Crush

What is Crush?

Crush is a terminal-native AI coding assistant developed by the Charm/Bubbletea team and written in Go. The project repository describes it as “glamourous agentic coding for all.” It runs entirely in the command line, using the Bubbletea TUI framework for its interface. According to the GitHub repository, Crush provides AI-assisted code generation, editing, and reasoning directly inside the terminal, without requiring a separate GUI or web-based IDE. The tool is designed to work with local and remote models, though exact model support details are documented in the repository’s README. As of 2026, the repository shows 26,891 stars, indicating a notable level of community interest.

Who is Crush for?

Crush targets developers who already work in the terminal and want AI assistance without leaving their shell environment. It is not a full IDE plugin or a web chat interface; it is a standalone terminal application. The documentation suggests that users comfortable with command-line workflows, including those using tmux, vim, or similar tools, will find Crush fits naturally into their existing setup. Because it is built with Bubbletea, a Go library for building terminal user interfaces, developers familiar with Go and Charm’s ecosystem may also be drawn to its extensibility. The tool positions itself as a general-purpose coding assistant, so it can be used for tasks like explaining code, generating boilerplate, debugging, or refactoring. It does not appear to target non-developers or designers, as its interface is purely terminal-based.

How much does Crush cost?

Crush is free software. The pricing page lists the cost as $0 per month. There is no mention of paid tiers, usage limits, or subscription plans in the repository or documentation. Being open source, the code is available under a permissive license (exact license is noted in the repository). Users can download, run, and modify Crush without paying any fees. The only costs a user might incur are related to running AI models themselves—if using remote API-based models, those API costs are separate and not included in Crush’s pricing. The developer team has not announced any plans for a paid version as of the documentation’s current state. For a terminal AI tool, this pricing model is straightforward: no free-to-play upsells, no credit system, just a zero-dollars starting point.