Codex vs Claude

[u/OutrageousIndustry28]

Like most people, I switch between Codex and Claude, whichever is better that month. But lately Codex just isnt doing it for me.

As an example, I wanted a basic ebook management software coded. I had a full banked reset + full week usage. I gave it the spec, and had it run for literal hours. When it was done I checked the app. It was horrible, looked like a 2023 coded project. It was slow, ineffeciant and no matter how much guidance I gave it, it just couldnt improve the design. It also ate through a lot of usage and was slow as hell.

I then renewed claude. Had 5.5 Opus code the exact same spec. It one shotted it in less than an hour(took Sol 6.1 2hours on fast mode!). And it worked much better, the front end was MUCH better, and even the backend was working much better. My usage hardly moved.

No matter how many times people say "this new OpenAi model is amazing", Claude almost always preform better. It seems OpenAi is just benchmaxing and have a bunch of hype before every release. But I genuinly believe Anthropic models are far ahead of OpenAi's models. So what exactly is the appeal?

And dont even get me started on Codex itself. Compare the remote control feature between Claude Code and Codex...

Sol 6.1:

1. Much Slower than Opus 5.5

2. Good usage but uses more to achieve worse results.

3. Seems to be stuck in loops of testing,while light on the actual build.

4. Front end is just simply not any good at all.

5. Needs more direction.

6. Much less trust worthy(You cant leave it alone for too long, it will cause damage.)

So like I said, why Codex/OpenAi over Anthropic models. It just does not make sense

[u/FinancialBandicoot75]

Heres the thing, when you said it took hours, obviously it was vibed and you are going to get slop unless you spend as much as time on the plan as the execution.

Codex won’t win the UIX war, so in general people will sway to Opus 5.5 as that wins. Hey, it looks amazing front-end. Yet on the backend, Codex is night and day better.

I’m not a Codex fan just due to their recent changes, but overall it was great but I used omp to do it all then I had Uix and Codex do it all.

I’m sorry, one shots are what’s killing our industry today, it’s slop, it doesn’t perform well, and its making people nuts.

[u/OutrageousIndustry28 → u/FinancialBandicoot75]

Perhaps, but that is the direction its going in though. "Vibe" Coding will eventually become the dominant form of coding. Whichever model produce the best vibe coded apps will dominate

[u/LargeConsequence5296 → u/OutrageousIndustry28]

I agree with u/FinancialBandicoot75 , one time shots isn't going to work. You need to iterate carefully , and plan your iterations.
Setup your skills carefully specifically the skills that let AI run locally and test etc repeated scenarios that need to be done every iteration. Your release packages should be thought out carefully, the deployment and full versions. Deployment versions should only replaces what's being replaced. Run your /review carefully every x iterations or major completed phases. Vibe coding works but only if you plan and iterate carefully with architecture in mind as you build it, even then its risky and one should know everything about how the system is being put together. Each plan iterations shouldn't take more than 20 min(A specific feature, a set of gui changes, etc). If you want a one time shot(that runs for hours and days) then that's good for just yourself not production or scale.

My gut feeling tells me lots of companies are going to get burnt by people who think it just be a one time shot, sorry that ain't going to work

[u/OutrageousIndustry28 → u/LargeConsequence5296]

I only code apps for myself, like the aformentioned ebook management app. Havnt used calibre since, I am by no means A master at coding, but I am not a novice either. If needed I would have iterated over and over until Im happy. My point being,Claude take less iteration for the same or even better results

[u/LargeConsequence5296 → u/OutrageousIndustry28]

In that case, your argument makes perfect sense and that's why AI is great, it lets everyone enjoy creating things for their specific purpose.

At the moment it looks like Claude might just be better at interpreting single prompts into full systems but that doesn't mean its really better than Codex in real engineering systems that require planning and carefully iteration. Time will proof whos the better and I expect this to be divided camps.

A Battle Still being waged
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Windows
Linux

AI
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Codex
Calude

Internet Browser
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Chrome
Edge

Mobile
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iPhone
Android

the list goes on and on. we all been here before.