Pick Codex if you already pay for ChatGPT and want OpenAI's agent in the terminal, your IDE, the ChatGPT desktop app and the cloud, at no extra cost. Pick Cursor if you want an AI editor with several model families in one place: its own Grok and Composer models in the plan, plus Claude, GPT and Gemini at API prices. Since the Codex extension runs inside Cursor, plenty of people use both.
Codex and Cursor at a glance
As of October 2026, from OpenAI's Codex docs and pricing, the Codex repository and cursor.com.
| Codex | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | OpenAI | Cursor, sold within The X Subscription |
| Price | In ChatGPT plans: Free and Go ($8) in the desktop app; Plus $20; Pro $100, $200 or $500; Business $25 per user ($20 billed annually) | Free; Plus $8; Premium $30; Super $100; Ultra $200; Teams $30, $100 or $200 per seat |
| Models | OpenAI's GPT-6 family | Cursor's Grok and Composer models; Claude, GPT-5.6 and Gemini at API list price on Premium and up |
| Main surface | Terminal CLI and ChatGPT desktop app | Desktop editor |
| Also runs in | IDE extension (VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf), web, mobile, Slack, Linear | CLI, iOS app, Slack, Teams, Jira, Linear |
| Cloud agents | Codex cloud tasks; @codex on GitHub | Cloud agents; Projects (beta); Bugbot |
| Project instructions | AGENTS.md | Rules |
| Skills, MCP, subagents, plugins | Yes | Yes |
| Hooks | 12 events, trusted with /hooks | About 20 events in hooks.json |
| Scheduling | Scheduled tasks | Automations on cron, GitHub or Slack triggers |
What you pay for
Codex is part of ChatGPT. Every plan includes it, but Free and Go get it only in the ChatGPT desktop app with GPT-6 Luna (subject to rollout). Plus at $20 opens the CLI, the IDE extension, Codex on the web, and integrations such as automatic code review and Slack. Usage is counted in five-hour windows; OpenAI publishes estimates (for Plus, 350 to 3,000 local messages per five hours with GPT-6 Luna, 15 to 160 with GPT-6.1 Sol) and says they are not fixed limits. Pro has no five-hour limit for now, and Plus and Pro users can buy extra credits.
Cursor joined The X Subscription in October 2026, one plan for Grok, Cursor and X. Paid tiers share a weekly pool for Cursor's own models (Premium gets four times Plus, Super 15 times, Ultra 50 times). Third-party models come out of prepaid credit at the provider's list price, for example $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens for GPT-5.6 Sol. Existing Pro, Pro+ and Ultra customers keep their plans for now.
The upshot: if your work runs on OpenAI models, a ChatGPT plan with Codex is the flat-fee route. If you are fine with Cursor's own models, Plus at $8 is the cheapest paid entry. Using OpenAI models heavily inside Cursor means paying per token.
Terminal and app vs editor
Codex is agent-first. The open source CLI takes a task and works through it in your repository; codex exec runs one prompt and exits for scripts and CI. In July 2026 OpenAI merged the Codex app into the new ChatGPT desktop app (macOS, Windows, with a Linux guide), where Codex is a mode next to chat and ChatGPT Work. The IDE extension brings the same agent to VS Code, Cursor or Windsurf.
Cursor is editor-first. You review inline diffs, get Tab completions, plan in the Agents Window and iterate on UI in Design Mode. The Cursor CLI (curl https://cursor.com/install -fsS | bash) adds a terminal agent with a headless mode for CI, and the desktop app runs on macOS, Windows and Linux.
Cloud agents and automation
Both hand work to the cloud:
- Codex cloud tasks start from ChatGPT on the web, from a GitHub comment that mentions
@codex, or from Slack and Linear. Scheduled tasks repeat work such as a daily drift check. - Cursor cloud agents start from the editor, Slack or the iOS app. Automations start them on a cron schedule or on events like a pull request opened, CI completed or a Slack message. Projects (beta) put a coordinator agent over several others, and Bugbot, Security Review and Rollouts watch pull requests and deploys.
Skills, hooks and MCP
Both support Agent Skills, MCP servers, subagents and plugins, so much of a setup carries over. Codex skills live in ~/.agents/skills or .agents/skills; Cursor has its own skills and rules. For hooks, Codex has 12 events (PreToolUse, PermissionRequest, Stop and others) configured in ~/.codex/hooks.json, and each hook must be trusted with /hooks before it runs. Cursor's hooks.json has events such as beforeShellExecution, afterFileEdit and stop, with no permission event. Our Codex skills guide covers the Codex side.
If you run both, Briefkin's installer adds a hook to each, so Codex and Cursor sessions show up on one board, and a Codex session waiting on an approval pings you on Telegram.
Which to choose
- You pay for ChatGPT Plus or Pro: Codex, with the IDE extension inside the editor you already use.
- You want an IDE where you watch each edit: Cursor.
- You want Claude, GPT and Gemini in one tool: Cursor, paying per token for the third-party ones.
- You want an open source agent you can read: the Codex CLI.
- You want event-driven cloud agents tied to GitHub and Slack: both; Cursor Automations offer cron plus events in one place.
- You also use Claude Code: see Codex vs Claude Code and Cursor vs Claude Code, or browse all Claude Code alternatives.
Questions
Can I use Codex inside Cursor?
Yes. OpenAI's Codex IDE extension installs in VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf, and signs in with your ChatGPT plan, so Cursor stays your editor while Codex uses your ChatGPT usage.
Does Cursor include OpenAI models?
As of October 2026, Cursor lists OpenAI's GPT-5.6 models (Sol, Terra, Luna) as third-party models, billed at API list price from prepaid credit on Premium and higher plans. Free and Plus include only Cursor's own models.
Which is cheaper, Codex or Cursor?
Cursor Plus is $8 a month with Cursor's own models. Codex is included in ChatGPT plans, with CLI, IDE and web access from Plus at $20. If you already pay for ChatGPT, Codex costs nothing extra.
Do Codex and Cursor both run agents in the cloud?
Yes. Codex runs cloud tasks from ChatGPT on the web, GitHub and Slack. Cursor runs cloud agents from the editor, Slack and its iOS app, and Automations start them on a schedule or on GitHub and Slack events.