Original URL: https://getagenttools.com/tools/claude-code/ \# coding-agents # Claude Code RUNNING Claude Code is an agentic coding tool from Anthropic. It reads your codebase, edits files across a project, runs commands, and works from the terminal, your IDE, the desktop app, and the web. - Verdict: **RUNNING**. The agentic coding tool I measure every other agent against. - Works where the code lives: terminal, IDE, desktop app, and the web, on real repositories. - Runs daily operations end to end, not just autocomplete: reports, deploys, file work, whole pipelines. - Reaches outside systems through MCP servers, so your existing stack becomes its tool set. - Best for real work in real repos, wrong choice if you want a chat window rather than a worker. New here? Browse [the full tool list](https://getagenttools.com/tools/), or see how it connects to everything else through [MCP servers](https://getagenttools.com/tools/mcp-servers/). This Claude Code review is different from most. The usual writeup comes from someone who opened the tool once, or got paid to rank it. I run Claude Code every working day, in real repositories, on real operations. GetAgentTools lists only what I actually use, with a verdict and no sponsored placements. So here is the verdict first, then the detail. **Verdict: RUNNING.** In one line: agentic coding and ops in the terminal. ## What Claude Code is and what it does Claude Code is Anthropic's command-line coding agent. You install it, point it at a project, and describe what you want in plain language. It plans the approach, edits the files, runs the commands, and checks its own work. The facts, from Anthropic's own documentation: - It runs on Anthropic's Claude models and lets you switch model per task, so you can trade speed for depth when the job needs it. - It edits multiple files at once, runs CLI tools, and works directly with git: it stages changes, writes commit messages, creates branches, and opens pull requests. - It supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so it can reach external tools and data like Google Drive, Jira, Slack, or your own custom servers. - It reads a `CLAUDE.md` file at the start of every session for your standards and context, and builds its own memory as it works. - It runs across surfaces that share one engine: terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, desktop app, web, and mobile. Your config and MCP servers follow you between them. - It can spawn [subagents](https://getagenttools.com/blog/claude-code-subagents/) that work parts of a task in parallel, run on a schedule, and plug into CI through GitHub Actions or GitLab. - It extends through skills, and one frontmatter line, [disable-model-invocation](https://getagenttools.com/blog/disable-model-invocation/), decides whether the model may start a skill on its own or only a human typing its name. Agent loop: task, plan, act and verify, repeating until the work passes, with MCP servers feeding in outside tools The loop is what separates an agent from autocomplete: it plans, acts, checks its own work and goes round again until the task passes. MCP servers hang off the acting step, which is how outside tools become part of the job. ## Why Claude Code is RUNNING in my stack This is the tool I measure every other agent against. It runs my daily operations. Reports, deploys, file work, whole pipelines. Not toy prompts in a sandbox, the actual work that keeps the lights on. I give it a task in the terminal, it does the reading, makes the edits, runs the commands, and comes back with something I can ship. What earns the RUNNING label is that it finishes end to end. Plenty of agents can draft. Fewer can act. Claude Code acts: it touches the file system, executes commands, reads the output, and adjusts. When I hand it a pipeline, it runs the pipeline. When a deploy needs several steps and a verification, it walks them in order and tells me what it saw. Here is a real one, and you are looking at the result. This site is built and deployed by Claude Code. From a single instruction in the terminal it builds the Next.js static export, drops the pages that are not ready to publish yet, pushes the files to the server over SFTP, then curls the live URLs to confirm they return HTTP 200 with the right headers before it calls the job done. The review you are reading sits on a site this tool ships. I keep other agents around for narrow jobs. This is the one open in my terminal by default. ## Who Claude Code is best for **Real work in real repos, end to end.** If you have an actual codebase and actual operations, and you want an agent that does the job rather than describes it, this is the seat it fills. It rewards people who live in the terminal and think in commands and files. ## When to skip Claude Code **You want a chat window, not a worker.** If your use is asking questions and reading answers, a normal Claude chat does that with less friction and less cost. Claude Code earns its place when it is allowed to touch things: edit, run, commit, deploy. Point it at conversation only and you are paying for an engine you never start. ## How to get started with Claude Code Claude Code runs an agentic loop. You give it a goal, it decides the steps, uses its tools (reading files, editing, running shell commands, calling MCP servers), observes what happened, and repeats until the goal is met or it needs you. Getting started takes a couple of minutes: 1. Install it. On macOS, Linux, or WSL: `curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash`. On Windows PowerShell: `irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex`. Homebrew and WinGet also work. 2. Go to your project and run `claude`. Log in on first use. 3. Give it a task in plain language. Add a `CLAUDE.md` with your standards so it follows your rules from the first message. If you prefer an editor, the VS Code and JetBrains extensions give you inline diffs and review inside the IDE. The engine underneath is the same. ## How much does Claude Code cost? **Claude Code is free to install, but running it is not.** Claude Code pricing comes down to one of two routes: a paid Claude subscription, or Anthropic API credits billed per token. At the time of writing, the subscription tiers are Pro (20 USD per month, or 17 USD on annual billing), Max starting at 100 USD per month with 5x and 20x usage tiers, plus Team and Enterprise seats. The free Claude plan does not include Claude Code. The API route has no monthly floor and charges per token, which suits automation and CI. One note from daily use: subscription plans come with a usage allowance shared across your Claude activity, so heavy all-day use is what the Max tiers are built for. If you automate at scale, per-token API billing is usually the cleaner fit. Prices and limits move, so check the official page before you decide: [https://claude.com/pricing](https://claude.com/pricing). ## Claude Code vs Cursor and Copilot Claude Code sits in the coding-agent category next to editor-first tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot, and terminal tools like Aider. The short version: those lean on an editor UI, while Claude Code is **agent-first** and runs [headless](https://getagenttools.com/blog/claude-p-headless/) in CI as happily as in your terminal. Its reach comes from MCP. Through [MCP servers](https://getagenttools.com/tools/mcp-servers/) it connects to outside systems, and browser automation like [Playwright](https://getagenttools.com/tools/playwright/) lets it drive and test web apps. If you already run MCP servers, Claude Code picks them up as tools. Custom workflows like [my AI SEO stack](https://getagenttools.com/tools/best-ai-seo-tools/) use that same engine for a narrower job: research, decisions, quality gates, and a clear stop before publication. The same pattern covers work that touches money. It drives the [Meta Ads API](https://getagenttools.com/tools/meta-ads-api/) for me: pulling the numbers, drafting the change, writing the call, and stopping before anything activates. The agent operates, a human approves the spend. ## Claude Code FAQ ### What is Claude Code? Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool. It reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and works from the terminal, IDE, desktop, and web. You describe a task in plain language and it carries it out, including git commits and pull requests. ### Is Claude Code free? The tool is free to install, but running it is not. You need a paid Claude subscription (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise) or Anthropic API credits billed per token. The free Claude plan does not include Claude Code. ### Claude Code vs Cursor or Copilot: what is the difference? Cursor is an AI-native code editor built on VS Code, and GitHub Copilot is an assistant that lives inside your editor. Claude Code is agent-first and terminal-first: it works headless, scripts into pipelines, and runs in CI, and it also ships VS Code and JetBrains extensions if you want the editor view. I run Claude Code as my default, so read this as a view from that seat. ### Does Claude Code work with MCP? Yes. Claude Code supports the Model Context Protocol natively. You can connect MCP servers for external data and tools, from Google Drive and Jira to Slack and your own custom servers. ### What can Claude Code do? Edit files across a whole repo, run commands and tests, handle git from commit to pull request, connect external tools over MCP, spawn parallel subagents, run scheduled tasks, and plug into CI through GitHub Actions or GitLab. In short, it does real repo work end to end. [Back to the list](https://getagenttools.com/tools/)