goosevsOrca Agent
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
goose
Agentic AI Foundation (originally Block) · Terminal agent
#13OSSMCP
Panel
6.87 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.3
- Usefulness
- 6.5
- Cost
- 6.8
- Longevity
- 7.3
“Block gave it to the Linux Foundation, which is the one exit strategy that cannot be un-acquired.”
Orca Agent
echoVic · Terminal agent
#98OSSMCP
Panel
6.80 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.7
- Usefulness
- 6.7
- Cost
- 7.7
- Longevity
- 6.0
“A coding agent written in Rust and installed from npm, which is either pragmatism or a quiet cry for help.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | goose | Orca Agent |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Yes | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Git operations | Yes | No |
| Browser control | YesThe built-in Computer Controller extension drives macOS apps including the browser through the Peekaboo CLI, rather than via a dedicated CDP or Playwright tool. | No |
| Sandboxed execution | Yes`goose session|run --container <id>` executes extensions inside an existing Docker container; goose itself runs unsandboxed on the host otherwise. | NoSessions run under a restricted per-folder sandbox, using Windows AppContainer isolation on Windows, rather than a container. |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | Yes`orca exec` runs headlessly with resumable sessions and an optional verifier command. |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Ollama (local), OpenRouter, Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock | DeepSeek |
| Bring your own model | Yes | No |
| Local models | Yes | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | byok | byok |
| Starts at | $0/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 | 54,860 | 509 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | goose | Orca Agent | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.3 | 7.0 | goose — A free, open, local agent under the Linux Foundation that talks to any model and any MCP server; you will spend a weekend tuning it and then own it. |
| El Crítico | 6.5 | 6.8 | Orca Agent — Trust is granted per folder and the row documents no expiry, no revocation and no review of what is currently trusted. |
| El Profesor | 6.5 | 7.5 | Orca Agent — Subagent identity is runtime-owned rather than model-supplied: synchronous, asynchronous and workflow children all receive continuation ids from the runtime. |
| La Inversora | 5.3 | 6.3 | Orca Agent — Built native to one provider whose key the documented setup takes, so both the cost story and the availability story are somebody else's decisions. |
| La Jefa | 5.8 | 6.3 | Orca Agent — orca exec runs in a pipeline with resumable and forkable sessions, which is the difference between a demo and a step I can put in front of a merge. |
| El Hacker | 9.3 | 6.8 | goose — Rust, Apache-2.0, every extension an MCP server in YAML, Ollama on my box, a foundation instead of a vendor; this is the one I would build if I had the time. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.