Trae
Trae is an AI-native IDE built by ByteDance as a fork of VS Code, offering both a traditional editor experience and agentic coding capabilities. It features an autonomous agent called SOLO that can plan, scaffold, and build full-stack applications from natural-language prompts.
In early 2026, Trae moved from flat request caps to a token-based credit usage model. In March 2026, it launched SOLO as a standalone desktop and web application, expanding it beyond the IDE plugin with two specific modes: Code and MTC (More Than Coding).
As of
- SOLO mode for autonomous, end-to-end project scaffolding and coding
- Builder mode for multi-file edits and iterative, conversational task execution
- Multi-model access including Claude, GPT-4o, and DeepSeek
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for connecting external tools
- Standalone SOLO desktop and web application for non-IDE workflows
Solo developers, students, and indie hackers building personal or open-source projects who want high-performance AI coding tools at a low cost.
Enterprise teams, developers handling sensitive or proprietary code, and projects requiring SOC2 or strict data-residency compliance due to ByteDance's data-retention and telemetry practices.
Trae uses a token-based credit system. The free tier provides 500 credits per month. Paid tiers include Member Lite (starts at approx. $3/mo), Member Pro (~$10/mo), Pro+ (~$30/mo), and Ultra (~$100/mo), which increase credit quotas, cloud concurrency, and unlock exclusive models like DeepSeek-V4-Flash and Kimi-K3.
Trae offers arguably the best price-to-capability ratio for individual AI-assisted development in 2026, though it requires users to be comfortable with ByteDance's privacy and data-handling policies.
Is Trae free?
Trae is Freemium. Trae uses a token-based credit system. The free tier provides 500 credits per month. Paid tiers include Member Lite (starts at approx. $3/mo), Member Pro (~$10/mo), Pro+ (~$30/mo), and Ultra (~$100/mo), which increase credit quotas, cloud concurrency, and unlock exclusive models like DeepSeek-V4-Flash and Kimi-K3. Check the official site for current plans.
What is Trae best for?
Solo developers, students, and indie hackers building personal or open-source projects who want high-performance AI coding tools at a low cost.
Who makes Trae?
Trae is developed by ByteDance. It is listed in the AI-Native IDEs & Editors category on ai.dosa.dev.
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