MagivsMCO
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Magi
MistRipple · Agent harness
OSSMCP
Panel
5.91 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.0
- Usefulness
- 6.0
- Cost
- 6.3
- Longevity
- 5.3
“Its tool list includes image generation, because the thing your failing test suite needed was an illustration.”
MCO
MCO · Agent harness
OSS
Panel
5.92 spec wins
- Reliability
- 5.8
- Usefulness
- 6.3
- Cost
- 5.8
- Longevity
- 5.7
“It ships an mco doctor command, mostly to tell you how many coding agents you have accidentally installed.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Magi | MCO |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Runs | local | local |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows, web | macos, linux |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | No |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | YesMCO can run coding tasks as well as read-only reviews, but the edits are made by the agent it dispatches to. |
| Git operations | No | No |
| Browser control | No | No |
| Sandboxed execution | No | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | YesRole agents for execution, exploration, architecture, testing and review run in parallel under a mainline agent, each with its own model. | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | No | YesThe README lists CI checks among the intended workflows and the CLI emits JSON. |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | OpenAI, Anthropic | Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Pi, OpenClaw |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | No | 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 | 216 | 531 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Magi | MCO | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 5.8 | 6.3 | MCO — Pick it when the stakes justify reading three opinions instead of trusting one; pick a single agent you trust for everything you do daily. |
| El Crítico | 5.0 | 5.5 | MCO — It dispatches implementation work to several coding agents on one machine with no documented isolation, which is a merge conflict waiting for a checkout. |
| El Profesor | 7.0 | 6.0 | Magi — One run trace records the goal, the derived tasks, every tool call, the resulting changes and the verification results, which makes a completed run auditable end to end. |
| La Inversora | 5.5 | 6.0 | MCO — Every run monetises somebody else's subscription and MCO never touches an invoice, which is a popular utility rather than a business. |
| La Jefa | 5.0 | 5.0 | no preference |
| El Hacker | 7.3 | 6.8 | Magi — Apache-2.0, MCP servers attach through the same policy layer as everything else, and the whole state lives under a dotted directory in my home folder where I can read it. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.