What do you like best about Claude Code?
The thing I like most is how well Claude Code works with an existing codebase. I can point it at a project and ask it to investigate an issue or implement a feature without manually collecting and pasting dozens of files into a chat. That makes a big difference when working on larger projects.
UI/UX is simple but effective. The terminal-first approach initially feels different from a traditional coding assistant, but once I'm comfortable with it, I like being able to see what it's doing, review proposed changes, and control which actions it can perform. The VS Code extension also makes the experience more accessible for developers who prefer working inside an IDE.
Integrations are another strong point. Claude Code fits naturally into Git-based workflows and can work with terminals, development tools, VS Code, and other parts of the development environment. Features such as hooks, subagents, background tasks, and the Agent SDK also make it possible to build more advanced workflows around it.
For performance, I've found it particularly strong on larger tasks where the AI needs to inspect several files, reason about the existing architecture, make changes, and then test them. It's not always the fastest option for a simple question, but for multi-step development work, its ability to keep working through a problem is more valuable than simply generating a quick response. Anthropic has also reported that long-running Claude Code sessions have become substantially more capable over time.
The pricing/ROI is good when I'm using it for tasks that would otherwise take a significant amount of manual development time. If it can reduce a few hours of debugging, refactoring, or boilerplate work, the value is pretty obvious. Anthropic also provides usage analytics and spending controls for teams, which makes it easier to understand adoption and manage costs.
Support and onboarding are generally good. The documentation explains the basic workflow clearly, and the tool itself doesn't take very long to start using. The bigger learning curve comes from understanding how to work effectively with an AI coding agent rather than simply asking an AI questions.
The AI/intelligence is obviously the main reason I use Claude Code. What stands out to me is its ability to reason across a project rather than treating every request as an isolated code-generation task. It's particularly useful for debugging unfamiliar code, understanding architecture, and making coordinated changes across multiple files. Anthropic's own engineering reports also describe Claude Code being used for increasingly autonomous coding and debugging workflows. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
What do you dislike about Claude Code?
The biggest issue is that more autonomy also means more responsibility for reviewing the result. Claude Code can modify multiple files and execute commands, so I don't blindly accept everything it does. For important changes, I still review the diff and run the relevant tests myself.
The UI/UX can take some getting used to if you're coming from an IDE-based AI assistant. The terminal interface is powerful, but it can feel less intuitive initially, especially when a task becomes long and Claude is performing many operations.
With integrations, most development workflows fit naturally, but advanced configurations can become complicated. Permissions, hooks, MCP servers, subagents, environment variables, and project-specific tooling give you a lot of flexibility, but they also introduce more things that can go wrong.
For performance, there is a trade-off between intelligence and speed. More complex reasoning can take longer, and Anthropic has acknowledged cases where higher reasoning effort caused very long latency and increased usage. They have since adjusted defaults and added different effort levels to balance quality, latency, and usage.
Pricing/ROI is also something I pay attention to. Agentic coding can consume considerably more usage than asking a simple question because Claude may inspect files, reason through several steps, execute commands, and iterate on the solution. For teams, having spend controls and usage analytics helps, but individuals still need to be aware of how much they are using it.
Support and onboarding are good for normal usage, but advanced workflows have a learning curve. Once I start using things like hooks, MCP, subagents, permissions, and automated workflows, I need to understand more about how Claude Code operates instead of simply treating it as a chatbot.
For AI/intelligence, the biggest limitation is that it isn't consistently correct. It can make a technically plausible change that doesn't actually fit the project's architecture or introduce a subtle bug. I get the best results when I treat it as an experienced coding assistant that needs review rather than an autonomous developer I can completely hand the project to. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.