It can run Claude models on your connected Claude Pro or Max plan, and keeps memory across Sessions.
What people on Reddit say
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)
- Claude Code docs: Claude Code on the web
- Claude Code docs: cloud scheduled tasks
- Claude Code docs: scheduled tasks
- Claude Code docs: Remote Control
- Anthropic: How do usage and length limits work?
- Anthropic: Claude plans and pricing
- Reason docs: plans
- Anthropic: what is the Ultra plan?
- OpenAI: Codex pricing
- Cursor: pricing
- Cursor docs: API keys
- Cursor docs: Cloud Agents
- GitHub Docs: Copilot plans
- GitHub Docs: about Copilot cloud agent
- Devin: pricing
- xAI: Grok Bot
- xAI: X Subscription pricing
- r/ClaudeAI: Claude coding 24/7 - how? (Sep 2026)
Questions
Does Claude Code run 24/7?
Not by itself. It runs when given a task; cloud sessions and scheduled tasks let it work without your computer, but sessions stop after inactivity and runs stop at your plan's limits.
Why does Claude Code stop when my laptop sleeps?
A local session runs on your computer, so it pauses with it. Anthropic's desktop scheduled tasks skip runs while the computer sleeps; cloud sessions and cloud scheduled tasks don't need it on.
Do Claude Code scheduled tasks run when my computer is off?
Cloud scheduled tasks do; desktop scheduled tasks and /loop need the computer on.
Can cloud scheduled tasks see my local files?
No. Cloud tasks run on Anthropic's cloud with your repository, not your computer's files. Remote Control is the option that keeps Claude running on your own computer.
What happens when Claude hits its usage limit overnight?
Claude Code stops at your plan's five-hour or weekly limit until it resets, unless you've added usage credits. 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.
Does /loop keep running if I close the terminal?
No. Claude Code's scheduled-tasks docs say tasks only fire while Claude Code is running and idle, so closing the terminal stops them. Cloud scheduled tasks run on Anthropic's infrastructure instead.
Which Claude plan has no five-hour limit?
Ultra, at $200 a month (formerly Max 20x): 10x Pro's weekly usage and no five-hour limit for verified accounts. Weekly limits still apply.
Do always-on runs use my plan's limits?
Yes. Usage across claude.ai, Claude Code and the desktop app counts toward the same five-hour and weekly limits, and cloud sessions count too.