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Ranking Coding agents

The 18 best coding agents (2026): seat model

The best coding agents in October 2026 are OpenAI Codex, JetBrains AI and Zencoder. OpenAI Codex is the pick for developers who want one coding agent in their terminal, IDE and the cloud. We read the price of all 18 on their own sites.

The Agents Index EditorialUpdated Prices read 24 Oct to 1 NovAI answers 13 Oct
Compare all 18 picksMarkdown
Coding agents, first paid plan, October 2026 All 17 agents that publish a monthly price start under $100 a month. The median first paid plan is $20.
  1. Under $251313 of 17
  2. $25 to $9944 of 17
  3. $100 to $29900 of 17
  4. $300 or more00 of 17
18
ranked
$20
median first paid plan
13
of the 18 have a free plan

theagentsindex.com · First paid plan from each agent's own pricing page, read 24 October–1 November 2026.

How we check

On this page
  1. The short answer
  2. Pick by what you need
  3. All 18 picks at a glance
  4. The ranking
  5. Questions buyers ask
  6. Sources and method

The short answer

OpenAI Codex ranks first. It starts at $8 a month.

JetBrains AI ranks second with a free plan, then about $11 a seat a month, and Zencoder third with a free plan, then $45 a seat a month. Kilo Code has a free plan too.

Half of the 17 agents with a monthly paid plan charge $20 a month or less.

13 agents here have a free plan to try before you pay. The highest ranked are JetBrains AI, Zencoder and Kilo Code.

Pick by what you need

This ranking

  • 18 agents ranked
  • paid plans $10-$100
  • 13 free or freemium
  • verified 24 October 2026
How we check →

All 18 picks at a glance

#AgentBest forStarts at
1OpenAI CodexDevelopers who want one coding agent in their terminal, IDE and the cloudFrom $8 a monthits pricing page
2JetBrains AIJetBrains IDE users who want several coding agents under one governed subscriptionFree, then about $11 a seat a monthits pricing page
3ZencoderTeams running several coding agents side by side, each on its own branchFree, then $45 a seat a monthits pricing page
4Kilo CodeDevelopers who want to switch models freely, local ones included, with no lock-inFree, then $15 a seat a monthits pricing page
5Gemini Code AssistTeams standardized on VS Code or JetBrains who are already on Google CloudOn quoteits pricing page
6Augment CodeEngineering leaders at organizations who want AI agents running full SDLC loops end to endFrom $20 a monthits pricing page
7JunieDevelopers and teams already standardized on a JetBrains IDE who want an agentFree, then about $11 a seat a monthits pricing page
8ZedDevelopers who want a fast, open-source editorFree, then $10 a monthits pricing page
9WarpDevelopers and teams who want one open platform that runs and coordinates multiple coding agentsFree, then $20 a monthits pricing page
10Google Antigravity CLIDevelopers already inside the Google ecosystem (Google AI subscription, GCP billing)Free, then $30 a seat a monthits pricing page
11CodeRabbitEngineering teams, using a coding agent or writing code by hand, that want automaticFrom $30 a seat a monthits pricing page
12FactoryEngineering organizations that want AI agents handling more of the SDLC than code generation aloneFrom $20 a monthits pricing page
13BoltFounders, designers and developersFree, then $25 a monthits pricing page
14Codex CLIDevelopers who already pay for a ChatGPT plan and want a terminal-native agent with granularFree, then $8 a monthits pricing page
15DevinEngineering teams offloading well-scoped migration tasks without adding headcountFree, then $20 a monthits pricing page
16Devin DesktopDevelopers who want a full, agent-native desktop IDE and the freedom to run several coding agentsFree, then $20 a monthits pricing page
17CursorProfessional developers who want a powerful AI agent woven into a familiar VS Code-based editorFree, then $8 a monthits pricing page
18GitHub CopilotEnterprise and team developers already in GitHub and mainstream IDEs who want governedFree, then $10 a monthits pricing page

Checked between 24 October 2026 and 1 November 2026. “About” figures are converted at the European Central Bank rate of 30 October 2026.

18 agents, ranked. How we check

About this list

18 of 32 coding agents match “Seat model”. Of the rest: 6 on some plans only, 4 no, 4 unknown.

How the coding agents matching “Seat model” differ: only 0 of 18 match “Self-hosted”, against 10 of 14 in the rest; and 18 of 18 also match “A company can buy it”, against 7 of 14 in the rest of the category.

The ranking

  1. 1

    OpenAI Codex

    The lowest monthly price we found

    Best fordevelopers who want one coding agent in their terminal, IDE and the cloud

    Seat model: Yes — Priced per user per month with a two-seat floor: $20 per user billed annually, $25 per user when billed monthly, and no published seat ceiling.“*2+ users, billed annually. $25 per user per month when billed monthly.”Pricing, Business card footnote · checked 2026-10-24

    Price
    From $8 a month · source
    • MCP serverNot stated
    • APIYes
    • Open sourceNot stated
    • Self-hostNot stated
    Visit OpenAI Codex ↗Read the review
  2. 2

    JetBrains AI

    A free plan before you pay

    Best forJetBrains IDE users who want several coding agents under one governed subscription

    Seat model: Yes — Individual plans are priced per user per month and the Business governance plan is per seat, with Enterprise aimed at organisations of 100 developers or more.“€17.00 /seat (about $19) per month”Plans and pricing, Business column price cell · checked 2026-10-24

    Price
    Free, then about $11 a seat a month · source
    • MCP serverNot stated
    • APIYes
    • Open sourceNot stated
    • Self-hostNot stated
    Visit JetBrains AI ↗Read the review
  3. 3

    Zencoder

    Teams running several coding agents side by side, each on its own branch

    Best forteams running several coding agents side by side, each on its own branch

    Seat model: Yes — Priced per user per month with a credit allowance attached to each seat; seats are freed and reassigned from the admin panel and no minimum seat count is published.“Per-seat credits that refresh each month.”Pro plan card, tooltip on the 30,000 monthly credits bullet · checked 2026-09-09

    Price
    Free, then $45 a seat a month · source
    • MCP serverNot stated
    • APIYes
    • Open sourceNot stated
    • Self-hostNot stated
    Visit Zencoder ↗Read the review
  4. 4

    Kilo Code

    Developers who want to switch models freely, local ones included

    Best fordevelopers who want to switch models freely, local ones included, with no lock-in

    Seat model: Yes — Paid team access is priced per user at $15 a month, charged per seat with centralized billing, and the pricing page names no seat minimum or maximum for Teams; Enterprise seat terms are quoted rather than published.“Teams. Everything in Free, plus team management. $15/user/month”Teams plan card, price cell; repeated in the Pricing summary table "Platform plan" row · checked 2026-11-01

    Price
    Free, then $15 a seat a month · source
    • MCP serverNot stated
    • APIYes
    • Open sourceYes
    • Self-hostYes
    Visit Kilo Code ↗Read the review
  5. 5

    Gemini Code Assist

    Teams standardized on VS Code or JetBrains

    Best forTeams standardized on VS Code or JetBrains who are already on Google Cloud

    Seat model: Yes — Per-user licences with a 10-licence floor on Enterprise and none stated on Standard; no ceiling. Licences self-assign on first IDE use and a licence idle 30 days is reassigned.“Note that if you are purchasing Enterprise edition, then you must purchase at least 10 licenses.”Purchase a Gemini Code Assist subscription, step 4, Number of licenses bullet · checked 2026-09-02

    Price
    On quote · source
    • MCP serverNot stated
    • APINot stated
    • Open sourceNot stated
    • Self-hostNot stated
    Visit Gemini Code Assist ↗Read the review

Questions buyers ask

How much do coding agents cost?

The median first paid plan is $20 a month, across the 17 of the 18 that publish a monthly price. They run from $8 to $45.

Which coding agents have a free plan?

13 of the 18 have a free plan.

How current are these figures?

The prices were read 24 October–1 November 2026.

Sources and method

Every price here was read on the maker's own pricing page.

Pricing pages 18 read