Launching today
Most AI coding agents need a paid subscription or API key. Brud Code doesn't. Use the free web tiers of ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini (or local Ollama models) as an agent inside VS Code. Paste the AI's instructions and Brud previews the diff, applies multi-file edits, runs commands with live terminal output, and lets you roll back with local snapshots. 100% free and open source. No subscription, no API key. You shouldn't have to code slowly just because you can't afford an API key.
Free
Launch Team
EneyProactive AI for Mac. Free test, 20,000 credits.
Promoted
Hey Product Hunt! 👋 I'm Rahat, the creator of Brud Code.
AI coding agents like Cursor and Windsurf have shown how fast software can be built. But they all have the same gate: a paid subscription or a credit-card-backed API key.
Meanwhile, Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI all give free daily usage of Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT to anyone with a browser. The moment you want that intelligence inside your editor, you hit a paywall.
If you're a student, a bootstrapped founder, or a developer without an international credit card, that ~$240/year puts you behind. You end up copy-pasting code file by file and hunting for line numbers.
Brud Code is built on one belief:
👉 You shouldn't have to code slowly just because you can't afford an API key.
So we asked: what if your clipboard worked like an API key?
Brud Code uses your clipboard as the bridge between the free AI chat you already use (or a local model via Ollama) and a full agent inside VS Code. There's no middleman and nothing is metered.
⚙️ How it works
1️⃣ Ask any free AI chat (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) to build or refactor your code.
2️⃣ The model replies with one structured instruction block in Brud's workspace DSL.
3️⃣ Paste it into Brud Code. It previews the diff, applies multi-file edits, streams terminal output live, and snapshots your workspace, so you can undo the whole session in one click.
🔧 Under the hood
• Precise multi-file edits: search/replace that keeps your indentation, with smart line matching
• Live terminal: a dedicated panel for stdout/stderr, with a Kill Process button
• Fast codebase reading (under 100 ms): line-range reads, structural maps, and directory pruning
• Workspace sandboxing: file operations can't leave your project folder
• Private by design: everything runs locally, with no cloud tracking
📈 We've passed 780+ installs through word of mouth alone, and today we're launching v0.1.4 here on Product Hunt.
💚 100% free and open source, forever:
https://github.com/rahatarch/brud
I believe engineering speed should belong to every developer, not just those with corporate cards. I'd love your feedback, and tell me which models you're pairing it with! I'll be in the comments all day 🚀