When you say just Cortex it is ambiguous as there is Cortex Search, Agents, Analyst, and Code.

Cortex Code is available via web and cli. The web version is good. I've used the cli and it is fine too, though I prefer the visuals of the web version when looking at data outputs. For writing code it is similar to a Codex or Claude Code. It is data focussed I gather more so than other options and has great hooks into your snowflake tables. You could do similar actions with Snowpark and say Claude Code. I find Snowflake focus on personas are more functional than pure technical so the Cortex Code fits well with it. Though if you want to do your own thing you can use your own IDE and code agent and there you are back to having an option with the Codex Code CLI along with Codex, Cursor or Claude Code.