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HOL Guard vs OpenAI Codex

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

OpenAI Codex logo

OpenAI Codex

OpenAI's coding agent that writes, reviews and runs code from terminal, IDE, desktop or cloud

Freemium
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Verdict

HOL Guard and OpenAI Codex are both Coding AI tools. OpenAI Codex scores higher in FinderAtlas's editorial review (8.5 vs 7.8 out of 10). Both have a free plan or trial. Only OpenAI Codex is available on Web, Windows and VS Code Extension and offers an API.

Best overall

OpenAI Codex

  • Software developers
  • Engineering teams
  • Enterprise engineering organizations
  • Open-source maintainers

Choose HOL Guard if

  • You want a tool built for approving risky agent actions locally, Protecting secrets from coding agents, Reviewing MCP servers, skills and plugins before use.
  • Open source under Apache-2.0 with public code and release history.
  • Works offline with no account on the free local tier.

Choose OpenAI Codex if

  • You want a tool built for delegating coding tasks to an agent.
  • Included with ChatGPT plans, with a free tier and an $8 Go tier.
  • Open-source CLI under the Apache-2.0 license.
Best for beginners
HOL Guard
Best for business
HOL Guard

Features

19 features compared.

  • Pre-action interception
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Policy outcomes
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Local audit trail
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • MCP, skills and plugin inspection
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Layered policy
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Plugin scanner
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Risk check
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Coverage matrix
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Broad agent support
    HOL Guard
    Available
    OpenAI Codex
    Not available
  • Codex CLI
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • IDE extension
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Desktop app
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Cloud tasks
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Code review
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Non-interactive mode
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • MCP, skills and plugins
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Subagents and web search
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Session resume and images
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available
  • Mobile remote control
    HOL Guard
    Not available
    OpenAI Codex
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    HOL Guard
    Freemium
    OpenAI Codex
    Freemium
  • Free plan
    HOL Guard
    Yes
    OpenAI Codex
    Yes
  • Starting price
    HOL Guard
    $0
    OpenAI Codex
    $0
  • Plans
    HOL Guard
    5 plans
    OpenAI Codex
    7 plans

HOL Guard plans

  • Free

    $0

    Local protection on one machine, no account required

    • Local scanning and command interception
    • On-device decisions and change diffs
    • Local policy
    • Offline support
    • Local leaked-secret scanning

  • Solo

    $4.99/month

    Personal Cloud memory across two devices

    • 2 devices
    • 30-day retention
    • 1 GB storage
    • Monitoring of up to 5 GitHub repositories
    • 250 credential validity checks per month

  • Pro

    $15/month

    Longer history and alerts for one person

    • 5 devices
    • 180-day retention
    • 5 GB storage
    • Audit log sync
    • Alert notifications
    • Policy versioning

  • Team

    $30/user/mo

    Shared policy and fleet visibility for teams

    • Up to 25 devices
    • 365-day retention
    • 25 GB plus 5 GB per seat
    • Shared policy
    • Owner queues
    • Fleet dashboards

  • Enterprise

    Custom/custom

    Identity review, evidence export and self-hosted deployment review

    • Identity and access review
    • Redacted evidence export via webhook
    • Volume pricing
    • Self-hosted or VPC deployment review

OpenAI Codex plans

  • Free

    $0

    Quick coding tasks

    • GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app
    • Subject to rollout

  • Go

    $8/month

    Lightweight coding tasks

    • GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app

  • Plus

    Most popular

    $20/month

    Focused coding sessions

    • Web
    • CLI
    • IDE and iOS access
    • Automatic code review and Slack
    • GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna
    • Can add credits

  • Pro

    $100/month

    Plans at $100, $200 or $500 per month

    • Everything in Plus
    • No five-hour limit currently
    • Ultrafast mode on the $500 plan

  • Business

    $25/user/mo

    2 or more users; $20 per user per month when billed annually

    • Desktop and mobile apps
    • Larger cloud VMs
    • Add-on credits
    • SAML SSO and MFA
    • No training on business data by default

  • Enterprise & Edu

    Custom/user/mo

    Contact sales

    • Priority request processing
    • SCIM
    • EKM and RBAC
    • User analytics
    • Compliance API audit logs
    • Retention and residency controls

  • API Key

    Pay-as-you-go/usage

    Billed at OpenAI API pricing

    • Codex in the CLI
    • SDK and IDE extension
    • No cloud features
    • Models depend on the API key

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.

HOL Guard
7.8overall
OpenAI Codex
8.5overall

  • Action Interception

    HOL Guard
    8.0
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Agent Coverage

    HOL Guard
    7.8
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Ease of Setup

    HOL Guard
    7.5
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Transparency & Openness

    HOL Guard
    8.6
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Pricing Clarity

    HOL Guard
    7.2
    OpenAI Codex
    Not rated

  • Code Generation

    HOL Guard
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    9.0

  • Agentic Autonomy

    HOL Guard
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    8.8

  • Ease of Use

    HOL Guard
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    8.3

  • Value for Money

    HOL Guard
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    8.0

  • Ecosystem & Integrations

    HOL Guard
    Not rated
    OpenAI Codex
    8.5

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

HOL Guard

Pros

  • Open source under Apache-2.0 with public code and release history
  • Works offline with no account on the free local tier
  • Lets you approve or block actions instead of only logging them
  • Covers MCP servers, skills, plugins and package installs, not just shell commands
  • Publishes a coverage matrix and states its limits openly

Cons

  • Coverage depth varies by agent and event type, and some integrations are alpha
  • Install instructions cover macOS and Linux; Windows support is not stated
  • Cloud tiers add cost, and annual prices are not listed
  • Site has no visible terms or company address on the product page

OpenAI Codex

Pros

  • Included with ChatGPT plans, with a free tier and an $8 Go tier
  • Open-source CLI under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Available in the terminal, VS Code-based editors, the ChatGPT desktop app and the cloud
  • Supports MCP, skills, plugins and subagents
  • API-key option lets teams pay at API rates instead of a subscription

Cons

  • Plus has message limits per five hours that vary widely by model
  • Cloud features are not available on the API Key plan
  • Higher usage needs Pro, which starts at $100 per month
  • Free and Go plans offer only GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app

Platforms

  • Web
    HOL Guard
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • Windows
    HOL Guard
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • macOS
    HOL Guard
    Supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • iOS
    HOL Guard
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Not supported
  • Android
    HOL Guard
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Not supported
  • API
    HOL Guard
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • Browser Extension
    HOL Guard
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Not supported
  • Linux
    HOL Guard
    Supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • CLI
    HOL Guard
    Supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • VS Code Extension
    HOL Guard
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported
  • JetBrains Plugin
    HOL Guard
    Not supported
    OpenAI Codex
    Supported

Integrations

HOL Guard

7 integrations
  • Claude Code
  • Codex
  • Cursor
  • OpenCode
  • GitHub Copilot CLI
  • GitHub Actions
  • MCP servers

OpenAI Codex

8 integrations
  • GitHub
  • Slack
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Cursor
  • Windsurf
  • Xcode
  • JetBrains IDEs
  • MCP

Company

  • Company
    HOL Guard
    Hashgraph Online DAO LLC
    OpenAI Codex
    Not listed
  • Monthly users
    HOL Guard
    Not listed
    OpenAI Codex
    4M+ weekly users
  • Listing
    HOL Guard
    Claimed
    OpenAI Codex
    Not claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is HOL Guard better than OpenAI Codex?

It depends on your workflow. HOL Guard is built for approving risky agent actions locally, Protecting secrets from coding agents, Reviewing MCP servers, skills and plugins before use. OpenAI Codex is built for delegating coding tasks to an agent.

What are the key feature differences between HOL Guard and OpenAI Codex?

HOL Guard: Local approvals for AI coding agent actions before they touch your machine. OpenAI Codex: OpenAI's coding agent that writes, reviews and runs code from terminal, IDE, desktop or cloud.

Does HOL Guard or OpenAI Codex have a free plan?

Yes, both do. HOL Guard is freemium and OpenAI Codex is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.

Which is cheaper, HOL Guard or OpenAI Codex?

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.