Claude Code vs OpenCode
Two terminal agent options for AI coding assistants. When each fits, what it costs, who moves from one to the other, and what makers who chose it say.
Which fits you
- You're comfortable in a terminal and want to hand off whole tasks
Use it whenYou're comfortable in a terminal and want the agent to do the work while you review.
Trade-offUses Anthropic models only, and needs a Claude subscription or API credits.
- You want to switch between model providers freely or keep your tools open source
Use it whenYou want to switch models freely or keep your agent tooling open source.
Trade-offResult quality depends on the model you connect, and you manage provider keys and costs yourself.
At a glance
| Used by | 737 makers' products · 88 open-source projects | 42 makers' products |
|---|---|---|
| Cost at default usagedevelopers 1 seat | $20/mo Pro | $10/mo Go |
| Moved to it on GitHubpull requests since Oct 2024 | 28 from OpenCode | 44 from Claude Code |
| Downloads | 18.9M/wk | ★ 210.3k |
| Pricing | Included in Claude Pro/Max subscriptions or billed via Anthropic API token usage. · paid from $20/mo | Free (open source, MIT) with your own model provider or subscription; optional paid model access through OpenCode Zen (pay as you go) or OpenCode Go ($10/month). · paid from $10/mo |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Incidents, 90 daysfrom its status page | 50+ (21 major) | no public status feed |
Who moves from one to the other
Public pull requests on GitHub since Oct 2024 whose title says "Claude Code to OpenCode" or the reverse — real code changes, by developers in general rather than makers only.
- ✨ feat(agents): support codex and opencode next to claude codevcmf/minmux · 2026-10-01
- chore: migrate project config from OpenCode to Claude Codepshevche/act-test-runner · 2026-09-07
- feat(claude): migrate opencode config to claude codeian-cq/dotfiles · 2026-09-05
- chore: migrate agent tooling from Copilot CLI/OpenCode to Claude Codeajrussellaudio/dotfiles · 2026-08-10
- Add opencode config to mirror Claude Code setuprishid/dotfiles · 2026-07-29
- Port multi-ai-review engine from opencode to a Claude Code CLI + skillMathieuDoyon/cc-multi-ai-review · 2026-07-15
- feat(ai): migrate from OpenCode to Claude Codeghostkernel-core/ARCRunner · 2026-07-06
- feat(ai): migrate from OpenCode to Claude CodeAutomationNexus/MediaRefinery · 2026-07-06
- feat(ai): migrate from OpenCode to Claude CodeAutomationNexus/ModelDeck · 2026-07-06
- feat(ai): migrate org AI tooling from OpenCode to Claude CodeAutomationNexus/.github · 2026-07-06
- Switch flightdeck from Claude Code to OpenCode V2alexkorotkikh/flightdeck · 2026-09-26
- fix: port brooks-lint bundle from Claude Code to OpenCodeWilliam-Dennis/python-template · 2026-09-18
- Fix Claude Code session forwarding to OpenCodeAlishahryar1/free-claude-code · 2026-09-07
- chore(migration): migrate Claude Code setup to opencodesapientpants/doctrans · 2026-08-26
- chore(tooling): migrate coding setup from Claude Code to opencodeaxelwaserman/travel_pal · 2026-08-25
- Add safe Claude Code to OpenCode migrationsjh9714/dsh-movein · 2026-08-22
- Port execution engine from Claude Code to opencodecomputer-reinvention/soren · 2026-08-16
- fix: migrate Claude Code workflows to OpenCode (DeepSeek V4 Flash)silvertakana/worldwideview · 2026-08-04
- feat: migrate from Claude Code plugin to opencode distribution (Phase…shahboura/ai-sdlc-harness-opencode · 2026-07-14
- feat: enable Claude Code push notifications and add Figma MCP to OpenCodevidbina/dotfiles · 2026-07-09
What makers say
Makers on using it for AI coding assistants, from Product Hunt and Starter Story interviews, each linked to the source. Products with a page of their own and fuller notes first.
We build HarnessRouter with Claude Code, and HarnessRouter runs Claude Code as a product backend for other teams. It is both our daily driver and one of the harnesses we route to.
We use Claude Code as our AI agent that addresses and responds to PR review comments. The headless mode made it incredibly easy to run an agent with repository context in a sandbox.
Claude Code in VS Code is the closest thing to pair programming with a senior engineer. It reads my codebase, runs commands, and ships PRs right inside the editor I already live in.
A strong open local coding-agent runtime. We like it because it keeps agent work close to the developer environment while still fitting into a shared workspace through Vokal.
One of the agents the manager runs. Its config merge is how the manager registers itself as an MCP server inside a session, so an agent can rename itself and declare the repo it is working in.
OpenCode has been part of my day-to-day development workflow while building Kapshot. It helped me explore ideas, iterate quickly, debug issues, and spend more time actually shipping the product.
Loved and watch-outs
Themes that recur in makers' words and Hacker News comments, each linked to what it summarises.
- Holds deep context across large multi-module codebases, so one change can span UI, backend, docs and infrastructure. PHPH 2PH 3PH 4
- Carries complex multi-step tasks through end to end, such as waiting on CI, reading logs and iterating until green. PHHNHN 2PH 2
- Hooks, skills, subagents, plugins and MCP make it a host that teams extend and build products on. PHPH 2HNPH 3
- Quality can shift between releases because of harness changes, such as a quietly lowered default reasoning effort. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
- Subagents are opaque and hard to steer, and the default setup feels heavy, so power users strip tools and prompts. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4
- The subscription only works inside Claude Code, not in other harnesses people prefer. HNHN 2HN 3
- Works with models from any provider, so teams run a strong model on hard work and a cheap one on grunt tasks. PHHNHN 2
- Open source with an SDK and plugin system, so products are built on it without vendor lock-in. PHHN
- The low-cost Go plan gives heavy usage of open models and rarely hits limits. HNHN 2HN 3HN 4

