# Factory review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> Coding agents called Droids for desktop, terminal and web

Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA.

Factory sells software-development agents it calls Droids, which plan, write, review and validate changes in a codebase. They run from a desktop app, a terminal CLI, a web app and an SDK, and the vendor says they work with any model. Individuals pay per person on tiered usage; teams and enterprises get admin, security and deployment options.

- **Category:** AI Agents
- **Made by:** The San Francisco AI Factory, Inc.
- **Website:** https://factory.com
- **Runs on:** Web, macOS, Windows, Linux
- **Who should skip it:** Watch out: the page shows monthly figures without saying whether they are billed monthly or annually.
- **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026

## Pricing

As of Nov 12, 2026, Factory has a free plan, and paid plans start at $20 per individual / month (billing basis not stated).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** Bring your own inference by signing in with ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot or OpenRouter, or by connecting your own API keys.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 per individual / month | Bring your own inference: sign in with ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot or OpenRouter, or use your own API keys or endpoint. |
| Pro | $20 per individual / month, billing basis not stated | Desktop, CLI and SDK access with full model availability. |
| Plus | $100 per individual / month, billing basis not stated | Everything in Pro with about 5x the usage. |
| Max | $200 per individual / month, billing basis not stated | Everything in Pro with about 10x the usage. |
| Teams | $60 per team / month, plus $40 per individual / month | Everything in Pro for up to 10 seats, with centralized billing. |
| Business and Enterprise | Custom | Sold through sales: custom limits, SSO, SAML/SCIM, audit logs; Enterprise adds on-premise options and data residency. |

Read from https://factory.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Factory before buying.

## Key features

- **Droid agents:** Droids plan, build and validate changes in a repository. The CLI quickstart shows the agent proposing edits and waiting for review before it changes files.
- **Desktop, terminal, web and SDK:** The homepage lists desktop, terminal, web and CLI surfaces, and the docs cover an SDK, a sessions API and a non-interactive exec mode.
- **Model routing:** Tasks can be routed across models, and the pricing page says the platform supports frontier and open-weight models from several providers.
- **Code review and Automations:** Droids can review pull requests with inline comments, and Automations put repeated engineering work on a schedule.
- **Analytics and Agent Readiness:** Per-developer and per-team usage reports, plus a readiness score for each repository, are listed as enterprise-facing features.
- **Governance and deployment options:** Business and Enterprise plans add SSO, audit logging, zero data retention and admin controls, and Enterprise lists on-premise deployment.

## Good for

- Engineering teams that want agents inside their own terminal or IDE workflow
- Developers who already pay for ChatGPT or Copilot and want to bring that access
- Companies that need SSO, audit logs or on-premise deployment

## Worth knowing

- The pricing page shows monthly figures without saying whether they are billed monthly or annually.
- Plus and Max are described only as roughly 5x and 10x the usage of Pro; no token or task numbers are given.
- Business and Enterprise have no published price, and SSO, SAML/SCIM and audit logging sit behind them.
- The Teams plan covers up to 10 seats; larger groups are routed to sales.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Factory runs coding agents called Droids from a desktop app, terminal, web and SDK. Free means bringing your own model access, and Pro is $20 a month, Plus $100 and Max $200. Plus and Max are described only as about 5x and 10x the usage.

- **Value for money: C.** Pro is $20 a month, in the middle of the category, with Plus at $100 and Max at $200.
- **Free plan and trial: B.** Free works if you sign in with ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot or OpenRouter, or use your own keys, so the model costs are yours.
- **Features: B.** Droids across desktop, terminal, web and SDK, with code review, automations and analytics; the listing shows no gap in the core job.
- **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. It has a terminal quickstart and model and key setup to do.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, Mac, Windows and Linux with four integrations; no phone app is listed.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Factory's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among AI agents

- Factory's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 70 of the 101 other AI agents we grade, and level with 17.
- It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 82 of 101) and worst on ease of use (C, above 14).
- Its paid plans start at $20 a month, against a middle price of $22.13 for the category: 20 of the 65 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 4 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/ai-agents

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace Factory you would be making an AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.6 is higher than 70 of the 101 other AI agents we grade. It costs $240 a year.

- You could not: An AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it.
- You could not: Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows and Linux that stay in step with each other.
- You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.
- You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

GitHub, ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, OpenRouter

**Tags:** AI agents, AI features, Public API, Workflow automation

## Alternatives

- [Devin](https://toolgpa.com/tools/devin): Autonomous software engineer that runs in the cloud or locally. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/devin-vs-factory)
- [OpenHands](https://toolgpa.com/tools/openhands): Open-source platform for AI coding agents and automations. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/factory-vs-openhands)
- [Jules](https://toolgpa.com/tools/jules): Google's asynchronous coding agent that opens pull requests. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/factory-vs-jules)
- [Amp](https://toolgpa.com/tools/amp): Coding agent that runs in cloud machines it calls orbs. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/amp-vs-factory)
- [CrewAI](https://toolgpa.com/tools/crewai): Multi-agent platform to build, run and govern AI agents. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/crewai-vs-factory)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026:

- https://factory.com
- https://factory.com/pricing
- https://docs.factory.com/droid-cli/quickstart
- https://factory.com/terms-of-service

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/factory
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).