AmpvsBlackbox AI
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Amp
Amp Frontier Corporation (spun out of Sourcegraph) · Terminal agent
#111MCP
Panel
5.52 spec wins
- Reliability
- 5.7
- Usefulness
- 6.5
- Cost
- 5.2
- Longevity
- 4.8
“Twenty dollars a month buys twenty dollars of agent usage, which is at least an honest exchange rate.”
Blackbox AI
Blackbox AI · Terminal agent
#195MCP
Panel
4.90 spec wins
- Reliability
- 4.7
- Usefulness
- 5.8
- Cost
- 4.7
- Longevity
- 4.5
“Reads your AGENTS.md so the agent knows your conventions before it decides to ignore them.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Amp | Blackbox AI |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Terminal agent | Terminal agent |
| Runs | local, cloud, sandbox | local, cloud |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows, web | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Git operations | Yes | Yes |
| Browser control | YesOrbs preinstall an `agent-browser` tool (https://ampcode.com/docs/orbs/customizing) and the agent "can install dependencies, run your app, spawn browsers, and test its work end to end". | No |
| Sandboxed execution | YesIsolation comes from cloud orbs, where "every orb thread gets a fresh, isolated environment" with a whole machine to itself; the local CLI has no container or OS-level sandbox. | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | YesNon-interactive `amp -x` execute mode is documented at https://ampcode.com/docs/cli/execute-mode. | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | OpenAI GPT-5.6, Anthropic Claude Fable 5.1, fast models | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Qwen, Kimi, Nemotron |
| Bring your own model | YesAmp's Model Routing settings accept your own Anthropic API key for the workspace, but you still pick an Amp mode (low/medium/high/ultra) rather than an arbitrary model, endpoint or cloud deployment. | Yes |
| Local models | NoNo custom base URL, LLM gateway or local endpoint is documented; all inference is routed through Amp's own service. | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | usage |
| Starts at | $20/mo | n/a |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Bring your own key | Yes | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | No | No |
| License | proprietary | proprietary |
| GitHub stars | n/a | n/a |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Amp | Blackbox AI | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 6.8 | 5.3 | Amp — Pick Amp if you want a sandbox without running Docker yourself; pick Claude Code or Codex CLI if you want a bigger included quota and one vendor. |
| El Crítico | 6.0 | 4.8 | Amp — Included usage denominated in dollars is a meter with a label on it, and a high-mode loop can spend the month in an afternoon before credits kick in. |
| El Profesor | 5.5 | 5.5 | no preference |
| La Inversora | 6.0 | 5.3 | Amp — Spun out of Sourcegraph in December 2025, wrapping two labs' frontier models with a compute sandbox as the differentiator; the acquirer list writes itself. |
| La Jefa | 5.0 | 4.0 | Amp — Enterprise add-ons list SSO, directory sync and minimal data retention behind a contact form, and team pricing is pay-as-you-go; no seat number to put in a memo. |
| El Hacker | 4.0 | 4.8 | Blackbox AI — Proprietary, but ~/.blackbox/mcp.json, skills in .blackbox/skills/, hooks on PreToolUse, PostToolUse and Stop, and routing through my own OpenAI, Anthropic or Google account. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.