# Amp vs Mirror CLI

> Amp scores 57.1 (C) to Mirror CLI's 54.2 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-17

Amp scores 57.1 (C) on agent readiness against Mirror CLI's 54.2 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Mirror CLI leads on reliability and payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.

- Amp: grade C, 57.1/100, rank #686 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amp.json
- Mirror CLI: grade C, 54.2/100, rank #765 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/reflection-mirror.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/reflection-mirror.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 331 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:
- Schema & documentation, 72 against 65
- Agent ergonomics, 69 against 58
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 47
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 58

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

### Mirror CLI (C)

Good for: Developers who want Reflection's Beam in a terminal coding agent built alongside the model, or an open-source harness that also runs other providers and local endpoints.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 37 against 31
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 35

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

Watch for: Version 0.1.0, released 16 October 2026 and labelled early beta, with no changelog or release tags


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Amp | Mirror CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 31 | 37 | Mirror CLI +6 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 65 | Amp +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 58 | Amp +11 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 58 | Mirror CLI +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 60 | Mirror CLI +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 47 | Amp +32 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 58 | Amp +19 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.1 · C** | **54.2 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Amp | Mirror CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Amp Frontier Corporation | Reflection |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API 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 | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | no date given |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-10 |  |
| 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 | none |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (4) |

## 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.

**Mirror CLI.** Mirror CLI is Apache-2.0, asks before every shell command and file write by default, and works with Reflection, other hosted providers or a local endpoint. It is a one-day-old 0.1.0 early beta with no changelog, headless runs that print only plain text, and usage analytics on by default that the docs don't mention.

## 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

### Mirror CLI

1. Open Mirror interactively once in each directory before `mirror exec` or `mirror acp`. Both refuse to run until the usage and folder notices are accepted
2. Pass `--approval-mode auto` to `mirror exec` only inside a container or VM. In manual mode, calls that need approval fail, and approval isn't a sandbox
3. Set `--max-iterations` on unattended runs. Turns are unlimited by default
4. Check the result with your own tests. `exec` returns 0 whenever it prints an answer
5. Never share logs recorded with `--log-level debug`. The docs say they contain request headers with the API key

## Questions

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

Amp scores 57.1 (C) on agent readiness against Mirror CLI's 54.2 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Mirror CLI leads on reliability and payments & pricing.

### Are Amp and Mirror CLI open source?

No open-source release is listed for Amp. Mirror CLI is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Amp or Mirror CLI

- [Agent Zero vs Amp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-amp.md)
- [Agent Zero vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Aider vs Amp](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-amp.md)
- [Aider vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Amp vs Antigravity CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-antigravity-cli.md)
- [Amp vs Claude Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-claude-code.md)
- [Amp vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-cline.md)
- [Amp vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-cursor-cli.md)
- [Amp vs Devin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-devin.md)
- [Amp vs Droid CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-droid-cli.md)
- [Amp vs Pi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-earendil-pi.md)
- [Amp vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-gemini-cli.md)
- [Amp vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)
- [Amp vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-goose.md)
- [Amp vs HarnessRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-harnessrouter.md)
- [Amp vs Kilo Code CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kilo-code-cli.md)
- [Amp vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-kiro-cli.md)
- [Amp vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-muse-code.md)
- [Amp vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-openai-codex.md)
- [Amp vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-opencode.md)
- [Amp vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-openhands.md)
- [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)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Claude Code vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Cline vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Devin vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Droid CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Pi vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [goose vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [HarnessRouter vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harnessrouter-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Kilo Code CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Kiro CLI vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Muse Code vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-code-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [OpenAI Codex vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [OpenCode vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [OpenHands vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Prime Agent vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Qwen Code vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwen-code-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Amp vs CLI Manager](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-cli-manager.md)
- [Amp vs Harness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-harness-autonomous.md)
- [Amp vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-paperclip.md)
- [Amp vs Parallax](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-parallax-agents.md)
- [CLI Manager vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cli-manager-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Harness vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/harness-autonomous-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Paperclip vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Parallax vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/parallax-agents-vs-reflection-mirror.md)

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