Comparisons

16x Prompt vs ChatGPT / Claude

16x Prompt is designed to be used together with ChatGPT or Claude. Instead of writing prompt directly, you "compose" it in 16x Prompt and then copy-paste it into the LLM or send it to the model via API.

There are several advantages of this approach:

Source code context

You can manage your source code files locally within 16x Prompt app and choose which files to include in the prompt. They are linked to your local file system and kept up-to-date automatically.

This eliminates the need to copy-paste code from your code editor or upload files for each prompt.

Formatting instructions

By default, ChatGPT doesn't come with formatting instructions, resulting in response that are too long or too verbose.

If you turn on the Custom Instructions feature in ChatGPT, it might pollute your non-coding conversations and make ChatGPT output code for general questions.

16x Prompt embeds formatting instructions into the prompt, making the output compact and suitable for copy-pasting directly into your code editor.

You can also create different custom formatting instructions in 16x Prompt to fit your needs, for example, one for React and another for Python.

16x Prompt vs GitHub Copilot

More Powerful Model

16x Prompt allows you to access the latest models like GPT-4o (via ChatGPT interface or OpenAI API) and Claude 3.5 Sonnet (via Claude.ai interface or Anthropic API).

The autocomplete feature in GitHub Copilot uses an older model called OpenAI Codex, which is based on GPT-3.

The other feature, Copilot Chat is powered by GPT–4.

Complexity of Task

GitHub Copilot is designed to generate code inline, modifying specific lines of code. This limits the complexity of tasks it can complete to just a few lines of code.

16x Prompt, on the other hand, is designed to generate code at the task level, i.e., it can complete more complex tasks that span across multiple files.

For example:

• You can generate both the front-end and back-end code for a web application within a single prompt.
• You can generate MySQL schema and API endpoints for a new backend feature within a single prompt.

16x Prompt vs Cursor

Access GPT-4 / Claude 3.5 Sonnet

To use GPT-4 / Claude 3.5 Sonnet in Cursor, you need to either pay for API usage or use a paid plan.

16x Prompt allows you to access GPT-4 / Claude 3.5 Sonnet for free by utilizing your existing ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription. You can use Claude 3.5 Sonnet for free via the Claude.ai website's free tier.

16x Prompt also has built-in API integration for GPT-4 and Claude 3.5 Sonnet, allowing you to use these models directly within the app, and even compare their outputs side by side.

Complexity of Task

Cursor is designed to generate code inline, modifying specific lines of code. This limits the complexity of tasks it can complete to just a few lines of code.

Composer feature in Cursor allows it to work across multiple files, but it's not as powerful as 16x Prompt due to two reasons:

• Cursor does not have a global context manager to manage which files to include as relevant context. You need to manually include files in each prompt. The automatic context detection feature in Cursor (RAG) is not as reliable as it can include too much or too little context.
• Cursor makes code changes directly in your code editor, which means it needs to generate the code in a way that can be directly applied to the codebase (diff format). This limits the complexity of tasks it can complete as LLMs are not trained to generate code in diff format.

16x Prompt, on the other hand, is designed to generate code at the task level, using its global context manager to manage which files to include as relevant context. It can complete more complex tasks that span across multiple files.

For example:

• You can generate both the front-end and back-end code for a web application within a single prompt.
• You can generate MySQL schema and API endpoints for a new backend feature within a single prompt.

Black-box vs transparent model

Cursor is a black-box tool. You don't have control over the final prompt that is sent to the model.

16x Prompt uses a transparent model, which means you have full control over the final prompt. You can customize or edit the final prompt via a range of options.

16x Prompt vs aider

Command line vs desktop app

aider is a command line tool. It requires you to run commands in the terminal to add source code files as context.

16x Prompt is a desktop app that provides a graphical user interface for composing prompts and managing source code files.

Final output

aider generates code and git commits directly.

16x Prompt generates prompts that you can either copy-paste into ChatGPT or send to the model.

Black-box vs transparent model

aider is a black-box tool. You don't have control over the final prompt that is sent to the model.

16x Prompt uses a transparent model, which means you have full control over the final prompt. You can customize or edit the final prompt via a range of options.

Table of Comparison