# Amp vs Paperclip

> Paperclip scores 59 (C) on agent readiness against Amp's 57.1 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Amp leads on transparency & trust. Both do agent multi agent. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-paperclip
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-paperclip.md (~2,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-paperclip.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-paperclip.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

Paperclip scores 59 (C) on agent readiness against Amp's 57.1 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Amp leads on transparency & trust. Both do agent multi agent.

- 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
- Paperclip: grade C, 59/100, rank #390 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paperclip.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/paperclip.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 65

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Paperclip loses 10 points for them

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

### Paperclip (C)

Good for: Someone running several coding or operations agents who wants one place for tasks, budgets, approvals and history across harnesses.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 66 against 31
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 72
- Security & auth, 64 against 57
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 35

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

Watch for: `claude_local` defaults `dangerouslySkipPermissions` to true and `codex_local` defaults to bypassing approvals and the sandbox, with agents running on the host


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Amp | Paperclip | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 31 | 66 | Paperclip +35 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 81 | Paperclip +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 70 | Paperclip +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 64 | Paperclip +7 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 60 | Paperclip +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 78 | Amp +1 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 65 | Amp +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -10 | |
| **Total** | | **57.1 · C** | **59 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Amp | Paperclip |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Amp Frontier Corporation | Paperclip Labs, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| 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 | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-07-23 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-10 | 2026-07-23 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 41k npm/wk | 99k stars, 60k 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.

**Paperclip.** Board approvals, budgets with a hard stop and an activity log sit above whichever harnesses do the work, and eleven stable versions shipped in 90 days. The Claude Code and Codex adapters skip permission prompts and the sandbox by default, and twelve security advisories, five of them critical, have been published since 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

### Paperclip

1. Set `PAPERCLIP_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before the first start. Telemetry is on by default
2. Set `dangerouslySkipPermissions` and `dangerouslyBypassApprovalsAndSandbox` to false on agents that read untrusted input, or run them in a sandbox provider
3. Install with Node.js 24.11 or newer, and install and sign in to each harness CLI on the host first. Paperclip assumes they are there
4. Use `--bind lan` or `--bind tailnet` at onboarding for anything beyond one machine. The default `local_trusted` mode treats every request as the board admin
5. Treat 409 on task checkout as owned by another agent and pick different work. The API docs say not to retry

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Amp or Paperclip?

Paperclip scores 59 (C) on agent readiness against Amp's 57.1 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Amp leads on transparency & trust.

### Are Amp and Paperclip open source?

No open-source release is listed for Amp. Paperclip is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Amp or Paperclip

- [Aider vs Amp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-amp.md)
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- [Amp vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [Amp vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-qwen-code.md)
- [Claude Code vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Cline vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Devin vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-paperclip.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-paperclip.md)
- [goose vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-paperclip.md)
- [OpenCode vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-paperclip.md)
- [OpenHands vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Paperclip vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-prime-agent.md)
- [Paperclip vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-qwen-code.md)