Why AI coding agents should let you choose the model

One thing that gets overlooked when comparing AI coding tools is how much the model itself can change the experience.

A coding task isn't always the same.

Sometimes you want a quick answer or a small code change. Sometimes you're working through a large debugging task. Sometimes you just want to experiment with a new idea without using your most expensive model.

That's why we think an AI coding agent should give users a choice of models instead of locking the entire product to one model.

That's one of the ideas behind Clixad.

Clixad is a cloud-based AI coding agent that runs in the terminal. It can inspect a project, read files, edit code, run commands, test changes and iterate when something breaks.

The agent isn't tied to a single AI model. Clixad provides a broad selection of models so users can choose what makes sense for the task they're working on.

This is useful for another reason too: model pricing varies.

Running every small coding task through the most expensive model doesn't necessarily make sense. A simple change, a quick explanation or a small script can often be handled differently from a larger coding task.

Clixad's model picker is designed around that idea. Users can see the available models and choose between them rather than having the platform make every decision for them.

We've also recently made our five cheapest models free within their daily limits:

GPT-5 Nano
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
Kimi K2

While you're within the daily free limit, those models don't consume credits. Once the limit is reached, they use credits again.

The result is a different approach to AI coding.

Instead of asking only "Which coding agent has the best model?", it becomes:

Which model makes sense for this task?

How much usage do I actually need?

Do I want to use one model for everything, or switch depending on the job?

For people who use AI coding heavily, having predictable access to premium models may still be the main priority.

For side projects, learning, prototyping and occasional coding, having multiple models available can be useful because it gives you more control over how you use your AI credits.

We think model choice is going to become a more important part of AI coding as agents become more capable and the number of available models continues to grow.

An AI coding agent doesn't just need to be able to write code. It should also give the developer some control over how that work gets done.