Stepclimb compared with AI coding agents
Laravel Boost, GitHub Copilot agent mode and other agents can all upgrade a Laravel app. We compare how repeatable the result is, what it costs in tokens, whether it runs on a schedule and whether you can see every repo at once.
Compared 3 Nov 2026
At a glance
| Stepclimb | Laravel Boost upgrade command | General coding agents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same result on every run | Recipes make the known changes the same way every time | Non deterministic | Non deterministic, results vary |
| What it aims for | A PR proven by composer install, your build and your tests | Aims for a compatible app | Whatever the prompt asks for, across the whole repo |
| Tokens | None. Nothing is sent to an AI service | Spends your own agent's tokens | Spends tokens, billed through the product plan |
| Scheduling | A verified weekly dependency PR per repo | No scheduling | A person starts each run |
| Many repos | One board shows every repo, how far behind it is and its last work order | Needs a local agent session per repo, no PRs at scale | A person drives each repo |
| Cost | From $9.99 per upgrade, or plans from $49 a year | Free. You pay for your own AI agent | Copilot: Free, $10, $39 or $100 per user per month. Devin: Free, $20 or $200, Teams $80 plus $40 per seat |
General coding agents here means GitHub Copilot agent mode, Devin and similar tools. Plans and prices were read on 3 Nov 2026. Check each vendor for today's figures.
Repeatable, not creative
A recipe is one named, versioned change with one commit. Run it twice on the same repo and you get the same diff. A repair rule matches a known failure and applies a known fix, then the run is verified again, up to three times. That is what you want for the dull, mechanical part of an upgrade. An agent can do the part that needs judgment. The two work well together.
When an agent is the better choice
- You have one app, you are at the keyboard, and the upgrade is small. Laravel Boost is free, official and uses context from your app.
- You already pay for an agent such as Copilot and want flexible help on code that does not fit a recipe.
- The change is unusual. A person with an agent adapts as they go. A recipe only does what it was written to do.
Using both
Open the upgrade as a work order first. You get a pull request with the composer changes, the config diffs and a Verified check that lists each stage it ran. Then hand the remaining squawks to your agent using the prompts in the PR. See squawks and severities and how verification works.
Sources and method
Facts about other products come from their public pages, read on 3 Nov 2026. We have not benchmarked any agent, and we publish no speed or token figures. See also the comparison with laravelshift.com.
Common questions
Our AI agent can already upgrade Laravel. Why pay for a tool?
An agent can do it, and for one app you are watching it may be enough. The differences show up with many repos and repeat runs: the same recipes make the known changes the same way every time, nothing uses your tokens, upgrades and dependency PRs are scheduled, and one board shows every repo. A person drives an agent one repo at a time.
Is Stepclimb an AI tool?
No. Recipes and repair rules make the changes. Nothing is sent to an AI service. What is left over is listed as squawks, each with a ready prompt you can paste into your own agent.
Can I use an agent on what Stepclimb leaves behind?
Yes. Every unresolved squawk carries a templated prompt with file paths, the failing output and a link to the upgrade guide. An MCP server so agents can call our recipes directly is planned for v1.
Is Laravel Boost free?
Boost and its upgrade command are free and official. You pay for the AI agent you run it in. It runs locally and needs an agent session per repo.
See what a verified upgrade pull request looks like
The free inspection reads composer.json, composer.lock and package.json only. No code is cloned.
Free inspection first. Cancel at period end. Pause up to 3 months.