Codex Computer Use
Ranked 2 of 4 computer use agents by recommenders
Recommended for an AI that controls apps in the background with its own cursor, leaving your mouse free; some critics worry it is unreliable and unsettling to watch.
Recommended for an AI that controls apps in the background with its own cursor, leaving your mouse free; some critics worry it is unreliable and unsettling to watch.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works in background without taking mouse
“it can completely control applications in the background with it's own dedicated mouse cursor”
Comment from 6 Jun 2026 in “What was your "Oh Shit" moment with GenAI?” “Codex's computer use was nice bc it didn't hijack your mouse.”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Don't hijack my mouse pointer” Feels good and capable in use
“honestly it feels really, really good”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Codex for Almost Everything” “its the best cua experience I've seen”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Codex for Almost Everything”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Unsettling to watch it act
“it's really cool that it just 'did the thing' but I was also freaked out during the experience”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “Codex for Almost Everything” Doubts about reliability and data safety
“They are rejecting a double trojan horse that stores your data in the cloud and exfiltrates it to an LLM.”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Understanding ChatGPT Work” “LLMs are still not reliable enough for me to trust them with my actual system.”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Understanding ChatGPT Work”
Other computer use agents people recommend
The three most recommended other computer use agents, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Cowork | 163 | 167 | 49% | 10 | 2 mo5 owners | — |
| Codex Computer UseThis page | 8 | 2 | 80% | 4 | — | — |
| Understudy | 7 | 2 | 78% | 1 | — | — |
| Coasty | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“LLMs are still not reliable enough for me to trust them with my actual system.”
“They are rejecting a double trojan horse that stores your data in the cloud and exfiltrates it to an LLM.”
“have Codex Computer Use execute on it”
“it can completely control applications in the background with it's own dedicated mouse cursor”
“Codex's computer use was nice bc it didn't hijack your mouse.”
“Codex’s @Computer Use is good, but it’s bundled inside the Codex app”
“it's really cool that it just 'did the thing' but I was also freaked out during the experience”
“its the best cua experience I've seen”
“honestly it feels really, really good”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.