Meta launches Muse Code, a cheaper Claude Code rival in beta
Meta entered the terminal coding agent market on August 6, 2026 with the beta launch of Muse Code, a tool built to compete with Claude Code and Codex on price.
What Muse Code Is
Muse Code is a terminal-based coding agent that runs on Muse Spark 1.2, a coding-focused model Meta trained alongside the tool. Installation is a single command. It supports macOS and Linux.
For large codebases, Muse Code distributes work across multiple agents running concurrently in isolated environments. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in testing the tool built six game features simultaneously without conflicts. The agent also writes a local event log of every action it takes, which lets it resume exactly where it stopped after a crash.
Pricing
Two tiers are available:
- Pay-as-you-go: standard usage-based pricing
- Contributor tier: requires developers to consent to having their data used for model training, and is priced at more than 10 times cheaper than the pay-as-you-go tier, according to Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang
Wang told the Wall Street Journal that Meta is positioning Muse Code on cost rather than capabilities:
“We think that for a lot of workflows and a lot of use cases, this can be an incredibly good option, especially from a cost perspective.”
What Else Ships With It
Muse Spark 1.2 will also be available via Meta’s model API and the OpenRouter platform. Meta is beginning to accept requests for zero-data retention, a feature Wang described as important for enterprise customers.
Muse Code is part of Meta’s push to build AI revenue outside its core advertising business. The company launched its Meta Business Agent for WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger in June 2026.
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