Kilo CodevsTabby
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Kilo Code
Kilo Code (Anaconda) · IDE extension
#26OSSMCP
Panel
6.59 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.0
- Usefulness
- 7.2
- Cost
- 7.0
- Longevity
- 5.8
“A fork of Roo Code carrying a fork of OpenCode, acquired by Anaconda, so the dependency tree finally has a parent.”
Tabby
TabbyML · IDE extension
#107OSS
Panel
6.71 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.7
- Usefulness
- 5.8
- Cost
- 7.3
- Longevity
- 7.0
“It ships a Vim extension, so the two least agreeable crowds in software finally have something in common.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Kilo Code | Tabby |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | IDE extension | IDE extension |
| Runs | local, cloud | local |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows, web | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | No |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | No |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | No |
| Git operations | Yes | No |
| Browser control | YesA Playwright-backed browser tool that navigates, clicks, fills forms, drags and screenshots after each action; it needs a high-capability agentic model to work reliably. | No |
| Sandboxed execution | YesCloud Agents run in isolated Linux containers, and the local CLI has an opt-in OS-level sandbox using macOS Seatbelt via sandbox-exec or Linux bubblewrap (not available on Windows). | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | No |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes`kilo run --auto` auto-approves permissions for fully non-interactive CI/CD runs. | No |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Claude, GPT, Gemini, Ollama, LM Studio | any |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | free |
| Starts at | $0/mo | n/a |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | No |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0, with the ee/ directory under a separate enterprise licence |
| GitHub stars | 27,467 | 33,886 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Kilo Code | Tabby | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 7.3 | 7.0 | Kilo Code — Pick Kilo if you want one tool that covers the editor, the terminal and JetBrains; pick Cline if you would rather run the upstream and forgo the bundle. |
| El Crítico | 6.0 | 6.3 | Tabby — It completes, chats and answers, and it does not edit across files or run anything, so anyone comparing it to an agent on this board is comparing different categories. |
| El Profesor | 5.5 | 6.8 | Tabby — The index spans repositories, issues and merge requests, so retrieval covers the discussion around code rather than the code alone, which is an unusual and defensible scope choice. |
| La Inversora | 6.3 | 6.3 | no preference |
| La Jefa | 6.8 | 6.0 | Kilo Code — Teams at $15 a user makes sixty seats $900 a month, it covers VS Code and JetBrains, and there is a vendor to call; approved with conditions. |
| El Hacker | 7.3 | 8.0 | Tabby — Apache-2.0 except the ee/ directory, which carries its own licence, and that carve-out is exactly the pattern I complain about, softened by a real OpenAPI surface. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.