Source: https://seerepo.com/compare/helix-editor/helix/vs/openai/codex
Markdown source: https://seerepo.com/compare/helix-editor/helix/vs/openai/codex.md
Description: helix and codex share 4 technologies: Tokio, crossterm, pulldown-cmark, and log. Both are written in Rust.

# helix vs codex

helix and codex share 4 technologies: Tokio, crossterm, pulldown-cmark, and log. Both are written in Rust.

- [helix-editor/helix](https://seerepo.com/r/helix-editor/helix): A post-modern modal text editor.
- [openai/codex](https://seerepo.com/r/openai/codex): Lightweight coding agent that runs in your terminal

## What they share and what sets them apart

- In common: Tokio, crossterm, pulldown-cmark, log
- Only in helix: termina
- Only in codex: axum, lru, SQLite, Sentry, tower, objc2-app-kit, objc2-foundation, Ratatui, keyring, hmac, rmcp, png, image, zip, schemars, Pydantic, tracing, tracing-subscriber, tracing-appender

## Side by side

| | helix | codex |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 108,689 lines written, 215 code files | 2,320,674 lines written, 4,216 code files |
| Who writes it | 0% of its commits signed by AI. With Claude Code | 2.8% of its commits signed by AI. With Codex, Claude Code, and GitHub Copilot |
| Activity | Last push September 29, 2026, 7,621 commits, 46,818 stars | Last push November 4, 2026, 13,099 commits, 133,103 stars |
| Tests | 80 test files. 2.3% of its code files have a test that imports them | 2,448 test files. 51.6% of its code files have a test that imports them |

- Size: Lines written by people and agents, without generated ones; code files, without tests.
- Who writes it: A commit counts as AI's when it carries its signature: a Co-Authored-By line, its author name or the merge of its branch.
- Activity: From GitHub and its history, on the day SeeRepo read it.
- Tests: The files that test the code, and the share of code files a test imports.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which is bigger, helix or codex?

codex, with 2,320,674 lines written; helix has 108,689.

The proof: [openai/codex's code at commit 021fccb](https://github.com/openai/codex/tree/021fccb046508938c4754982efccfb51d6e8356e)

### Which has more GitHub stars, helix or codex?

codex, with 133,103 stars; helix has 46,818.

The proof: [openai/codex on GitHub](https://github.com/openai/codex)

### Which has more tests, helix or codex?

codex, with 2,448 test files; helix has 80.

The proof: [openai/codex's code at commit 021fccb](https://github.com/openai/codex/tree/021fccb046508938c4754982efccfb51d6e8356e)

### Which was updated more recently, helix or codex?

codex: its last push was on November 4, 2026, and helix's on September 29, 2026.

The proof: [openai/codex's commits on GitHub](https://github.com/openai/codex/commits)

### Which has more commits signed by AI, helix or codex?

codex: an AI signed 2.8% of its commits, with Codex, Claude Code, and GitHub Copilot.

The proof: [the commits each tool signed in openai/codex](https://seerepo.com/r/openai/codex/ai)

## Sources

- helix-editor/helix: Read on November 6, 2026, at commit ba40e54 (https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/tree/ba40e547426b0f9896c8bdc699a4ab11f2b37dbc)
- openai/codex: Read on November 4, 2026, at commit 021fccb (https://github.com/openai/codex/tree/021fccb046508938c4754982efccfb51d6e8356e)

## What is your repo built with?

Any public repo, with no account: https://seerepo.com/r/owner/repo/built, with the owner and name it has on GitHub.