Linear vs OpenAI Codex
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Linear is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.7. Linear wins on 3 of the 5 scores, OpenAI Codex on 2.
Software teams who want fast, easy issue tracking and planning
ChatGPT subscribers who want a capable coding agent at no extra cost
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Linear | OpenAI Codex |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Category rank | #5 of 13 | #8 of 13 |
| Developer | Linear Orbit, Inc. | OpenAI |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | — | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Linear better than OpenAI Codex?
Linear is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.7. Linear wins on 3 of the 5 scores, OpenAI Codex on 2.
Which is cheaper, Linear or OpenAI Codex?
Linear: Free for up to 2 teams and 250 issues; Basic $10/user/month, billed yearly. OpenAI Codex: Included in every ChatGPT plan, even Free; Plus is $20 a month and Pro from $100. On value for money, OpenAI Codex scores higher.
Do Linear and OpenAI Codex work on the same devices?
Only OpenAI Codex runs on Linux.
Which is more private, Linear or OpenAI Codex?
Linear scores higher on privacy (8.2/10). The App Store label links contact info, content, a user ID and usage data to you for analytics and app functions. No tracking is listed. Admins can approve third-party apps and cap AI spending.
Strengths and weaknesses
Linear
- Very fast and keyboard-friendly
- Smart defaults, little setup
- Updates issue status on its own from pull requests
- Less flexible than big-company trackers
- Made for software teams, clumsy for other work
- Agent coding sessions cost paid AI credits
Linear is the bug and task tracker developers actually like using. It's very fast, fully keyboard-driven and comes with smart defaults. Cycles, projects and triage keep work moving without endless setup. It now does more, with Linear Agent, agent coding sessions and code review in Linear Diffs. The trade-off is flexibility. If you need very custom workflows, fields and reports, it can feel limiting.
Full Linear reviewOpenAI Codex
- Included even with a free ChatGPT account
- Open-source CLI under the Apache 2.0 licence
- Runs on Mac, Windows and Linux
- Free and Go plans are meant for light tasks only
- Merged ChatGPT desktop app drew complaints of confusion
- Personal-plan tasks can train models unless you opt out
Codex is OpenAI's coding agent, and it now comes with every ChatGPT plan. Use it in the ChatGPT desktop app, the open-source Codex CLI, your IDE or in the cloud, where it can work on several tasks at once and review pull requests on GitHub. You can keep an eye on sessions from the ChatGPT phone app too. July's merge of the Codex app into ChatGPT confused plenty of people, and personal-plan tasks can train models unless you opt out.
Full OpenAI Codex review
