Claude Code, Codex or Cursor: which AI agent to build a website with
If you want an AI agent to build a website for you, three names come up first: Claude Code from Anthropic, Codex from OpenAI and Cursor. All three can write a whole site into a folder on your computer and change it on request. They differ in how they feel to use.
This is a comparison for people who are not developers. It is about the experience, not about benchmarks.
At a glance
| Claude Code | Codex | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Anthropic | OpenAI | Anysphere |
| Where it runs | Terminal, Claude desktop app, VS Code and JetBrains | ChatGPT desktop app, terminal and code editors | Its own code editor and the terminal |
| Account | A Claude subscription | A ChatGPT account (the free plan is limited) | A Cursor account |
| Models | Claude | OpenAI models | Several providers to choose from |
| Publishes to aiput.site | Yes, over MCP | Yes, over MCP | Yes, over MCP |
All three also have versions that run in the cloud, from a browser. The steps in our guides are for the versions on your computer: the desktop app, the terminal or the editor.
Plans and limits change often, so check the current ones on each product's site.
Claude Code
A conversation-first agent. You describe what you want, it plans, writes the files and runs commands. In the Claude desktop app you work with it in a window, without a terminal; in an editor it sits next to your files.
It suits you if you already use Claude, or if you prefer a chat where the agent does the work and you judge the result in the browser. Connecting it to aiput.site is one command, and the message in your dashboard contains it.
Codex
OpenAI's coding agent. It signs in with your ChatGPT account, which makes it the natural choice if you already pay for ChatGPT. It works in the ChatGPT desktop app, in the terminal and inside code editors, reading and writing the files in your project folder.
It suits you if ChatGPT is your main assistant and you want the same account to build and publish a site.
Cursor
A complete code editor, based on VS Code, with an agent built in. You see your files, the code and the chat in one window, and you can switch between models from different companies.
It suits you if you like to see what changes in the files, or plan to learn a bit of code along the way. It is also the most "developer-looking" of the three, which some people find overwhelming at first.
What they have in common
For a landing page, any of the three is more than enough. The quality of the result depends more on how clearly you describe what you want than on the tool. And all three connect to aiput.site the same way: paste the message from your dashboard, restart if asked, and say "publish this website".
Guides for each: Claude, ChatGPT and Codex, Cursor.
How to choose
- You already pay for Claude or ChatGPT: start with Claude Code or Codex — no new account.
- You want to see the files and the code: Cursor.
- You cannot decide: pick one and build one small site. Switching later costs nothing: the website is ordinary files that any of them can open.