Trae is ByteDance's entry into the AI-native code editor category, combining the usual IDE features, editing, version control, extensions, terminal access, with Chat mode for questions and code optimization and Builder mode, where natural-language requests get broken into executable steps with previews and confirmations along the way.
It accepts multimodal input, so a screenshot of a design can clarify a requirement instead of describing it entirely in text, and its code generation draws on full-project analysis rather than just the open file. Trae gives free access to top-tier models, including GPT-4.1, Claude 3.7, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and DeepSeek, without requiring developers to bring their own API keys, which is unusual generosity in a category where model access is usually the thing being metered.
Being free while bundling frontier models is a deliberate growth strategy from a company with ByteDance's resources behind it, competing directly against Cursor and Windsurf on price rather than trying to out-feature them first.