AI development · Workflow comparison
Cursor, Claude Code or Codex: choose the workflow, not the brand
Editor-based, terminal-based and delegated coding agents solve different problems. Features change quickly, so use stable criteria and test on your own repository.
Different working surfaces
Cursor centres the workflow in an editor. Claude Code is designed around terminal interaction and tools. Codex provides agentic coding workflows in the OpenAI ecosystem. Confirm current details in the Cursor docs, Claude Code docs and OpenAI Codex docs.
Compare context and control
Evaluate how each tool selects files, follows repository rules, displays context, shows diffs, requests permission and supports rollback. Include limits, total review time and the cost of failed attempts.
Run the same three tasks
Use a clean, non-sensitive repository. Ask each tool to explain code, fix a reproducible bug and add a tested feature. Record clarification quality, unrelated edits, tests passed and manual corrections. Review every command and never expose production secrets.