Is Cody or PhpStorm better?

Neither clearly leads. Cody starts at Free and PhpStorm at $24/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Cody or PhpStorm?

Cody has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cody and $24/month for PhpStorm.

Does Cody or PhpStorm run on more platforms?

Cody runs on Web. PhpStorm runs on windows, mac, linux.

Can I use Cody for free?

Yes. Cody has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PhpStorm starts at $24/month.

What is Cody best used for?

Cody is most often used for code completion and intelligent autocomplete in ides, developer chat with codebase context awareness, automated debugging and error identification, customizable prompts for workflow automation. Of those, code completion and intelligent autocomplete in ides and developer chat with codebase context awareness are not what PhpStorm is typically brought in for.

What can Cody do that PhpStorm cannot?

PhpStorm covers PHP-aware coding assistance, Integrated debugger, Front-end tooling, Database tools.

Developer Tools · head to head

Cody vs PhpStorm

Cody

Developer Tools

AI coding assistant powered by code search

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

PhpStorm

Developer Tools

JetBrains IDE for PHP web development

From: $24/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Cody has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Cody sourcegraph now publishes a single Enterprise plan starting at $16K, with no free or individual Pro tier listed on the pricing page; PhpStorm requires an ongoing paid subscription with no free tier for commercial use.
Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cody and PhpStorm actually diverge.

Attributes where Cody and PhpStorm differ
Attribute	Cody	PhpStorm
Starting price	Free	$24/month
Pricing model	freemium	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web	windows, mac, linux
Founded	2013	2000

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Developer Tools).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Cody

Nothing recorded that PhpStorm does not also cover.

Only in PhpStorm

PHP-aware coding assistance
Integrated debugger
Front-end tooling
Database tools
Version control integration
Docker and remote deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cody

Code completion and intelligent autocomplete in IDEsnot PhpStorm
Developer chat with codebase context awarenessnot PhpStorm
Automated debugging and error identificationnot PhpStorm
Customizable prompts for workflow automationnot PhpStorm

PhpStorm

Building PHP web applications with Laravel or Symfonynot Cody
Debugging PHP code with Xdebugnot Cody
Working across PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in one projectnot Cody
Managing databases alongside application codenot Cody

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Cody

Sourcegraph now publishes a single Enterprise plan starting at $16K, with no free or individual Pro tier listed on the pricing page
sourcegraph.com/cody redirects to the documentation rather than a Cody product or pricing page
AI features are metered as credits included per user, and exceeding the allocation requires buying a higher volume bucket
Volume credit buckets are sold as an add-on rather than included
A customer success manager and premium support are optional paid extras on top of the Enterprise plan
Standard support is 24x5 rather than 24x7, with round-the-clock coverage sold as an upgrade
The published $16K figure is a starting price that scales with team size, so the actual cost is quoted rather than listed

PhpStorm

Requires an ongoing paid subscription with no free tier for commercial use.
Heavier and slower to start than lightweight code editors.
Some advanced framework-specific tooling requires additional configuration or plugins.
Renewal pricing rises for lapsed subscriptions after the grace period.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cody

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cody review.

PhpStorm

$24/month

Individual$24/month
- Personal use license
- Access to PhpStorm
- Free for students and open-source maintainers
Organization$34/month
- Business use license
- Access to PhpStorm
- Volume and renewal discounts

Which should you pick?

Choose Cody if

You want to start without paying.

Cody review

Choose PhpStorm if

You need php-aware coding assistance.
You work on windows, mac, linux.
You also want integrated debugger.

PhpStorm review

Questions people ask

Is Cody or PhpStorm better?: Neither clearly leads. Cody starts at Free and PhpStorm at $24/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cody or PhpStorm?: Cody has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cody and $24/month for PhpStorm.
Does Cody or PhpStorm run on more platforms?: Cody runs on Web. PhpStorm runs on windows, mac, linux.
Can I use Cody for free?: Yes. Cody has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PhpStorm starts at $24/month.
What is Cody best used for?: Cody is most often used for code completion and intelligent autocomplete in ides, developer chat with codebase context awareness, automated debugging and error identification, customizable prompts for workflow automation. Of those, code completion and intelligent autocomplete in ides and developer chat with codebase context awareness are not what PhpStorm is typically brought in for.
What can Cody do that PhpStorm cannot?: PhpStorm covers PHP-aware coding assistance, Integrated debugger, Front-end tooling, Database tools.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cody: Is Cody free?

Cody offers a free tier for individual developers via VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, and the web app. Unlimited free usage is available for solo developers.

Source

PhpStorm: How much does PhpStorm cost?

PhpStorm is sold via JetBrains Toolbox subscription starting around $24/month for individuals and $34/month for organizations, with free licenses for students and open-source maintainers.

Source

Cody: What does Cody Enterprise cost?

Cody Enterprise pricing is custom and requires contacting Sourcegraph sales. It is available for Sourcegraph Enterprise customers and must be quoted based on your deployment and usage needs.

Source

PhpStorm: Is there a free trial?

JetBrains offers a free trial of PhpStorm so developers can test it before subscribing.

Source

Cody: What LLMs does Cody use?

Cody uses the latest large language models for code completions, chat, and debugging. It leverages Sourcegraph's advanced Search API to pull codebase context from local and remote repositories.

Source

PhpStorm: What platforms does PhpStorm support?

PhpStorm is a desktop IDE available on Windows, macOS, and Linux via JetBrains Toolbox.

Source

Cody vs PhpStorm

Cody

PhpStorm

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Cody

Only in PhpStorm

What people use each for

Cody

PhpStorm

Where each one falls short

Cody

PhpStorm

Pricing, plan by plan

Cody

PhpStorm

Which should you pick?

Choose Cody if

Choose PhpStorm if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Cody

More on PhpStorm

Keep looking

Other head to heads