Cody CLI: The Claude Code Alternative That Runs Any Model

# Cody CLI: The Claude Code Alternative That Runs Any Model [Claude Code](https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code) popularized a great idea: an agentic coding assistant that lives in your terminal, not a chat window. If you love that workflow but want more model flexibility — and you do not want to be locked to a single provider — **Cody CLI** is the alternative worth trying. ## What Cody CLI is [Cody CLI](/cody-cli) is a terminal-native AI code assistant from AINative Studio. Same core idea as Claude Code — an autonomous engineering lead in your shell that plans, edits files, runs commands, and reasons about your codebase — with four differences that matter. ## 1. Any model, not one Claude Code runs Anthropic's models. Cody lets you route each request to **Claude, GPT-4o, DeepSeek V4, Qwen3 Coder, Kimi K3, GLM-5**, and 20+ more — and switch mid-session: ```bash /config model=claude-opus # frontier reasoning /config model=qwen3-coder # fast, cheap boilerplate ``` Use an inexpensive open model for bulk edits and escalate to a frontier model only when the problem is hard. One CLI, your choice. ## 2. Persistent memory across sessions Cody remembers your stack, conventions, and past decisions using [ZeroDB-backed memory](/agent-memory-api). Start a new session and it already knows the project — no re-pasting a rules file each time. (More on the pattern: [fixing AI agent amnesia](/blog).) ## 3. MCP-native Cody treats the [Model Context Protocol](/guides/what-is-mcp) as first-class. Connect a database, an internal API, or a custom tool via any MCP server and the agent can use it immediately. ## 4. Included in your plan Cody is not a separate subscription. It comes with your AINative plan alongside the model playground, ZeroDB, and [Agent Cloud](/agent-cloud). ## Feature parity where it counts Cody has the terminal-agent essentials you expect: full filesystem access, Bash execution, multi-step planning, hooks/automation, sandboxed execution with audit logs, web and mobile sessions, and a Chrome extension. It is a real daily driver, not a demo. ## Install in one line ```bash npm install -g @ainative/cody-cli cody ``` Homebrew and an install script are also available — see [getting started](/cody-cli/getting-started). ## Should you switch? If you are happy inside Anthropic's ecosystem and only ever want Claude, Claude Code is excellent. If you want the same terminal-agent workflow with **model choice, cross-session memory, and MCP tooling — at no extra subscription** — Cody CLI is the alternative to try. [Start a 7-day free trial](/signup) (then $5/mo Hobbyist) and run Cody against your real codebase. Full details on the [Cody CLI page](/cody-cli).

Cody CLI: The Claude Code Alternative That Runs Any Model

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