State of AI Coding Tools — September 2026
By Scott Havird · · Monthly Data Report
118 releases across 8 AI coding tools in September 2026. Claude Code led with 27. Velocity up 39% MoM. Release velocity, cadence, and first-to-ship data.
Key Takeaways
- Claude Code led with 27 releases in September 2026 — one every 1.1 days (22.9% of all releases tracked).
- Overall shipping velocity was up 39% month-over-month: 118 releases vs 85 the month before.
- OpenAI Codex CLI accelerated the most: 20 releases, up from 8 the month before.
- 0 major and 22 minor version bumps shipped; the remaining 96 releases were patches.
- Claude Code has been first to ship 9 of the 20 cross-tool features we track. The median follower ships the same capability 313 days later.
Release Velocity Leaderboard — September 2026
| Tool | Releases | MoM change | Share | Avg days between releases | Major | Minor | Patch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | 27 | -1 | 22.9% | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Grok Build | 25 | +7 | 21.2% | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Antigravity CLI | 21 | +8 | 17.8% | 1.4 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | 20 | +12 | 16.9% | 1.6 | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | 7 | +2 | 5.9% | 4.4 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Kiro CLI | 7 | +3 | 5.9% | 4.8 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Devin Desktop | 6 | +2 | 5.1% | 4.2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Gemini CLI | 5 | 0 | 4.2% | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Cursor | 0 | 0 | 0% | — | 0 | 0 | 0 |
12-Month Velocity Trend
| Month | Total releases |
|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 110 |
| Nov 2025 | 117 |
| Dec 2025 | 72 |
| Jan 2026 | 79 |
| Feb 2026 | 88 |
| Mar 2026 | 70 |
| Apr 2026 | 86 |
| May 2026 | 88 |
| Jun 2026 | 144 |
| Jul 2026 | 116 |
| Aug 2026 | 85 |
| Sep 2026 | 118 |
First to Ship & Copying Trends
Across 20 tracked cross-tool features, 19 are contested (shipped by 2+ tools). The median follower ships the same capability 313 days after the leader.
| Tool | Times first to ship | Times follower | Median follow lag (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | 9 | 8 | 159 |
| Devin Desktop | 9 | 7 | 180 |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | 1 | 16 | 256 |
| Cursor | 0 | 9 | 259 |
| Gemini CLI | 0 | 5 | 328 |
| Kiro CLI | 0 | 11 | 381 |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | 0 | 17 | 279 |
| Antigravity CLI | 0 | 12 | 468 |
| Grok Build | 0 | 15 | 489 |
Feature shipments this month
- Grok Build shipped Background Tasks — 392 days after Claude Code
- OpenAI Codex CLI shipped Background Tasks — 398 days after Claude Code
- Grok Build shipped Project Memory Files — 644 days after Devin Desktop
Ecosystem Pulse
| Tool | GitHub stars | npm weekly downloads | Downloads trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | 148,773 | 14,495,496 | +8.6% |
| OpenAI Codex CLI | 127,484 | 25,653,416 | +18.6% |
| Gemini CLI | 107,216 | 450,374 | +6.7% |
| GitHub Copilot CLI | 11,234 | 1,305 | -8.4% |
| Antigravity CLI | 2,439 | — | — |
| Grok Build | 27,176 | — | — |
Notable Releases
- Claude Code v2.1.284 (September 28, 2026): Claude Code 2.1.284 now uses the faster Claude Sonnet 5.5 model by default, giving you improved performance with a massive 1M context window. We've also made permission prompts smarter—you can now approve individual file reads while staying protected, and you'll see spending l...
- Grok Build v1.0.22 (September 7, 2026): Grok Build 1.0.22 makes file editing safer by showing real line numbers and letting you review changes before they happen, while improving how subagents communicate their results so you always know what's actually running. We've also fixed several frustrating issues like preve...
- Antigravity CLI v1.1.28 (September 9, 2026): Antigravity CLI 1.1.28 makes your workflows more reliable by recovering gracefully from brief service interruptions, and speeds up both sign-in and headless runs with smarter caching and reduced overhead. You'll also see clearer approval prompts and better error messages that ...
- OpenAI Codex CLI rust-v0.156.0 (September 22, 2026): The OpenAI Codex CLI rust-v0.156.0 brings voice conversations on by default with an easy toggle, plus a beautiful fullscreen UI option that lets you search transcripts and copy with right-clicks. You'll also gain instant visibility into your account usage and token spending th...
- GitHub Copilot CLI v1.0.85 (September 16, 2026): GitHub Copilot CLI v1.0.85 brings Vim mode to everyone and adds powerful new configuration tools like /settings and /config for deeper customization. You can now organize your work more efficiently with concise transcript summaries and improved sandbox network controls. Check ...
- Kiro CLI v2.24.0 (September 23, 2026): Kiro CLI 2.24.0 streamlines tool approvals across sessions and improves how you discover session controls, while giving you more control over environment variables in your workflows. We've also enhanced image handling and terminal reliability. Check the full release notes to s...
- Devin Desktop v3.10.23 (September 10, 2026): Devin Desktop 3.10.23 lets you connect to remote agents over SSH with automatic session recovery, and now intelligently syncs your file explorer when switching between sessions. We've also streamlined security with improved network access controls and faster performance across...
- Gemini CLI v0.62.0 (September 29, 2026): Gemini CLI v0.62.0 is here with improved reliability, including better handling of authentication tokens and smoother tool integration with clearer formatting. We've also fixed several stability issues that make the CLI run more smoothly across different scenarios. Check the f...
Use this data
This report is generated from Havoptic's continuously collected release dataset — free to cite with attribution and a link to this page. Raw data: reports.json. Method: how we collect and classify releases.
Suggested citation: "State of AI Coding Tools — September 2026", Havoptic, October 1, 2026, https://www.havoptic.com/reports/2026-09