NxtGen and Bud Launch ‘M for Coding’ as Affordable Indian Alternative to Claude Code
NxtGen and Bud Ecosystem introduce M for Coding, an AI coding assistant offering an affordable alternative to Claude Code, targeting India’s developer market with competitive performance and enhanced accessibility.
- • M for Coding launched as affordable AI coding assistant for India by NxtGen and Bud Ecosystem.
- • It competes with leading models like Claude Opus 4.1 and OpenAI Codex in software engineering tasks.
- • Aligned with Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives to promote local AI innovation.
- • Claude Code 2.0 features advanced AI capabilities but is a premium product, whereas M for Coding prioritizes affordability.
Key details
NxtGen, a leading provider of sovereign cloud services in India, has partnered with Bud Ecosystem to launch 'M for Coding,' an AI-driven coding assistant aimed at Indian developers. Designed to be an affordable alternative to premium tools such as Claude Code, M for Coding targets India's vast developer base of over six million by reducing the financial barriers posed by expensive global AI tools. According to Linson Joseph, CSO of Bud Ecosystem, the new tool embodies the spirit of national initiatives like Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat, offering powerful AI capabilities without costly reliance on foreign technology. Performance benchmarks demonstrate that M for Coding competes favorably with established models including Claude Opus 4.1 and OpenAI Codex, scoring highly on software engineering excellence. The launch at the Cypher25 AI Summit marks an important milestone for making generative AI solutions accessible and scalable to Indian software developers, startups, and enterprises.
By contrast, Claude Code 2.0, powered by Claude Sonnet 4.5 with an 82% Swaybench score, recently introduced advanced features such as inline diff visualization, checkpointing systems, and a Cloud Agent SDK to enable autonomous workflows in sectors like finance and healthcare. While Claude Code 2.0 is celebrated internationally for its high-performance AI integration and enhanced developer experience, M for Coding distinguishes itself by focusing on affordability and localized accessibility in India. Both platforms emphasize ease of adoption, but M for Coding uniquely addresses the pricing challenges faced by Indian startups.
The introduction of M for Coding complements the growing landscape of AI coding assistants by delivering an option tailored to India's developer ecosystem, ensuring broader participation in AI-powered software innovation.