Codex CLIvsOpenCode
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
7.11 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.”
OpenCode
Anomaly (formerly SST) · Terminal agent
#5OSSMCP
Panel
7.02 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.7
- Usefulness
- 7.3
- Cost
- 7.3
- Longevity
- 6.8
“Two hundred thousand GitHub stars, seventy-five providers, and a vendor that renamed itself before the tool did.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Codex CLI | OpenCode |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | NoBuilt-in tools include webfetch and websearch only; nothing drives or reads a browser. |
| Sandboxed execution | Yes | NoTool calls are gated by the permission config, which is an approval policy rather than container or OS-level isolation. |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | OpenAI GPT-5.x, GPT-5.x-Codex | Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, Ollama |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | mixed |
| 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 | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 127,563 | 211,366 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Codex CLI | OpenCode | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 8.0 | 8.0 | no preference |
| El Crítico | 7.0 | 7.0 | no preference |
| El Profesor | 6.3 | 6.8 | OpenCode — The provider abstraction over 75+ backends is the design most likely to survive model turnover, and no benchmark of any kind is published. |
| La Inversora | 8.3 | 6.0 | 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 | 5.8 | 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 | 8.8 | OpenCode — MIT, Ollama for offline, MCP servers in opencode.json with a published $schema, custom agents, and it has already been forked, which is the point. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.