🏀 Coding Agents Conference
8 coding agents, seeded by score. One round is played each week; winners are decided by our scorecard plus head-to-head testing. Scores as of Oct 15, 2026.
Disclosure: some links on this page may be affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never changes seeds or scores.
Round 1
1Cursor8.2
8Cline6.65
Face-off →4Claude Code7.8
5Windsurf7.25
Face-off →2Codex7.9
7Amp6.65
Face-off →3GitHub Copilot7.85
6Gemini CLI7.15
Face-off →Semifinals
TBD
TBD
Coming soonTBD
TBD
Coming soonConference final
TBD
TBD
Coming soonSeeds & scorecard
| Seed | Tool | Price/value (25%) | Ease (20%) | Output quality (30%) | Speed (10%) | Buzz (15%) | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cursor | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8.2 |
| 2 | Codex | 7 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7.9 |
| 3 | GitHub Copilot | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7.85 |
| 4 | Claude Code | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 7.8 |
| 5 | Windsurf | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7.25 |
| 6 | Gemini CLI | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7.15 |
| 7 | Amp | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6.65 |
| 8 | Cline | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6.65 |
- Cursor: Polished IDE with multi-model agent mode and fast Tab; plans just changed (check site). Heavy X/YouTube discussion. Price: Free; Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100, Ultra $200/mo (plans just changed, check site).
- Codex: Included with ChatGPT plans incl. Free (limited); strong on delegated/background tasks; central to the top Cursor vs Claude Code vs Codex debate (Theo video ~175k views). Price: Included in ChatGPT Free (limited); Plus $20/mo; Pro from $100/mo.
- GitHub Copilot: Cheapest paid plan ($10/mo Pro), free tier, works in nearly every IDE plus GitHub; widest model list. Less community hype than newer agents. Price: Free (2,000 completions, 50 chats); Pro $10, Pro+ $39, Max $100/mo.
- Claude Code: Top-tier multi-file/planning quality; needs Claude Pro $20+ and heavy use pushes you to Max $100+. Terminal-first learning curve. Most-discussed agent on X. Price: Included in Claude Pro $20/mo ($17/mo yearly); Max from $100/mo.
- Windsurf: Generous free tier (unlimited Tab, daily agent quota), Pro $20; buzz faded after the move under Devin. Price: Free; Pro $20, Max $200/mo; Teams $80 (now sold under Devin).
- Gemini CLI: Open source with a free tier on a Google account; terminal-only. Price: Open source; free tier with a Google account (limits check site).
- Amp: Multi-model, cloud 'orbs' across web/CLI/iOS; usage-based pricing (check site), can use a ChatGPT plan for OpenAI models. Price: Usage-based; plans check site.
- Cline: Free open-source extension, pay only for inference/BYOK; more setup and cost depends on your model choice. Price: Free open-source extension; pay only for AI usage (or bring your own keys).
How we score
Every tool gets 1–10 on five criteria, multiplied by the weight and added up (max 10). Ties go to the higher output-quality score.
- Price/value (25%): free tier and cost of the plan a solo builder actually needs, from official pricing pages.
- Ease of use (20%): setup time and learning curve for a vibe coder (IDE > terminal).
- Output quality (30%): how well it handles real multi-file tasks, based on official docs and public reviews and comparisons (hands-on testing coming soon).
- Speed (10%): responsiveness of completions and agent runs.
- Community buzz (15%): engagement on X and YouTube, tracked twice a week by our trend scan.
Scores are our judgment from the sources below and are updated as tools change. Disagree? Tell us.
Sources
More: Cursor vs Claude Code vs Codex · Amp vs Claude Code vs Codex · Graduation path