Claude vs Codex
The two frontier closed-model subscriptions. Claude Code leads marginally on benchmark (Opus 4.7 at 80.8% SWE-Bench) but Pro usage is very limited. ChatGPT Codex (GPT-5.5, released April 23, 2026) has much more generous limits at the same $20/mo and a cheaper $8/mo Go entry tier.
| Claude | Codex | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | LLM Plan | LLM Plan |
| Entry price | $20/mo | $8/mo |
| Model type | closed | closed |
| SWE-Bench | 80.8% | 80.0% |
| Output speed | 30 TPS | 40 TPS |
| Architecture | Dense | Dense |
| Paid tiers | 3 | 4 |
| Tiers | Pro$20/mo· ~44K tokens/5h - Claude Opus 4.7 & Sonnet 4.6 - adaptive thinking Max 5x$100/mo· 5x Pro usage - priority access - Claude Code - Claude Design Max 20x$200/mo· ~220K tokens/5h - ~93% savings vs API - task budgets | Go$8/mo· More messages than free - ad-supported (US) Plus$20/mo· GPT-5.5 - 10 Deep Research runs - Sora Pro$100/mo· 5x Plus usage - Fast mode - GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark preview Pro Ultra$200/mo· 20x usage - 250 Deep Research - 1M token context - 400K context |
Which wins for...
ChatGPT Go is $8/mo (ad-supported, US). Claude's cheapest paid tier is Pro at $20/mo.
ChatGPT Plus has more generous limits than Claude Pro, whose usage is currently very tight.
Claude Opus 4.7 scores 80.8% on SWE-Bench vs GPT-5.5 at 80.0% - a marginal lead on the hardest tasks.
The Codex agent is appreciated for backend work and keeps improving; Claude Code is strong too but Pro limits bite faster.
Verdict
At the same $20/mo, ChatGPT Plus gives more generous limits and a cheaper $8 entry. Pick Claude only if you specifically prefer Opus for complex refactors or want Claude Design.
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Sources: official sites · r/ClaudeAI · r/LocalLLaMA · r/ZaiGLM · r/ChatGPT. Plans and features may vary - check official sites for the latest.