# Amp vs Muse Code

> Muse Code scores 61.3 (C) to Amp's 57.1 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-muse-code
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-muse-code.md (~2,650 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-muse-code.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-muse-code.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: 2026-10-12

Muse Code scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Amp's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Amp leads on payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do agent harnesses.

- Amp: grade C, 57.1/100, rank #637 of 993. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amp.json
- Muse Code: grade C, 61.3/100, rank #487 of 993. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/muse-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/muse-code.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 226 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## 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:
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 20
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 57

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

### Muse Code (C)

Good for: Developers who want Meta's Muse models, Muse Wonder Full included, in a terminal or CI agent with the sandbox and approvals on from the first run.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 45 against 31
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 72
- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 69
- Security & auth, 67 against 57

Watch for: Closed source, with no public CI or issue tracker for the CLI found and release notes that carry no dates


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Amp | Muse Code | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 31 | 45 | Muse Code +14 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 84 | Muse Code +12 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 79 | Muse Code +10 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 67 | Muse Code +10 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 20 | Amp +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 75 | Amp +4 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 57 | Amp +20 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.1 · C** | **61.3 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Amp | Muse Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Amp Frontier Corporation | Meta |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| 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 binary, used under the Meta Model API Terms of Service, which cover Meta's coding harness. Subscriptions are also under the Meta Subscription Terms of Service. The TypeScript and Python SDKs in the linked repository are MIT. |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-11 |
| Terms last updated | no date given |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-10 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 41k npm/wk | 63k npm/wk |

## 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.

**Muse Code.** Muse Code runs with approvals and an OS sandbox on by default, per-host network approval, an append-only event log and a headless mode with documented exit codes. It is the only route to Muse Wonder Full. It is closed source with undated release notes and no free route, and subscriptions allow training on code unless Contributor mode is turned off.

## 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

### Muse Code

1. Set `META_API_KEY` for headless runs. Browser sign-in isn't available in CI or for Meta Managed Accounts
2. Gate on your own test command, not the exit code. `muse exec` returns 0 when the turn completes even if tests still fail
3. Pass `--max-model-steps` on unattended runs so a stuck task can't loop
4. Prefer `--disable-approval` to `--yolo` in CI so the sandbox stays on. On Linux the runner needs a working bubblewrap and a non-musl build
5. Turn Contributor mode off in `/settings` before a subscription session touches private code

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Amp or Muse Code?

Muse Code scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Amp's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Amp leads on payments & pricing and transparency & trust.


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Amp or Muse Code

- [Agent Zero vs Amp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-amp.md)
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- [Claude Code vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-muse-code.md)
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