Gemini CLIvsOpenClaude
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Gemini CLI
Google · Terminal agent
#66OSSMCP
Panel
5.23 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.0
- Usefulness
- 5.7
- Cost
- 4.5
- Longevity
- 4.7
“A 1M token context window and, since June 18, zero tokens for the free users who filled it.”
OpenClaude
Gitlawb · Terminal agent
#225OSSMCP
Panel
5.31 spec wins
- Reliability
- 4.8
- Usefulness
- 6.2
- Cost
- 6.7
- Longevity
- 3.7
“/buddy hatches a pixel-art archer who fires an arrow every time you press Enter, which is more feedback than most agents give.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Gemini CLI | OpenClaude |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Terminal agent | Terminal agent |
| Runs | local, sandbox | local |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 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 | YesA first-party `browser_agent` subagent, disabled by default, drives Chrome 144+ through chrome-devtools-mcp with settings for sensitive-action confirmation and file-upload blocking. | No |
| Sandboxed execution | Yes | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Gemini 3, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash | OpenAI, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Groq, Mistral, Gemini, GitHub Models, Codex, GLM, Fireworks, Ollama, LM Studio |
| Bring your own model | YesVertex AI authentication (with GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT/GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION or a service account) selects your own cloud deployment, and GOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL / GOOGLE_VERTEX_BASE_URL redirect model requests to a proxy or gateway you run. Models themselves are still Gemini-family. | Yes |
| Local models | YesGOOGLE_GEMINI_BASE_URL and GOOGLE_VERTEX_BASE_URL explicitly permit plain HTTP to localhost, 127.0.0.1 or [::1], so a self-hosted Gemini-compatible endpoint works; the experimental Gemma Model Router also runs a local LiteRT-LM server on http://localhost:9379. No Ollama or LM Studio integration is documented. | Yes |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | byok |
| Starts at | n/a | $0/mo |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT (contributor modifications; derived Claude Code portions remain Anthropic's) |
| GitHub stars | 107,222 | 33,610 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Gemini CLI | OpenClaude | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 5.0 | 6.0 | OpenClaude — Pick OpenClaude if you liked Claude Code's workflow and your budget or your models live on DeepSeek, Groq, GLM or a local server; pick OpenCode if you want a clean-room agent without the ancestry. |
| El Crítico | 4.8 | 5.3 | OpenClaude — A fresh install defaults to Gitlawb Opengateway, which requires a key from the maintainer's own site; the forked-conversation feature is documented candidly as branching with no filesystem isolation. |
| El Profesor | 6.0 | 5.0 | Gemini CLI — A sandboxed, open scaffold with a 1M context window and a vendor that has moved its consumer path to a successor; the architecture is sound, the product is in transition. |
| La Inversora | 4.8 | 4.5 | Gemini CLI — The free tier was the growth engine, and the growth engine was switched off on June 18, 2026; what remains is a paid-only path and a successor product. |
| La Jefa | 4.8 | 4.8 | no preference |
| El Hacker | 6.0 | 6.5 | OpenClaude — MIT for the contributors' changes while the derived Claude Code portions remain Anthropic's, CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI=1 plus a base URL for Ollama, and per-agent model routing in settings.json. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.