Codex or Claude Code? Choose a Tool for Your First Project

Codex and Claude Code both help you build software by working with project files and tools. If you are new to coding, choose the one you can access comfortably and start with a small project you understand. A clear task and careful checking matter more than finding a universal winner.

For example, a freelancer can practise with a proposal helper. A shop owner can make a request form. Someone with an office job can work on a report from sample files. You can learn useful habits with either assistant.

Compare the parts that affect your day

Question	Codex	Claude Code
What should I use it for first?	A small file-based project or useful tool	A small file-based project or useful tool
How do I start?	Follow the current OpenAI setup for your preferred surface	Follow Anthropic’s current setup for your device
Can I keep repeat instructions?	Skills are available	Skills are available
Can it connect to other tools?	Supported MCP connections	Supported MCP connections
What do I still need to do?	Explain the task, review changes and test	Explain the task, review changes and test

That table is a practical starting point, not a performance ranking. Account access, limits and interfaces can change. Use the Codex quickstart and Claude Code quickstart for the current details.

What the interfaces look like

The two screenshots below come from FollowAI’s local sessions on 17 August 2026. They show a real terminal interface from that date. Model names and layout in your current version may differ.

“Terminal” just means the window where you type instructions and see text output. You do not have to understand every item on that screen to begin. Learn the project folder, the task prompt and the permission requests first.

Try the same small task

If you want to compare the tools yourself, use copies of the same sample project. Ask each assistant to make one change, explain it and show you how to test it.

Notice whether you can follow the explanation, whether the result works and how easy it is to fix a mistake. Keep your own notes. That comparison is more useful for your situation than someone else’s dramatic ranking.

Do not compare one polished attempt with another tool’s first rough output. Give both the same brief and the same chance to correct a specific problem.

Where does Hermes Agent fit?

The earlier version of this article also covered Hermes Agent. We are keeping that context rather than creating another comparison URL. Our August interface capture showed its tools-and-skills approach; the project repository is the place to check current capabilities.

For your first coding project, you do not need three tools at once. You can look at Hermes later if its current setup fits a task you actually have.

Choose, then make something

Start with the tool whose setup and access make sense for you. Build a calculator, a request form or a small file helper. Check whether you can open it, use it and change it again.

Our beginner guides for Claude Code and Codex give you a concrete first brief. When one tool helps you finish a useful project, you have enough evidence to decide what to learn next.