--- title: I gave Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor the same complex... description: A hands-on comparison pits Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor against the same prompt: building a complex Editorial Command Center web app for a freelance writer.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-claude-code-codex-and-cursor-the-same-complex-web-app-to-build-but-only-one-worked-like-a--bbrevc9ph twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I gave Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor the same complex web app to build, but only one worked like a senior developer | daily.dev og:description: A hands-on comparison pits Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor against the same prompt: building a complex Editorial Command Center web app for a freelance writer.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-claude-code-codex-and-cursor-the-same-complex-web-app-to-build-but-only-one-worked-like-a--bbrevc9ph og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/BBREvC9ph.png og:image:alt: I gave Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor the same complex web app to build, but only one worked like a senior developer og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I gave Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor the same complex web app to build, but only one worked like a senior developer **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A hands-on comparison pits Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor against the same prompt: building a complex Editorial Command Center web app for a freelance writer. Codex finished fastest (nearly 3x faster than Claude Code, 2x faster than Cursor) but had smaller UI polish issues like tiny typography and oversized Kanban cards. Cursor produced the most visually striking design with a newspaper-inspired beige palette and strong typography, though its Analytics section felt rushed, earning an 8.5/10. Claude Code was slowest but showed the most product judgment, adding unprompted UX touches like contextual icons, word-count templates, and thoughtfully categorized article views, earning a 9.5/10 and being deemed closest to a senior-developer experience. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor compare when building the same complex web app from a single prompt? Codex was fastest, finishing almost three times quicker than Claude Code and twice as fast as Cursor, but had smaller polish issues like undersized typography and oversized Kanban cards. Cursor produced the most striking visual design with consistent spacing and typography but a rushed Analytics section, scoring 8.5/10. Claude Code was slowest but showed the best product judgment, adding unprompted UX details, and scored 9.5/10. _Compare real build results before betting a project's UI polish on one coding assistant via daily.dev._ ### What UX details did Claude Code add on its own without being explicitly prompted? Claude Code added contextual icons such as a handshake for an accepted pitch and a calendar icon for a moved deadline, included word-count templates when creating a new article, and organized articles into meaningful categories like Writing, Assigned, and Editing instead of one long list, reflecting stronger unprompted product judgment. _Developers weighing AI assistants for polished UX work can track these hands-on comparisons on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I created a complex website using Claude Code, Codex, and Google Antigravity, and only one of them behaved like a senior developer](https://daily.dev/posts/i-created-a-complex-website-using-claude-code-codex-and-google-antigravity-and-only-one-of-them-b-sqqrpk4ll) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding), [#claude-code](https://daily.dev/tags/claude-code), [#vibe-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/vibe-coding), [#openai-codex](https://daily.dev/tags/openai-codex) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-claude-code-codex-and-cursor-the-same-complex-web-app-to-build-but-only-one-worked-like-a--bbrevc9ph) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I gave Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor the same complex web app to build, but only one worked like a senior developer","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-claude-code-codex-and-cursor-the-same-complex-web-app-to-build-but-only-one-worked-like-a--bbrevc9ph","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-claude-code-codex-and-cursor-the-same-complex-web-app-to-build-but-only-one-worked-like-a--bbrevc9ph"},"datePublished":"2026-09-27T11:33:33.320Z","dateModified":"2026-09-27T11:36:19.477Z","description":"A hands-on comparison pits Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor against the same prompt: building a complex Editorial Command Center web app for a freelance writer....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/03bbc438a30904d4d04c533c0bb1c619?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/03bbc438a30904d4d04c533c0bb1c619?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-claude-code-codex-and-cursor-the-same-complex-web-app-to-build-but-only-one-worked-like-a--bbrevc9ph","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai-coding,claude-code,vibe-coding,openai-codex","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I gave Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor the same complex web app to build, but only one worked like a senior developer"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-gave-claude-code-codex-and-cursor-the-same-complex-web-app-to-build-but-only-one-worked-like-a--bbrevc9ph#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor compare when building the same complex web app from a single prompt?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Codex was fastest, finishing almost three times quicker than Claude Code and twice as fast as Cursor, but had smaller polish issues like undersized typography and oversized Kanban cards. Cursor produced the most striking visual design with consistent spacing and typography but a rushed Analytics section, scoring 8.5/10. Claude Code was slowest but showed the best product judgment, adding unprompted UX details, and scored 9.5/10. Compare real build results before betting a project's UI polish on one coding assistant via daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What UX details did Claude Code add on its own without being explicitly prompted?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Claude Code added contextual icons such as a handshake for an accepted pitch and a calendar icon for a moved deadline, included word-count templates when creating a new article, and organized articles into meaningful categories like Writing, Assigned, and Editing instead of one long list, reflecting stronger unprompted product judgment. Developers weighing AI assistants for polished UX work can track these hands-on comparisons on daily.dev."}}]} ```