Augment CodevsACP Client for VS Code
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Augment Code
Augment Code · IDE extension
#32MCP
Panel
6.36 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.3
- Usefulness
- 7.0
- Cost
- 5.2
- Longevity
- 6.5
“Charges the model's list price plus a 40 percent service fee, which is at least a markup you can read without a lawyer.”
ACP Client for VS Code
Jun Han · IDE extension
#41OSS
Panel
7.36 spec wins
- Reliability
- 7.0
- Usefulness
- 6.8
- Cost
- 8.2
- Longevity
- 7.0
“It supports eleven coding agents, one at a time, which is a fair summary of the last two years.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Augment Code | ACP Client for VS Code |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | IDE extension | IDE extension |
| Runs | local, cloud | local |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | No |
| MCP server | Yes | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | YesThe extension runs the commands the agent requests and displays their output; the agent loop itself lives in the ACP agent. |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Git operations | Yes | No |
| Browser control | NoAuggie ships web-search and web-fetch tools only, so it can read pages but cannot drive a browser; browser automation requires adding a third-party MCP server. | No |
| Sandboxed execution | YesCosmos cloud environments are built from a Docker base image you pick from any public registry and each session starts from a fresh isolated snapshot; the local Auggie CLI has no sandbox, and self-hosted daemons isolate only via per-session Git worktrees. | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | NoEleven agents are pre-configured but only one is active at a time, with quick switching between them. |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes`auggie --print` runs non-interactively for scripts and CI, and Augment publishes GitHub Actions wrappers for PR descriptions and reviews. | No |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Claude, GPT, Gemini, GLM, Kimi | GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Qwen Code, Auggie CLI, Qoder CLI, Codex CLI, OpenCode, OpenClaw, Kiro CLI, Hermes Agent |
| Bring your own model | NoModel choice is limited to Augment's curated list via /model or --model; no custom base URL, LLM gateway, or Bedrock/Vertex/Azure deployment is documented. | Yes |
| Local models | NoNo local or OpenAI-compatible endpoint is documented; inference always runs through Augment. | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | byok |
| Starts at | $20/mo | $0/mo |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Bring your own key | NoLLM usage is billed by Augment as provider cost plus a 40% service fee; supplying your own provider key or cloud account is not documented. | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | No | Yes |
| License | proprietary | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 283 | 391 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Augment Code | ACP Client for VS Code | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.0 | 7.5 | ACP Client for VS Code — Pick it if you keep wanting to try the new thing; pick a vendor's own extension if you have already decided and you like their panel. |
| El Crítico | 6.0 | 7.0 | ACP Client for VS Code — It serves the agent's file writes against your workspace and runs the commands it asks for under a configurable auto-approve policy. |
| El Profesor | 6.5 | 7.8 | ACP Client for VS Code — Every ACP JSON-RPC message can be inspected in a traffic log, which makes a disagreement about whose fault a failure is answerable rather than rhetorical. |
| La Inversora | 7.0 | 6.8 | Augment Code — Publishing a 40 percent service fee is either transparency or a confession, and exposing the index over MCP is a hedge toward becoming a component in other people's agents. |
| La Jefa | 6.8 | 7.3 | ACP Client for VS Code — One marketplace identifier in the extension allowlist we already maintain and sixty engineers have it when the editor restarts; that is a memo, not a project. |
| El Hacker | 4.3 | 7.3 | ACP Client for VS Code — MIT, and the agent list is not a list: anything speaking the protocol can be configured by hand, with no plugin API to learn and no review to pass. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.