Claude Code vs Codex vs Cursor: What 39,000 New Launches Are Built Around
October 31, 2026 · Nicheloom · 6 min read · Build with AI
In October 2026, Claude Code was named in 1,109 new product launches (2.8%), Codex in 812 (2.1%) and Cursor in 486 (1.2%). The app builders people talk about most, Lovable, Bolt, v0 and Replit, were named in about 53 launches between them. New launches are built around coding agents far more than they are built with app builders.
These counts come from Nicheloom's own tracking of 39,339 launches from Product Hunt, GitHub, Hacker News and Y Combinator between October 1 and October 30, 2026, plus what commenters said in 3,838 Hacker News launch threads over the past year. A mention is not a user count, and most mentions are of tools built for an agent, not apps built with one. More on that below.
Which AI coding tools do new launches name?
| Tool | Launches naming it | Share of all launches | Product Hunt | GitHub | Hacker News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | 1,109 | 2.8% | 658 | 419 | 31 |
| Codex | 812 | 2.1% | 556 | 234 | 20 |
| Cursor | 486 | 1.2% | 430 | 51 | 4 |
| OpenCode | 133 | 0.3% | 82 | 45 | 6 |
| Gemini CLI | 64 | 0.2% | 48 | 16 | 0 |
| Lovable | 43 | 0.1% | 41 | 2 | 0 |
| GitHub Copilot | 34 | 0.1% | 27 | 7 | 0 |
| Replit | 21 | 0.1% | 19 | 2 | 0 |
Bolt, v0 and Windsurf were named in 1 to 2 launches each. In total, 1,499 launches (3.8%) named at least one coding agent and about 53 named an app builder like Lovable, Bolt, v0 or Replit.
Claude Code leads on Product Hunt and especially on GitHub. Cursor is almost entirely a Product Hunt story: 430 of its 486 launches, against 51 on GitHub.
Are they growing or shrinking?
Comparing October 1 to 15 with October 16 to 30:
| Tool | First half | Second half |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | 562 | 547 |
| Codex | 395 | 417 |
| Cursor | 218 | 268 |
| OpenCode | 64 | 69 |
| Lovable | 16 | 27 |
| Replit | 6 | 15 |
Claude Code stayed flat, Codex edged up and Cursor rose about 23%. Lovable and Replit grew too, but their counts are small enough that a few launches can move them, so treat those two lightly. This is one month, so it shows direction within October, not a long trend.
The same launches name several agents
The ecosystems overlap heavily. Of the 1,109 launches that name Claude Code, 594 (54%) also name Codex and 295 (27%) also name Cursor. Of the 812 that name Codex, 73% also name Claude Code.
Most of these are tools that work with whichever agent you use: dashboards, launchers and skill packs that say "works with Claude Code, Codex and Cursor". For a builder it means supporting several agents is normal, not an extra feature.
What do people build around each one?
| Niche | Claude Code | Codex | Cursor |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI coding agent session managers | 198 | 143 | 29 |
| AI agent skill registries | 45 | 29 | 16 |
| AI coding agents | 37 | 21 | 7 |
| Model context protocol tools | 16 | 14 | 35 |
Claude Code and Codex products are mostly about running and watching agents (198 of the 224 session manager launches name Claude Code): session managers, usage monitors, menu bar tools and skill packs. Examples from October: a macOS terminal that shows which coding agent needs you, a desk buddy that watches your coding agents, and a to-do board where agents do the cards.
Cursor products lean toward MCP. Its biggest niche is model context protocol tools (35 launches), for example an open source video editor your AI agent drives over MCP.
Lovable launches are mostly about fixing and checking AI-built apps. The biggest group of its 43 launches is application security scanners (13), alongside tools like "make your AI-built sites look expensive", "paste AI or Tailwind code into Webflow" and "add referral programs to Lovable apps in one prompt". They serve people who already built something with an AI builder.
What Hacker News commenters say
We had an AI read the comments on launch threads and list the products commenters named as an alternative. Across 3,838 threads with a named alternative, from October 29, 2025 to October 30, 2026:
| Tool named as the alternative | Threads |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | 113 |
| Codex | 65 |
| Cursor | 39 |
| OpenCode | 31 |
| GitHub Copilot | 16 |
| Windsurf | 5 |
| Replit | 4 |
| Bolt | 3 |
| Lovable | 3 |
| v0 | 2 |
For comparison, ChatGPT was named in 43 threads and the Claude model in 57. Since August 1 (780 threads), Claude Code was named in 25, Codex in 16, OpenCode in 8 and Cursor in only 5. That is 0.6% of those threads against 1.0% over the whole year, a small count, but the direction matches the launch data: Claude Code and Codex are the names that come up.
What this means if you are building
- Support more than one agent. Over half of the launches that name Claude Code also name Codex. A tool that only works with one will look narrow.
- Session managers are crowded. Nearly 200 launches around Claude Code are session managers. If you build one, you need a clear angle. Read the AI coding agents deep dive for what builders say is missing.
- Look at the quiet end. About 53 launches name an app builder, and the biggest group fixes or checks AI-built apps. That is a small but specific audience.
- Check your idea first. Run it through Check your idea to see how many launches already sound like it.
How we counted
- Launches: 39,339 launches from October 1 to October 30, 2026, after removing spam and bait listings. A launch counts once per tool when its tagline or description names it.
- Matching: "Claude Code" and "Gemini CLI" by name. "Codex" and "Cursor" only when the text also has an AI context word (such as agent, CLI, Claude, MCP or rules), because those words also mean other things. Lovable by lovable.dev or next to AI words, Bolt as bolt.new, v0 as v0.dev or Vercel v0, Windsurf as the IDE or Codeium. Counts for Bolt, v0 and Windsurf are probably too low because the match is strict.
- A mention is not usage. Most mentions are tools built for an agent. Only a small share say they were built with one, so this shows what builders build around, not how many people use each tool.
- Hacker News: an AI model read comment threads on launches from October 29, 2025 to October 30, 2026 and listed products named as an alternative, counted once per thread. The numbers are approximate.
- No September comparison: we compare halves of October only.
Data as of October 31, 2026, from Nicheloom's own tracking.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI coding tool do new launches use most? Claude Code was named in 1,109 of 39,339 launches in October 2026 (2.8%), ahead of Codex (812) and Cursor (486). Most of these are tools built for the agent, not apps built with it.
Is Cursor losing ground to Claude Code? In our launch data Cursor was named in 486 launches against 1,109 for Claude Code, and in Hacker News threads it was named in 39 against 113 over the past year. Cursor rose within October, so we cannot call it a decline from one month.
How many launches are built with Lovable, Bolt, v0 or Replit? About 53 launches named one of them in October, and Lovable was the most common with 43. Many of these are tools for people who already built an app with an AI builder.
Do launches support more than one coding agent? Yes. 54% of the launches that name Claude Code also name Codex, and 27% also name Cursor.
What are people building around Claude Code? Mostly session managers and dashboards for running several agents, skill registries and usage monitors. Nearly 200 launches in the AI coding agent session managers niche name Claude Code.