Meta launches cheap alternative to Codex and Claude Code

Meta has introduced an AI coding agent named Muse Code to compete with solutions from OpenAI and Anthropic, Engadget reports. The new tool runs directly in the terminal and is built on the updated Muse Spark 1.2 AI model, which the company claims delivers higher-quality code generation, complex debugging, deep project structure comprehension, and full-cycle development support.

A new rival to Claude Code and Codex

Muse Code is designed to handle a broad spectrum of software development tasks. Guided by text prompts, the tool can write code, plan architecture changes, verify outcomes, and generate complete software solutions.

Furthermore, the system can orchestrate multiple AI agents simultaneously, distributing subtasks to accelerate execution. To showcase its capabilities, Meta demonstrated the creation of an interactive photon sphere model, a Plants vs. Zombies clone, and a web page generated directly from an MP4 video file.

Meta bets on aggressive pricing

Meta highlights affordability as one of Muse Code's primary advantages over rival products.

According to Meta, the tool operates on a pay-as-you-go model, priced at $1.25 per million input tokens and $4.25 per million output tokens.

Meta's Chief AI Officer, Alexander Wang, noted in an interview with CNBC that the company will also offer a special discounted tier for users willing to share feedback to refine the service. Reports from The Wall Street Journal indicate that under this feedback program, rates drop significantly to $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens.

Meta aims to win on price

As Engadget highlights, Meta's pricing is substantially lower than Anthropic's Sonnet 5, which typically costs $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens.

The outlet emphasizes that if code quality proves comparable, these aggressive price cuts could give Meta a critical edge in securing enterprise clients. A similar undercut strategy previously enabled several Chinese AI developers, including DeepSeek, to gain substantial market share.