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Developer Tools · head to head

Cody vs Thought Machine

Cody logo

Cody

Developer Tools

AI coding assistant powered by code search

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Thought Machine logo

Thought Machine

Technology

Cloud native core banking where products are written as smart contracts

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

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; Thought Machine a core replacement is a two to four year programme at an established bank, and the licence is a minority of total cost against system integrator fees, parallel running and data migration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cody and Thought Machine actually diverge.

Attributes where Cody and Thought Machine differ
AttributeCodyThought Machine
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, API, Cloud
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Thought Machine does not also cover.

Only in Thought Machine

  • Smart contract product engine
  • Cloud native architecture
  • Real time ledger
  • Vault Payments
  • API first design
  • Multi entity and multi currency
  • Product versioning and testing
  • Configurable posting rules

What people use each for

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

Cody

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

Thought Machine

  • A large bank launching a separate digital brand on a clean core rather than migrating the back booknot Cody
  • A bank whose product launches are blocked by vendor change requests on a legacy corenot Cody
  • An institution needing real time balances and postings for instant payment obligationsnot Cody
  • A group consolidating multiple country cores onto one multi entity platformnot 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

Thought Machine

  • A core replacement is a two to four year programme at an established bank, and the licence is a minority of total cost against system integrator fees, parallel running and data migration.
  • The smart contract model presumes a bank can write and maintain Python financial products, and institutions without that engineering capability end up outsourcing the very flexibility they bought.
  • Cloud infrastructure cost sits with the bank and is not trivial at scale, so total cost of ownership comparisons against a hosted legacy core often miss a large recurring line.
  • Thought Machine has made two rounds of job cuts pursuing profitability, which is a legitimate supplier stability concern for a system a bank expects to run for fifteen years.
  • The functional footprint is core ledger and product engine, so origination, collections, regulatory reporting and channels all come from other vendors, and the integration estate around Vault is the bank's problem to design and own.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cody

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cody review.

Thought Machine

On request
  • Vault Core$undefined/year
    • Quoted per institution, typically on account volumes or annual contract value
    • Implementation and system integrator costs commonly exceed the licence fee
    • Cloud infrastructure costs are the bank's and are not included

Which should you pick?

Choose Cody if

  • You want to start without paying.
Cody review

Choose Thought Machine if

  • You need smart contract product engine.
  • You work on Web, API, Cloud.
  • You also want cloud native architecture.
Thought Machine review

Questions people ask

Is Cody or Thought Machine better?
Neither clearly leads. Cody starts at Free and Thought Machine at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cody or Thought Machine?
Cody has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cody and On request for Thought Machine.
Does Cody or Thought Machine run on more platforms?
Cody runs on Web. Thought Machine runs on Web, API, Cloud.
Can I use Cody for free?
Yes. Cody has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Thought Machine starts at On request.
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 Thought Machine is typically brought in for.
What can Cody do that Thought Machine cannot?
Thought Machine covers Smart contract product engine, Cloud native architecture, Real time ledger, Vault Payments.

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
Thought Machine: Is Vault Core genuinely cloud native?

Yes. It is containerised, runs on Kubernetes on public cloud, and posts in real time rather than in overnight batch.

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
Thought Machine: How long does a migration take?

Eighteen months at the absolute fastest for a narrow greenfield launch; two to four years for a phased migration at an established bank.

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
Thought Machine: Does the licence fee represent the total cost?

No. Implementation, system integration, parallel running and cloud infrastructure typically cost more than the licence over the programme.

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