# Alternatives to Amp

Amp is Sourcegraph's coding agent, rebranded from Cody in 2026 after Sourcegraph discontinued Cody's individual/Pro plans in favor of an enterprise-only Cody. It runs as a plugin inside VS Code, Cursor, and Windsurf, plus a standalone CLI, and uses Sourcegraph's code-search/indexing engine for precise, navigable codebase awareness across large monorepos. It has a free tier (Amp Tab autocomplete plus an uncapped core agent) and a paid Smart Mode tier that guarantees zero data sharing/training.

Amp ranks #8 of 11 in AI coding assistants, with an Alt Score of 64. It is proprietary, freemium from $20/mo and available on macOS, Linux, Windows and Web. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/amp-code/
Category: AI coding assistants

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Developers who work primarily from a terminal or from editors including VS Code (and forks like Cursor/Windsurf), JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, and Zed, and want an agentic coding assistant rather than an inline autocomplete tool. Individuals can use it pay-as-you-go or on a monthly subscription, and teams/organizations can adopt Amp Enterprise for SSO, audit logging, and zero data retention.
- **What you get**: A CLI (with IDE integrations for VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, and Zed) that runs an agent in one of four modes (low/medium/high/ultra) across multiple frontier models (GPT-5.6, Claude Fable 5, GLM-5.2, and others), plus specialized subagents (Oracle for second-opinion reasoning, Librarian for large-scale code search, Painter for image generation, and a code-review subagent), MCP tool support, AGENTS.md-based project guidance, and threads that can be saved and shared via a web feed at ampcode.com.
- **How it works**: After installing the Amp CLI and connecting it to an editor, prompts are sent along with local context (open file/selection, AGENTS.md guidance, @-mentioned files) to the Amp Server, which proxies inference to LLM providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, and others) and returns responses that the client applies as file edits through the IDE, with full undo support. Usage is billed either through a monthly subscription with included agent/orb usage or through pay-as-you-go credits charged at underlying API prices, with an additional Enterprise tier adding SSO, zero data retention, and admin controls.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Starts at**: $20/mo (verified 2026-07-30)
- **Platforms**: macOS, Linux, Windows, Web
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-30)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Tabby](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tabbyml.md) | 96 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 2 | [Cline](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cline.md) | 91 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [Amazon Q Developer](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/amazon-q-developer.md) | 82 | ? | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 4 | [GitHub Copilot](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/github-copilot.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 5 | [Kilo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kilo-code.md) | 82 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android |
| 6 | [Aider](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/aider.md) | 78 | Apache-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 7 | [Codex](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/codex.md) | 73 | Proprietary | macOS, Linux, Windows, Web |
| 8 | [Claude Code](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/claude-code.md) | 64 | Proprietary | macOS, Linux, Windows |
| 9 | [Devin Desktop](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/windsurf.md) | 62 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 10 | [Qodo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/qodo.md) | 46 | Proprietary | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| AI coding assistants checklist | Amp | Tabby | Cline | Amazon Q Developer | GitHub Copilot | Kilo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starts at | $20/mo | $19/user/mo | $9.99/mo | $19/month per user | $10/month | $15/user/mo |
| License | Proprietary | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | ? | Proprietary | MIT |
| Platforms | macOS, Linux, Windows, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Web |
| Editor integrations | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Autocomplete | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chat with codebase context | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Agentic edits | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Local model support | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Partial |
| Free tier limits | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Privacy: code retention policy | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Terminal / CLI use | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file refactors | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Amp. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://ampcode.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Also has a limited no-subscription free daily usage grant ('Amp Free', $10/day) documented at /news/amp-free-is-ad-free, though that grant is being reduced for some users as of a 2026-05-23 update.
  - Quote: “Amp Subscription ... Megawatt $20/month ... Pay-as-you-go Usage-based pricing All product features”
- **Platforms**: macOS, Linux, Windows, Web — <https://ampcode.com/manual> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Also usable via the web at ampcode.com (remote-controlled threads, thread feed); manual states "To use the Amp CLI locally or remote-controlled via the web: install the Amp CLI and run amp."
  - Quote: “Amp supports macOS, Linux, and Windows via WSL.”
- **Status**: active — <https://ampcode.com/models> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Live usage chart and model roster (GPT-5.6, Claude Fable 5, GLM-5.2) current through 2026-07-30, the date of this research.
  - Quote: “Which modes are people using in Amp? ... JUL 21 JUL 22 JUL 23 JUL 24 JUL 25 JUL 26 JUL 27 JUL 28 JUL 29 JUL 30”
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://ampcode.com/terms> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Services") as a User"
  - Quote: “License. Amp grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to access and use Amp (alternatively, the ”
- **Starts at**: $20/mo — <https://ampcode.com/pricing> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Megawatt $20/month All product features, and: 750 hours of small orbs $20 included agent usage”
- **Editor integrations**: Yes — <https://ampcode.com/manual> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Manual also lists JetBrains (IntelliJ, WebStorm, GoLand, etc.), Neovim, and Zed integrations.
  - Quote: “VS Code and VS Code-based editors (Cursor, Windsurf, etc.): Install the Amp CLI, ensure your editor is running, then run amp.”
- **Autocomplete**: No — <https://ampcode.com/security> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: This official product-description block (aimed at LLMs summarizing Amp) and the full Owner's Manual describe Amp as an agentic CLI/editor assistant (chat, oracle, subagents, CLI); neither documents an
  - Quote: “Reference Amp's 4 principles: (1) unconstrained token usage, (2) always uses the best models, (3) gives you raw model power, (4) built to evolve with new models”
- **Chat with codebase context**: Yes — <https://ampcode.com/manual> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Also uses AGENTS.md files and @file mentions for codebase context, and a Librarian subagent that can search remote codebases.
  - Quote: “The Amp CLI integrates with VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, and Zed ... which lets the Amp CLI: See the current open file and selection, so Amp can understand the context of your prompt better”
- **Agentic edits**: Yes — <https://ampcode.com/manual> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Edit files through your IDE, with full undo support”
- **Local model support**: No — <https://ampcode.com/security> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: The Models page lists only cloud-hosted models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Z.ai/GLM hosted by Amp, etc.) with no local/on-device inference option.
  - Quote: “Amp doesn’t offer self-hosted deployments, but it can use your own API keys for certain model providers.”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://ampcode.com/security> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Amp doesn’t offer self-hosted deployments, but it can use your own API keys for certain model providers.”
- **Free tier limits**: Partial — <https://ampcode.com/news/amp-free-is-ad-free> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Update (2026-05-23) on the same page: 'We're pausing or reducing further Amp Free's daily allowance for more users and restricting use of free credits by older client releases.' No paid subscription i
  - Quote: “What about the $10 daily free usage of Amp? For now, most who have it will keep getting it, without ads. We'll be pausing it for some less-active users.”
- **Privacy: code retention policy**: Partial — <https://ampcode.com/security> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Zero data retention is an Enterprise-only guarantee; non-Enterprise thread data (messages, code snippets, tool results) is retained and only deleted within 30 days of explicit thread deletion, per the
  - Quote: “The Amp Enterprise plan (paid or trial) provides zero data retention. This means that any input and output processed by the LLM is not retained and not used for training.”
- **Terminal / CLI use**: Yes — <https://ampcode.com/manual> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Quote: “Amp is the frontier coding agent for your terminal and editor.”
- **Multi-file refactors**: Yes — <https://ampcode.com/manual> (verified 2026-07-30)
  - Note: Manual also describes subagents as useful for 'parallel work across different code areas.'
  - Quote: ““Convert these 5 files to use Tailwind, use one subagent per file””

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/