OpenAI and Anthropic are taking things up a notch with dueling coding tools that might have software engineers worried about job security.
ChatGPT Plus subscribers ($20 per month) can now access the Codex programming tool from the main menu, which OpenAI envisions as a way to incorporate AI agents that “increasingly resemble asynchronous collaboration with colleagues.”
The update comes weeks after Anthropic released an update to its Claude chatbot, which it says makes it “the world’s best coding model” and sets “new standards for coding, advanced reasoning, and AI agents.”
Codex now appears in the main menu of the ChatGPT Plus homescreen. (Credit: ChatGPT Plus)
These tools are geared toward professional, or at least advanced, programmers—not at-home tinkerers. Businesses could save some serious cash by replacing engineers with AI, and companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are eager to enroll them in monthly subscriptions. Entry-level engineers might be the first to go; Anthropic’s CEO warns that AI could automate 50% of starter jobs across industries as soon as 2030.
Codex helps engineers “move faster,” OpenAI says. It connects to GitHub, where an engineer might house their codebase, and can help answer “codebase questions, execute code, and draft pull requests.” It can also draft code, find bugs, suggest improvements, and run tests. OpenAI says the model behind Codex is new and “fine-tuned to work in large codebases.”
In addition to making Codex available for Plus subscribers, OpenAI made the tool more user-friendly and powerful by adding internet access, the “most requested feature.” You can also now make verbal requests to Codex with a voice-dictation tool.
Before using any commercial AI tool for coding assistance, make sure to check your company’s privacy and data-sharing policies. Samsung fired a group of engineers for pasting proprietary code into ChatGPT in 2022.
Codex description in ChatGPT Plus (Credit: ChatGPT Plus)
The Claude Code tool, meanwhile, integrates directly into a programmer’s workspace, or development environment, and helps them “code faster through natural language commands.” It promises to help with a wide range of core coding tasks, such as editing files, fixing bugs, answering architecture questions, running texts, and browsing documentation. It also works with Amazon Bedrock and Google Vertex AI, two popular enterprise coding tools.
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It’s all a push to make “vibe coding” the new normal. That’s an AI-based style of programming that uses natural language text prompts to generate code, rather than manually writing it line by line. While ChatGPT was first to make headlines for its coding chops, including passing a Google coding interview, Claude has pulled ahead and is generally understood to be slightly better than ChatGPT.
Claude 4 advertises its latest coding model as the world’s best. (Credit: Anthropic’s Claude)
Software engineers continue to debate the merits of each on various Reddit threads and forums.
“Why is ChatGPT very bad at coding?” one person wrote on the OpenAI Developer Community forum last month.
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“Yes, it’s honestly crazy—ChatGPT has become almost useless for serious coding work,” someone responded. “The quality has dropped significantly, and it feels like it’s now just a ‘mainstream AI’ focused on casual use rather than professional development.”
A Redditor finds ChatGPT better for back-end functions, and prefers Claude for front-end tasks, although that comment was about Claude’s previous model, Sonnet 3.7.
Claude does have a workplace-focused mission, its chief product officer told us in an October interview. ChatGPT, meanwhile, has recently found success with widely appealing products such as its new image generator. However, it’s possible ChatGPT’s wide appeal and name recognition could draw in more coders at all levels, from hobbyists to professionals.
When speaking at an AI summit in Mexico this week, OpenAI executives mentioned that its next model, GPT-5, will help the company “compete more” against rivals in the AI-assisted coding space, according to Bleeping Computer. It could launch as soon as this summer, but OpenAI has not disclosed any launch details. Making tools like Codex more widely available may help keep it compelling in the meantime.
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Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
About Emily Forlini
Senior Reporter
