CodingAgents

Factory (Droid)

factory.com ↗

Factory in short

What it is: Worth a look if you want a terminal or desktop coding agent that is not tied to one model vendor. Price: Paid. Pro $20/mo; Plus $100/mo (~5x Pro usage); Max $200/mo (~10x Pro usage); Teams $60/mo per team plus $40/mo per seat, up to 10 seats; Business and Enterprise custom. Extra Usage is prepaid credit with a $10 minimum. (checked 2026-11-03). Best for: hand off coding tasks to an agent in the terminal or a desktop app; run background agents in the cloud or on your machine. Watch out: no free plan is listed; individual plans start at $20/mo.

Our verdict

Worth a look if you want a terminal or desktop coding agent that is not tied to one model vendor.

Factory's pricing page and docs describe Droid as a coding agent across a desktop app, CLI and SDK that works with frontier and open-weight models; Droid 1.0 launched Oct 29, 2026.

Based on public docs and pricing pages, not hands-on testing. How we check

Strengths

  • Model-independent: Factory says it supports leading frontier and open-weight models, or Factory Router can pick the mix
  • Desktop app (macOS and Windows), Droid CLI and Droid SDK on every individual plan
  • Droid Core, a pool of open-weight models, lets you keep working after your standard usage runs out, per Factory's docs

Limitations

  • No free plan is listed; individual plans start at $20/mo
  • Usage is capped by rolling 5-hour, 7-day and 30-day rate limits, and unused standard usage does not roll over
  • Missions (longer runs) need prepaid Extra Usage turned on
  • SSO, audit logs and zero data retention are in the custom-priced Business and Enterprise plans

Factory pricing

Pro $20/mo; Plus $100/mo (~5x Pro usage); Max $200/mo (~10x Pro usage); Teams $60/mo per team plus $40/mo per seat, up to 10 seats; Business and Enterprise custom. Extra Usage is prepaid credit with a $10 minimum.

From the official pricing page, checked 2026-11-03. Plans change, so confirm before you buy.

Is Factory free?

Not on a general free plan, per its pricing page. Pro $20/mo; Plus $100/mo (~5x Pro usage); Max $200/mo (~10x Pro usage); Teams $60/mo per team plus $40/mo per seat, up to 10 seats; Business and Enterprise custom. Extra Usage is prepaid credit with a $10 minimum. (official pricing page, checked 2026-11-03)

Good for

hand off coding tasks to an agent in the terminal or a desktop apprun background agents in the cloud or on your machinepick a model per task or let Factory Router choose

Note: Droid 1.0 announcement (Oct 29, 2026): https://factory.com/news/frontier-harness. Individual plan details and rate limits: https://docs.factory.com/pricing/individuals. Factory's own benchmark claims are not used here.

Alternatives in Coding

  • Cursor: A strong default AI code editor for builders who want an agent in their IDE.
  • GitHub Copilot: The low-friction pick if you already use GitHub.
  • Claude Code: A top choice for terminal-comfortable builders who want an autonomous coding agent.
  • Devin (incl. Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf): Worth a look if you want to hand off whole tasks to autonomous agents.
  • Cline: Best for builders who want an open, model-agnostic agent and control over costs.
  • Aider: A lightweight, free terminal option for developers.
  • Zed: Great if editor speed matters and you want AI built in.
  • OpenAI Codex: A strong pick if you already pay for ChatGPT.
  • OpenCode: Best for builders who want a free, open-source coding agent that works with whatever model or subscription they already have.
  • Google Antigravity: Best for developers who want Google's free, agent-first coding app, with Google AI plans when they need more usage.
  • Kiro: Best for developers who want an AI coding agent that plans the work as a spec before it writes code.
  • Firebase Studio: Closed to new users and shutting down March 22, 2027; existing users should migrate to Google AI Studio or Antigravity.
  • CodeRabbit: A good add-on reviewer for AI-generated code.

How to choose among AI coding tools →

Recent Factory releases

All verified releases →

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FAQ

Is Factory free?

Not on a general free plan, per its pricing page. Pro $20/mo; Plus $100/mo (~5x Pro usage); Max $200/mo (~10x Pro usage); Teams $60/mo per team plus $40/mo per seat, up to 10 seats; Business and Enterprise custom. Extra Usage is prepaid credit with a $10 minimum. (official pricing page, checked 2026-11-03)

How much does Factory cost?

Pro $20/mo; Plus $100/mo (~5x Pro usage); Max $200/mo (~10x Pro usage); Teams $60/mo per team plus $40/mo per seat, up to 10 seats; Business and Enterprise custom. Extra Usage is prepaid credit with a $10 minimum. (from factory.com/pricing, checked 2026-11-03).

What is Factory used for?

Listed use cases: hand off coding tasks to an agent in the terminal or a desktop app; run background agents in the cloud or on your machine; pick a model per task or let Factory Router choose.

What are the best alternatives to Factory?

Other AI coding tools in this directory: Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Devin (incl. Devin Desktop, formerly Windsurf). We list them in data order, not ranked.

Did you test Factory?

No. Verdicts are based on each vendor's public docs and pricing pages, not hands-on testing, unless a page says otherwise.