OpenCodevsZero
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
OpenCode
Anomaly (formerly SST) · Terminal agent
#5OSSMCP
Panel
7.01 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.”
Zero
Gitlawb · Terminal agent
#6OSSMCP
Panel
7.02 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.7
- Usefulness
- 7.0
- Cost
- 8.2
- Longevity
- 6.2
“It accepts image input in a terminal, a sentence that would have ended a career in 2019.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | OpenCode | Zero |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | Terminal agent | Terminal agent |
| Runs | local | local, sandbox |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | Yes |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Git operations | Yes | Yes |
| Browser control | NoBuilt-in tools include webfetch and websearch only; nothing drives or reads a browser. | YesBrowser and terminal control helpers ship with the npm and release builds; source builds need those helper binaries on PATH or configured in local-control settings. |
| Sandboxed execution | NoTool calls are gated by the permission config, which is an approval policy rather than container or OS-level isolation. | NoZero ships a native Linux sandbox helper using seccomp rather than Docker; source builds must build the `zero-linux-sandbox` helper separately. |
| Multi-agent orchestration | Yes | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | Yes | Yes`zero exec` returns exit codes and has a documented GitHub Action recipe. |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, Ollama | OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Mistral, xAI, Qwen, Kimi, GitHub Models, Fireworks, MiniMax, Ollama, LM Studio |
| Bring your own model | Yes | Yes |
| Local models | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | mixed | byok |
| Starts at | $0/mo | $0/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | Yes |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 211,366 | 1,688 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | OpenCode | Zero | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 8.0 | 7.3 | OpenCode — OpenCode is what to hand anyone who wants the Claude Code shape with their own keys and a model picker; pick Claude Code if you want one vendor and one bill. |
| El Crítico | 7.0 | 6.8 | OpenCode — Commands run with your permissions and no sandbox, and the Zen gateway offers free models without saying who pays for them. |
| El Profesor | 6.8 | 7.3 | Zero — Sessions can be resumed or forked, which makes a continuation a controlled variable, and the headless mode emits text, JSON or stream-JSON rather than prose only. |
| La Inversora | 6.0 | 5.5 | OpenCode — Two hundred thousand stars is distribution, the Zen gateway is the business model, and a company that renamed itself mid-flight is a company still deciding what it is. |
| La Jefa | 5.8 | 6.8 | Zero — Nothing to license for sixty, and it is the rare tool that returns meaningful exit codes with a documented continuous integration recipe, so it can gate a build. |
| El Hacker | 8.8 | 8.5 | 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.