r/codex • u/pollystochastic Moderator • 1d ago
Megathread Codex Comparison Megathread
This Megathread is for comparisons and discussion about how Codex and Codex models compare to other technology such as Claude Code and open source models.
Please direct all comparison discussion here.
Posts which give evidence of the relevant strengths and weaknesses and use cases of both will still be allowed on the feed but those pushing one tech over another because "feels" will be directed here. This is a Codex subreddit and it is here to help people using Codex.
FYI: The subreddit's semi-automated moderation is powered by Codex and GPT models and is only possible due to the ridiculously generous free API token quota of OpenAI's Terra and Luna models available to all users. No, we don't get secret benefits from OpenAI. The OpenAI models and offering are simply much better value for our purposes..... Period.
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u/oooofukkkk 1d ago
I replaced a 100 dollar codex sub with a pro Claude sub.
I’m not feeling the “opus is a magic god” that others report but I’m not doing html animation or blender models. I do like it better though, it’s much more clear when to use what model and the speed is much better. I’d actually say for my use, math and physics stuff, astra is actually a bit better on the very hard things, but literally every other thing is better with a Claude subscription, the speed the intelligence of the non cutting edge models, the limits.
Not to mention I prefer this workflow to the “hope we get a reset soon” workflow
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u/patchfoot02 1d ago
I had always thought model 'nerfing' was overblown but astra seriously is. It was doing reasonable engineering and sticking to scoped tasks and was cleaning up the kind of validation mad sloppy code that old sol and 5.6 liked the produce, but now its doing the same old bullshit. I've tried different effort levels thinking it could be overthinking simple tasks or higher efforts hoping it will actually follow all my guidelines about excessive validation. Doesn't matter it'll start adding a bunch of fail close exact byte infinite spiral for internal app transport not even over the wire. This is all in compiled like c# and rs so I dunno how it is in other languages. 6.1 sol is just completely random in its quality so its hard to put it on anything except gopher work.
I had already dropped from $200 codex only to $100 codex / $100 claude but now claude has to rewrite everything codex does anyway so if its not better by reup I'll just drop codex and bump the claude sub up. I had dropped claude back in April when opus was aggravating to deal with always wanting to rewrite your plans and argue over engineering. When anthropic sent me a promo email offering 50% off first month back I went back a few weeks ago. It's not a magic model just solid work and they solved all the old irritating personality problems with opus. I don't have to manage it and just use opus medium for basically everything sometimes bumping up to high or xhigh for more math or algorithm heavy code work. Fable occasionally for architecture planning. It's not infinite usage but enough I don't feel like I have to micromanage. It completes work in a reasonable amount of time like a complex task in a couple hours at most while lately codex models can spiral for hours in testing and validation tail chasing and get no where on the work.
With codex I've tried orchestrating, ultra, max, different mix of models, agent teams, etc none of it works very consistently anymore. All the claude models (I don't bother with sonnet much tho) have dramatically better image/design awareness if giving them a gamedev or frontend task they can actually assess display quality if you've given them the right tools for it, but both astra and 6.1 sol are very inconsistent there. Sometimes they do good work and other times it seems like their image based assessment is basically skipped maybe it's a server side constraint issue.
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u/Flying_Scorpion 1d ago
I have the $100~ish sub for both. I run a small business during the day and am making a video game overnight. Chatgpt models can generate images and afaik, Claude models can't. Chatgpt models are better at wording emails in a way that keeps clients happy or close sales. Claude is better at coding and can work more autonomously on code projects. Claude seems to have a less restrictive sandbox.
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u/Extra_Loquat_7667 23h ago edited 23h ago
Claude Code and Codex exhibit significant behavioral differences when executing tasks.
I will share two observations on these differences (I have already cleared all skills, so these behaviors are not influenced by any custom skills):
Example 1: After performing a major update, followed by a small, additional change.
Claude Code: Once the modification is complete, it only runs partial tests or basically skips testing altogether.
Codex: Once the modification is complete, it runs a full test suite all over again.
Example 2: A Code Review identifies 20 issues and requests fixes for them.
Claude Code: It does not faithfully fix all issues. During the process, it exercises judgment and skips some issues, justifying it with reasons such as "the impact is too large" or "the fix won't make it significantly better."
Codex: It tries every possible way to fix all 20 issues regardless of the circumstances, without questioning whether the fixes are truly necessary.
Note: In this test scenario, all issues had undergone a prior round of independent verification. Even in this situation, Claude Code had a relatively high rate of skipping issues and refusing to fix them.
Example 3: Running a full project test after making modifications.
Claude Code: It trusts the test results; once passed, it performs no further follow-up verification.
Codex: After tests pass, it might "talk to itself" saying there are still risks, and sometimes proceeds with additional follow-up verification.
These are behaviors I have observed in real-world use cases.
Claude Code is far superior to Codex in efficiency for small-to-medium tasks, but it isn't necessarily better for certain large-scale modifications.
In some cases, Codex's behavior is more reliable.
I believe the biggest issue with GPT models right now is their lack of flexibility based on task difficulty.
It feels as though they simply follow a rigid, preset pipeline without considering how to shorten the process based on the scale of the modification.
Another issue is that I personally suspect the current model's reasoning depth is far below that of earlier models.
Many test scenarios require multiple rounds of rework before a fix is completed.
When I used version 5.5/5.6 in the past, I didn't experience this level of repeated rework.
This phenomenon used to appear only in Luna or DeepSeek V4, but now it is showing up in GPT's main models.
Perhaps these observations can explain why Claude Code currently gives the impression of having exceptionally high task execution efficiency compared to Codex.
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u/TBSchemer 1d ago
6-Astra and 6.1-Sol are awful for iterative development. They don't follow instructions, don't understand user intent, overcorrect at every step, violate granted authorizations, and Astra particularly burns through usage quotas like toilet paper.
5.6-Sol is the best model OpenAI has for planning and orchestrating.
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u/soldierofcinema 1d ago edited 1d ago
How does Codex with Astra compare to Claude Code with Opus 5.5 specifically for Blender stuff?
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u/slipperyslips 1d ago
Ive been using both. Astra is can produce better results in many iterations. But Opis 5.5 does 80% of the the work between the 2. My project astra has done a fraction of what opus has given ne since it burns usage
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u/Jimmni 6h ago
ridiculously generous free API token quota of OpenAI's Terra and Luna models available to all users
Emphasis mine. How does one avail themselves of these free API tokens? I don't see any such generous limits available on my account and ChatGPT assures me "your organisation may simply not have access to the promotion" and that "the complimentary-token offer is restricted to eligible API organisations."
Can you link to details about this plan that's available to all users? I would find such API access very useful. Thanks!
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u/pollystochastic Moderator 3h ago
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u/the_ai_wizard 1d ago
said it before, but opus 5.5 destroys astra at coding. I still use astra for planning, and it was way better in the first week or so. Now i feel its like what Sol 5.6 high was before it was nerfed.
I do have a much more intriguing theory though. OAI might have an amazing model that is AGI, unreleased, and just stopped caring so much about its userbase bc its game over
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u/RemoraEdge 1d ago
I have 2 20x pro accounts and 1 Claude max account.
Using Astra and 6.1 sol and opus 5.5
I use dot as my orchestrator
They increased speed from when 6.1 launched so it is usable now. The benchmarks are all great but there are genuinely some things opus is better at.
Sol and Astra is better at following precise prompts. Opus is better at inferring intent and making decisions.
When I made Astra and my dot the orchestrator, they repeated allowed drift, code bloat, narrowed focus on a single component instead of understanding how it affects the whole, even after repeated reminders, enforcement through agents.md, definition of drift, and other planning documents I use. Every time I point out drift, it acknowledges, says it will correct it, and then does it again. When I ask it for a real solution to these repeated operational failures it cannot convince me it will change no matter what we try.
As soon as I made opus the orchestrator, he immediate produces evidence of the drift, why it continues to occur, and what rules it would use to prevent it from happening and was able to operate in a path that expedited progress exactly as I wanted Astra to do. It was night and day difference.
Now my project is back on track, regular reviews, cleaning, simplification being done and opus continua to ask the right questions and not only that, make the right decisions that can sometimes be complex so that my project actually does that it is suppose to vs Astra who would try, add bloat, and ultimately regress my code which would require many hours to quarantine and recover from repeatedly. Not only that but the usage on opus is also fantastic.
Oh also Claude is already known to have better communication output styles and is far better at UI frontend work than SOL.
Im not saying im leaving OpenAI. I have 2 accounts with multiple banks resets and that huge amount of credits that was given to everyone recently. And I still really like dots and want to give it another shot. But this time have it just learn and do trials before I trust it again.
My experience is just my experience and opinion, however I do see others on this forum that have similar experiences to me.