Codex CLIvsContinue CLI
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Codex CLI
OpenAI · Terminal agent
#1OSSMCP
Panel
7.13 spec wins
- Reliability
- 7.3
- Usefulness
- 7.0
- Cost
- 6.8
- Longevity
- 7.2
“Apache-2.0, so you can read every line except the one that lets you pick a model that is not OpenAI's.”
Continue CLI
Continue · Terminal agent
#24OSSMCP
Panel
6.41 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.2
- Usefulness
- 6.3
- Cost
- 8.0
- Longevity
- 5.2
“It installs by piping a URL straight into your shell, then politely asks permission before it touches a single file.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Codex CLI | Continue CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Terminal agent | Terminal agent |
| Runs | local | local |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | 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 | NoThe shared Codex codebase carries a browser-use configuration with Chrome DevTools Protocol access, but OpenAI's documentation states browser is not available in the Codex CLI or the IDE extension; it runs in ChatGPT on the web and in the desktop app. The CLI's --search flag adds live web search only. | No |
| Sandboxed execution | Yes | NoThe docs describe running the CLI inside a Docker container, not sandboxing the agent in one. |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | No |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | OpenAI GPT-5.x, GPT-5.x-Codex | any provider configured in config.yaml, Anthropic |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | YesThe CLI reads the same ~/.continue/config.yaml provider schema as the IDE extensions, including a custom apiBase, so any local server can be configured; the CLI pages defer to that reference rather than naming Ollama or LM Studio. |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | byok |
| Starts at | $8/mo | $0/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| GitHub stars | 127,563 | 36,084 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Codex CLI | Continue CLI | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 8.0 | 6.8 | Codex CLI — If you already pay for ChatGPT, this is the terminal agent you have and it is a good one; open source, MCP, headless, and pointed at OpenAI until you configure it otherwise. |
| El Crítico | 7.0 | 6.3 | Codex CLI — A sandbox mode you choose once is the only barrier between the agent and your shell, the free tier is a taste, and the defaults point at one vendor. |
| El Profesor | 6.3 | 6.5 | Continue CLI — One configuration schema serves both the terminal agent and the editor extensions, which is the correct reuse; the command-line documentation defers to it rather than restating it. |
| La Inversora | 8.3 | 5.3 | Codex CLI — A lab's terminal agent bundled into a $20 subscription with 121,000 stars on the repo; the distribution is ChatGPT, and that is the whole thesis. |
| La Jefa | 7.3 | 6.0 | Codex CLI — Business at $20 a seat with SAML SSO and no default training, Enterprise for SCIM and audit logs; if the org is on ChatGPT already, this is a line item, not a project. |
| El Hacker | 5.8 | 7.8 | Continue CLI — Apache-2.0 with the whole thing in a public monorepo, and a provider block that takes a custom apiBase, which is how my own server gets in. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.