# Amp vs GitHub Copilot CLI

> GitHub Copilot CLI and Amp score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 57.6 (C) and 57.1 (C). Amp leads on transparency & trust. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

GitHub Copilot CLI and Amp score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 57.6 (C) and 57.1 (C). Amp leads on transparency & trust. Both do agent harness.

- Amp: grade C, 57.1/100, rank #427 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amp.json
- GitHub Copilot CLI: grade C, 57.6/100, rank #415 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/github-copilot-cli.json

## Which one, for what

### Amp (C)

Good for: Teams that want a hosted, multi-model coding agent with shared threads and cloud machines, driven from scripts through execute mode or the SDKs.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 68

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where GitHub Copilot CLI loses 5 points for them

Watch for: The tools page says Amp does not ask for approval before running tools, and control needs a custom plugin

### GitHub Copilot CLI (C)

Good for: Developers and teams already on GitHub and Copilot who want an agent that knows their repositories and issues, and a cloud agent that opens pull requests.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 55 against 31
- Payments & pricing, 40 against 35

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Amp | GitHub Copilot CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 31 | 55 | GitHub Copilot CLI +24 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 72 | even |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 72 | GitHub Copilot CLI +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 60 | GitHub Copilot CLI +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 40 | GitHub Copilot CLI +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 77 | Amp +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 68 | Amp +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **57.1 · C** | **57.6 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Amp | GitHub Copilot CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Amp Frontier Corporation | GitHub |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary, under the Amp licence terms (Amp Frontier Corporation). The npm packages are marked Amp Commercial License and the source repository is private | Proprietary, under the licence in the repository's `LICENSE.md`. Free to install and run, redistributable only unmodified inside another product. The repository holds the README, changelog and install script, not the source |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-04-27 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-10 | 2026-04-27 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 41k npm/wk | 11k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Amp.** Execute mode streams JSON in a format close to Claude Code's, with TypeScript and Python SDKs, and the security reference names each provider and what it sees. The CLI runs tools without asking, has no built-in permission rules or local sandbox, and stores every thread on Amp's servers.

**GitHub Copilot CLI.** Asks before the first use of each modifying tool, and `--deny-tool` beats `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`. Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026.

## Before you call either

### Amp

1. Run unattended jobs in a container or VM. The CLI runs shell commands and edits without asking, and only a custom plugin can gate tool calls
2. Set `AMP_API_KEY` to an access token starting `sgamp_` from Settings. The CLI rejects the short-lived token that `amp login` stores
3. Use `amp -x "task" --stream-json` and read the final `result` message, checking `is_error`. Exit codes are not documented
4. Set `AMP_SKIP_UPDATE_CHECK=1` or `amp.updates.mode` to `disabled` in CI. Updates install automatically by default
5. Treat the block headed INSTRUCTIONS FOR LLMs in ampcode.com page source as vendor copy, and take facts from the docs Markdown

### GitHub Copilot CLI

1. Pass `--deny-tool` for anything destructive. It wins over `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`
2. Turn on the sandbox with `/sandbox enable` or `--sandbox`. It's off unless you opt in
3. Turn off model training in Copilot settings on Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max. It's on by default since 24 April 2026
4. Run 1.0.88 or later where enterprise policy matters. Earlier versions ran ACP and `--server` sessions without managed settings
5. Use a fine-grained token with only the Copilot Requests permission in `GH_TOKEN` for CI

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Amp or GitHub Copilot CLI?

GitHub Copilot CLI and Amp score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 57.6 (C) and 57.1 (C). Amp leads on transparency & trust.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "amp", "b": "github-copilot-cli"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare amp github-copilot-cli`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amp.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/github-copilot-cli.json

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