Book companion · last checked September 13, 2026
Agentic AI for Beginners: current tools and prices
The chapters of Agentic AI for Beginners: How to Use AI Agents and Vibe Coding to Get Real Work Done are about principles, which change slowly. This page is about products and prices, which change every month, so it lives here and gets updated.
Prices are for individual plans in the United States, taken from the companies' own pages. Before you pay for anything, check the price on the company's website.
Agents the book teaches and compares
Claude Code and Claude plans (Anthropic)
- Free: $0 — chat only; Claude Code is not included.
- Pro: $20/month or $200/year (about $17/month) — includes Claude Code.
- Max: $100/month (5× Pro usage) or $200/month (20× Pro usage).
- Claude Code runs in the terminal on Mac, Windows, and Linux, and has a desktop app; the Claude phone app can remote-control a session on your computer.
- Subscribe on the website: prices inside phone app stores can differ.
ChatGPT and Codex (OpenAI)
- Free: $0 · Go: $8/month · Plus: $20/month · Pro: $100 or $200/month.
- Codex, OpenAI's agent for files and code, is included in every ChatGPT plan, including Free and Go, with more usage on paid plans. Codex app for Mac and Windows.
- A ChatGPT subscription does not include Claude Code, and vice versa.
- Gemini: free with a Google account, with usage limits.
- Google AI Pro: $19.99/month · Google AI Ultra: from $99.99/month.
- Gemini CLI (terminal agent): free tier for personal Google accounts.
- Google Antigravity (agent-first building platform): free for individuals, with usage limits.
Editors and browser app builders
Apps built in the browser have exposed users' data when nobody set up who can see what. Keep strangers' data out of prototypes.
Cursor
- Hobby: free · Pro: $20/month · Pro+: $60/month · Ultra: $200/month.
Lovable
- Free plan: 5 credits a day, up to 30 a month · paid plans from $25/month.
Bolt
- Free plan with a daily token allowance · paid plans from $25/month.
Replit
- Free starter plan with daily agent credits · paid plans available.
Other things readers ask about
Assistants
- Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and DeepSeek have free versions; Grok is made by xAI and connected to X.
Running AI on your own computer
- Ollama and similar free tools run open models locally. Rough guide: 8 GB of memory runs ~7B-parameter models, 16 GB runs ~14B. Useful for simple private tasks, much weaker as agents.
OpenClaw
- Free, open-source assistant that runs on your computer or a server and takes instructions through WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and similar apps. Broad access — set limits before connecting email or money.
Putting a tool online
- A small cloud server costs a few dollars a month; a domain, a few dollars to a couple dozen a year. GitHub is free for personal projects and not required to start.
Learn it hands-on, for free
The free course covers the same path as the book: the terminal, installing Claude Code, your first tool, and working with agents safely.