CodeBurn vs GhostWriter by MyHandler: Features, Pricing & Which Is Better (2026)
A side-by-side comparison of CodeBurn and GhostWriter by MyHandler — features, pricing, and ideal use cases — to help you decide which AI tool fits your workflow.
C
CodeBurn
AgentSeal
Free, local-first CLI and macOS menubar app that tracks AI coding token usage and cost across 36+ tools like Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and Gemini CLI.
Key features
- Multi-tool cost tracking: Reads on-disk session files from 36+ AI coding tools including Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Copilot, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, and Goose and unifies them into one dashboard.
- Local-first architecture: No proxy, no wrapper, no API key, and nothing leaves the machine — everything is computed from the session files the tools already write.
- Task classification: Deterministically buckets every AI turn into categories like Coding, Debugging, Feature Development, Refactoring, and Testing without any additional LLM calls.
- Per-project and per-model breakdowns: Slices cost and token counts by project, model, tool, and task so developers can see which repos or models drive the bill.
- `codeburn optimize` grader: Grades the developer's setup A through F and flags duplicate file reads, context bloat, and ghost agents, with one command to apply the fixes and per-change undo.
- TUI and menubar UIs: Ships as both a terminal TUI dashboard for deep dives and a macOS menubar app for at-a-glance daily spend.
Best for
- Solo developer cost visibility: An indie dev running Claude Code and Cursor side by side sees which sessions burned the most tokens and adjusts their workflow.
- Team AI budget attribution: Engineering managers roll up per-project spend to attribute AI costs to specific product areas or clients.
- Debugging runaway sessions: When a coding agent burns thousands of tokens on one task, CodeBurn's classification pinpoints which turn category exploded.
- Optimizing agent setups: Running `codeburn optimize` on a laptop grades the AI setup and removes duplicate context that quietly inflates every prompt.
- Comparing model economics: Developers evaluate whether to move a task category from a frontier model to a cheaper one by looking at CodeBurn's per-model breakdown.
GhostWriter by MyHandler
MyHandler.ai
Windows writing assistant that reads the screen around your cursor on a hotkey double-tap and types a context-aware draft in your voice.
Key features
- Hotkey Double-Tap Drafting: No prompt or dictation is needed — a double-tap with the cursor in any text field triggers capture and drafting directly in place.
- Screen Context Capture: Reads the thread, form or partial sentence surrounding the cursor locally on the machine, using that on-screen context as the entire input.
- Writing Intent Classification: Determines whether the moment calls for a reply, a continuation, a filled-in answer or a fresh compose before writing a single word.
- Sender and Identity Mapping: Maps each message in a thread to its sender and works out which handle is the user's, so the draft answers the other party rather than the user's own words.
- Calendar Cross-Check: When a draft proposes a time, it is validated against the next two weeks of a connected calendar before the text appears.
- Selection Rewriting: Selecting existing text before the hotkey rewrites that selection instead of composing something new.
- Nothing Sent Automatically: The generated text appears at the cursor for the user to read, edit or delete; sending always remains a manual step.
- Local Vault with Zero-Retention Cloud: Capture runs against an encrypted vault on the user's own PC and the assembled context is processed by a zero-data-retention cloud model.
Best for
- Email Backlog: Clearing a queue of owed replies by drafting each one from the thread already on screen instead of retyping the same answer.
- Chat and Slack Replies: Answering a message in a team chat where the draft is grounded in who asked whom for what in the visible thread.
- Web Form Completion: Filling a blank answer box under a question on a web form or application without switching to a separate chat window.
- Sentence Continuation: Picking up a half-written paragraph exactly where it stops, without the assistant restating what was already typed.
- Meeting Scheduling Replies: Responding to a request for a time with a proposal that has already been checked against the user's calendar.
- Tone-Sensitive Rewrites: Selecting a blunt or rough draft and having it rewritten in the user's own voice before sending.