How much does IBM watsonx Code Assistant cost?
PriceNot publishedIBM watsonx Code Assistant asks you to contact sales.
- Free plan
- Not stated
- Free trial
- 30-day trial with 50 Bobcoins
- Enterprise
- Contact sales
Read from www.ibm.com/products/watsonx-code-assistant/pric on Oct 29, 2026. Price changed? Tell usSee the line each price came from
In your favor
- Free trial. 30-day trial with 50 Bobcoins
How you buy and get started
Self-serve + salesButtons on their site: Start free trial, Buy now, Contact us, Contact sales
- Sign up
- Free trial signup and Buy now store links "Start free trial"
- Setup
- Not stated
- When sales steps in
- Enterprise plan requires contacting sales "Contact us"
- Support
- Dedicated support on Enterprise "Tailored solutions with dedicated support, advanced security, and enterprise-grade infrastructure."
What IBM watsonx Code Assistant does
IBM Bob works through an IDE and a CLI (Bob-Shell) with Ask, Plan and Agent modes, plus custom modes. It is sold as paid plans priced with Bobcoin allowances, with IBM-managed SaaS or customer-controlled self-hosted deployment for enterprises.
- Good for
- Enterprise development teams that modernize complex or legacy codebases (Java, IBM i, IBM Z, COBOL, RPG) and need governance, security and optional air-gapped deployment.
- Channels
- IDE, CLI (Bob-Shell)
- Main product
- IBM Bob enterprise AI coding agent
- Also includes
- Agentic modes (Ask, Plan, Agent, custom modes), Bob-Shell intelligent CLI, Literate Coding, Enhanced Security, Code Explain/Improve/Review, Bobcoin usage allowance per plan
- Connects to
- MCP servers, CI alignment, IBM tool integrations
- Public API
- Not stated
- MCP server
- Yes
- VS Code and JetBrains pluginsNot stated
- Autonomous agent mode
Agent: Take your idea or plan and bring it to life
- Whole-codebase context
Understand, plan, and refactor large codebases with confidence.
- Choice of multiple modelsNot stated
- No training on your codeNot stated
- SSO and audit logsNot stated
- Self-hosted or on-prem option
Deploy in customer-controlled environments, including air-gapped environments
- AI pull request review
Early detection in the IDE and PR review
The same 8 checks appear on every tool in AI coding assistants. Each tick quotes the vendor's own site.
Security and your data
| Question | Their answer | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Trains AI on your data? | Not stated | |
| HIPAA (signs a BAA) | Not stated | |
| SOC 2 | Not stated | |
| GDPR | Not stated | |
| CCPA | Not stated | |
| PCI | Not stated | |
| ISO 27001 | Not stated | |
| Single sign-on | Not stated | |
| Trust center | Not stated |
Security answers are the vendor's own claims, quoted. We don't audit them.
Every plan
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly | Included | Over the allowance | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBM Bob Trial | – | – | 50 Bobcoins30 days | – | "30 days" |
| Proper instance | – | – | 50 Bobcoins | – | "Starting at $20.00 USD per instance" |
| Pro+per instance | – | – | 180 Bobcoins | – | "Starting at $60.00 USD per instance" |
| Ultraper instance | – | – | 1000 Bobcoins | – | "Starting at $200.00 USD per instance" |
| Enterprise | Quote | – | – | – | "Contact us" |
Fine print
- Billing increment
- Not stated
- Billed beyond usage
- Not stated
- Contract
- Enterprise is annual "Annual"
- Refunds
- Not stated
- Auto renew
- Not stated
- Price change notice
- Not stated
"Not stated" means we read their pricing page and terms and they don't say.
About the company
- Legal name
- IBM
- Online since
- Mar 19, 1986 Domain registration date
- Customers
- "300,000+ employees across 170+ countries; 2,500+ businesses in Partner Plus program" their claim
IBM watsonx Code Assistant alternatives
JetBrains AI Assistant$8.33 /moFree plan · checked Oct 29, 2026
Amazon Q Developer$19 /moFree plan · checked Oct 29, 2026
Augment Code$20 /mochecked Oct 29, 2026
Amp$20 /moFree plan · checked Oct 29, 2026
Qodo$30 /mochecked Oct 29, 2026
ContinueQuotechecked Oct 29, 2026
Gemini Code Assist$0.03 /minutechecked Oct 29, 2026
Sourcegraph CodyQuotechecked Oct 29, 2026Reviews elsewhere
We link to reviews instead of copying ratings: those sites don't allow reuse, and we don't test products ourselves.
Questions
Is IBM watsonx Code Assistant free?
There's no free plan. Free trial: 30-day trial with 50 Bobcoins.