SweepvsZhanlu
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Sweep
Sweep AI · IDE extension
#228MCP
Panel
4.20 spec wins
- Reliability
- 4.0
- Usefulness
- 4.0
- Cost
- 5.0
- Longevity
- 3.7
“Started as an open-source GitHub bot and became a JetBrains plugin with proprietary models, which is a pivot in the geometric sense.”
Zhanlu
China Mobile Cloud · IDE extension
#265MCP
Panel
3.51 spec wins
- Reliability
- 3.3
- Usefulness
- 4.3
- Cost
- 2.8
- Longevity
- 3.5
“One of its modes generates practice problems, so it can now set the homework and then do it for you.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Sweep | Zhanlu |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | IDE extension | IDE extension |
| Runs | local | local |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | No | YesDocumented only for AI Programmer mode, which the vendor says saves and executes the code it writes and then debugs it. |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | YesAI Programmer mode supports file editing and project-level code generation across files; the other modes work on the selected snippet. |
| Git operations | No | No |
| Browser control | No | No |
| Sandboxed execution | No | No |
| Multi-agent orchestration | No | No |
| Headless / CI mode | No | No |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Sweep proprietary models | Zhanlu code model |
| Bring your own model | No | No |
| Local models | No | No |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | subscription | mixed |
| Starts at | $10/mo | n/a |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Bring your own key | No | No |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | No | No |
| License | Sweep Enterprise Edition License (MIT for free parts) | proprietary |
| GitHub stars | 7,709 | n/a |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Sweep | Zhanlu | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 5.0 | 4.0 | Sweep — Pick Sweep if you live in IntelliJ or PyCharm and want fast next-edit autocomplete; pick Junie if you want JetBrains' own agent in the same editor. |
| El Crítico | 4.5 | 3.5 | Sweep — The open-source GitHub bot Sweep was known for is gone; what is sold is a JetBrains plugin on proprietary models with no terminal, no git operations and no model choice. |
| El Profesor | 4.5 | 3.3 | Sweep — Sweep claims millisecond next-edit completions from proprietary models and publishes no evaluation; the agent, lacking a terminal, has no execution-based verification loop to assess. |
| La Inversora | 4.0 | 4.8 | Zhanlu — Thirty-six thousand editor installations since June 2024, given away by a telecommunications cloud that charges for the account you need to use it. |
| La Jefa | 4.0 | 2.8 | Sweep — No enterprise tier, no SSO, no self-hosted option and no CI mode on the pricing page, from a vendor that has already changed products once; not yet. |
| El Hacker | 3.0 | 2.8 | Sweep — The MIT parts are what is left of the old bot; the plugin is closed, the models are proprietary, there is no key of mine, no terminal and no local option. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.