# AXLR vs Kilo Code CLI (slim)

> AXLR scores 70.6 (BB) to Kilo Code CLI's 68 (B) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-01
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AXLR scores 70.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Kilo Code CLI's 68 (B), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Kilo Code CLI leads on reliability, schema & documentation, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do agent harnesses.

- AXLR: BB 70.6, rank #168 of 1253 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/axlr.min.md
- Kilo Code CLI: B 68, rank #231 of 1253 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kilo-code-cli.min.md
- AXLR, good for A program or bot that needs one governed execution at a time, with a policy, a budget, a sandbox profile and correlation ids it sets itself and a result object it reads back, on a machine it controls, with the model on OpenRouter, a local server or a native Anthropic or OpenAI key. Ahead on Agent ergonomics, 83 against 72; Payments & pricing, 60 against 50. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; No incidents deducted, where Kilo Code CLI loses 7 points for them.
- Kilo Code CLI, good for Developers who want an open-source terminal agent with per-tool permission rules, an optional sandbox and a choice of provider, and the same engine in VS Code and JetBrains. Ahead on Reliability, 85 against 70; Schema & documentation, 90 against 80; Maintenance & community, 87 against 79; Transparency & trust, 76 against 55.

| Category | AXLR | Kilo Code CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 70 | 85 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 80 | 90 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 83 | 72 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 62 | 64 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 50 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 79 | 87 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 55 | 76 |

| Fact (where they differ) | AXLR | Kilo Code CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Underpass AI | Kilo Code Inc. |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| Licence | Apache-2.0, with a NOTICE naming Tirso García Ibáñez as the copyright holder | MIT |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-25 | 2026-10-26 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-09-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-05-29 |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | yes |
| Popularity | 0 stars | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.3/5 (4) |

Why the edge:
- Transparency & trust, Kilo Code CLI +21: AXLR 55 (Apache-2.0 with a NOTICE (30). No privacy policy or terms on underpassai.com or axlr.underpassai.com; the docs' 'Where data goes' and 'Diagnostics and privacy' sections say that model requests go to OpenRouter, the local server or the native API, that Jev sends text to TypeSafe only when on, that sessions live under `$XDG_STATE_HOME/axlr`, that payload capture is off by default and redacted when on, and that traces are deleted after 30 days; nothing covers the engine downloads' or the catalog registry's handling of a client's requests (15). No deprecation policy; pre-1.0 changes are dated inline in the docs and the product contract records the 5 October 2026 retirement of the first skill catalogue after the fact (6). No telemetry to disclose, and the docs say in two places what leaves the machine and how to stop payload capture, though no single page says there is no telemetry (17). 30+15+6+17 = 68.); Kilo Code CLI 76 (MIT, with opencode's copyright kept in the licence file (30). The privacy policy (29 May 2026, re-read on 1 November) names Kilo Code Inc. as controller, says data is stored in the United States and lists Stripe, OpenRouter, model providers, AppsFlyer and Sentry, but it doesn't mention the CLI's PostHog telemetry. PRIVACY.md in the repository is dated March 2025 and is silent on telemetry too. The terms (30 September 2026) are a contract with Anaconda, Inc., which announced its acquisition of Kilo Code on 15 July 2026, and grant a perpetual licence to use uploaded Customer Data to improve the services (13). `kilo console` is marked deprecated with no removal date, and updated terms apply after 30 days. No written deprecation policy found (8). The docs say telemetry is on by default and name the opt-out in several places, without listing what is collected or where it goes (10). 30 + 13 + 8 + 10 = 61.)
- Reliability, Kilo Code CLI +15: AXLR 70 (Read as a local package, as claude-code, goose, opencode and openhands were. Release archives for Linux, macOS and Windows on amd64 and arm64 with a `.sha256` beside each, a GHCR image, an OCI Helm chart and source builds with Go 1.26, all stated in the docs; no Homebrew, npm or apt route (20). CI on main runs vet, race tests and a coverage gate above 80 per cent for both modules, with the sandbox tests required under bubblewrap, and the last ten runs on main to 1 November 2026 all passed; the release workflow tests on six native runners (25). 10 open issues, all opened by the founder on 19 and 21 October 2026 as trackers for service work (work modes, plugins, the sandbox setting, cost limits), none from an outside user and none a crash report, 0 open pull requests and about 100 merged; with 0 stars there is nobody else to report, so the handling of outside reports is untested (20). Tags are semver 0.x and the docs date each behaviour change inline ("until 14 October 2026…"), but the 21 releases have empty notes, there is no CHANGELOG.md, and the product contract records one retirement (the seven 1.0 skill definitions on 5 October 2026) without a notice period (5). Pre-1.0, which the README calls an evolving project (0). 20+25+20+5+0 = 70.); Kilo Code CLI 85 (Local-package reading. `@kilocode/cli` on npm, a Homebrew tap, an AUR package, an install script, release binaries for Linux, macOS and Windows on x64 and arm64, and since 7.8.20 (27 October) a `kilo-cli` conda package on Anaconda.org (20). Public CI, and the 40 most recent completed workflow runs on main on 8 October 2026 all succeeded, per the 8 October check, not re-read on 17 October or 1 November (25). 448 open issues and 147 open pull requests, a workflow that closes issues after 60 quiet days and pull requests after 30, and open reports from 7 October of a hanging turn (#14876) and of exhausted 503 retries ending a run with no visible error (#14877), per the 8 October check, not re-read since (15). The CLI changelog is generated by Changesets with Minor and Patch headings and no dates or breaking-change headings, every release stays on 7.8.x whatever its heading, and 7.8.13 and 7.8.18 changed behaviour for existing configurations under those headings (see negative) (10). 7.8.18 on the npm `latest` tag on 1 November, past 1.0 (15). 20 + 25 + 15 + 10 + 15 = 85.)
- Agent ergonomics, AXLR +11: AXLR 83 (Harness reading of the framework line, scored on what a program driving it has to supply. Six local tools plus the host's bookkeeping tools; work modes and an execution policy hide the tools a run may not use, `axlr_catalog` searches the catalog instead of loading it, forged tools keep the request prefix for the prompt cache, and a context cap of 75,000 prompt tokens opens a successor session (20). `local_read`, `local_search` and `local_list` page with `offset`, `next_offset` and `max_bytes`; `StreamEvents` takes `after`, `max_events` (1 to 256) and `wait_ms`; a budget per execution in seconds, requests, tool calls and dollars; 32 tool calls a turn and `max_session_usd` (20). The `--exec` run ends in one `result` line with a status, the pending call, every call's outcome and the usage, and exits 0, 3 or 1; service errors carry codes an agent can act on; a budget stop says which limit (`budget: requests 20 reached`) and leaves the session resumable (16). `Idempotency-Key` on every turn, approval and direct call with cross-transport replay, `expected_revision` on decisions, `expected_sha256` on worker writes, and an interrupted effectful call left `uncertain` for an operator rather than retried (19). One command runs a task, but the first launch needs an OpenRouter key or a local server, the service needs a CA, a principals file and remote KMP and MADE before a first session, and the only SDK is the Go library (8). 20+20+16+19+8 = 83.); Kilo Code CLI 72 (Framework reading, adapted to a harness driven by a pipeline. Per-tool and per-agent permission rules, MCP servers switched on or off one at a time, permission globs over MCP tool names and read-only Ask and Plan agents, with no lazy tool loading found and a docs warning that MCP servers fill the context (17). Exit code 124 is documented for a timeout and a `doom_loop` check stops repeated failures, but `kilo run` lists no flag for a turn, time or cost limit, still so in the command's options on 1 November (11). Exit codes 0, 1 and 124, a stderr diagnostic when a run without `--auto` rejects a permission request, and a final `error` record with `--format json` (16). `--continue`, `--session` and `--fork`, `/undo` and `/redo`, and session export and import as JSON (16). `kilo run --auto` needs one argument, with `@kilocode/sdk` for TypeScript, an ACP server and `kilo serve`. We found no second-language SDK on a registry (12). 17 + 11 + 16 + 16 + 12 = 72.)
- Schema & documentation, Kilo Code CLI +10: AXLR 80 (An OpenAPI 3.1 file for the service (15 paths, 23 schemas, `mutualTLS` security scheme, `additionalProperties: false` on request bodies), a checked proto for the gRPC service, and the 19 MCP tools built from the same shared schemas (25). No llms.txt on either site (404), and the docs site renders HTML; the Markdown sources are in the repository (5). The product contract tables what each of the four interfaces can and cannot do, the work-mode table states each mode's purpose and tool policy, the transport parity ledger names every verb's arguments and behaviour, and `axlr_tools` tells the model to look for a tool before forging one (15). Typed inputs throughout, `Idempotency-Key` 16 to 128 safe ASCII characters, `expected_revision` a positive integer, policy levels, sandbox profiles and egress values enumerated, budgets as four integers, and the service rejects unknown fields, invalid types and bodies over 4 MiB (14). Examples in every guide, an error shape of `code`, `message` and `request_id`, named codes (`409 idempotency_conflict`, `400 invalid_cursor`, `422 invalid_policy`, `invalid_budget`, `sandbox_unavailable`, `not_ready`, `invalid_id`), a gRPC status mapping, and the worker's five statuses and three exit codes; no single error reference page (14). `/v1` routes and an OpenAPI version of 0.1.0 against a 0.15.0 release, and no changelog beyond the dated notes inside the docs (7). 25+5+15+14+14+7 = 80.); Kilo Code CLI 90 (Framework reading. A JSON Schema for `kilo.jsonc` at `https://app.kilo.ai/config.json`, an OpenAPI file for the `kilo serve` API at `packages/sdk/openapi.json` and a CLI reference generated from the command definitions (25). `llms.txt` on kilo.ai and on the docs, the second listing a raw Markdown address for every page (10). The sandboxing page says when to use the sandbox, what it does not protect and how it differs from permissions (16). Permissions are `allow`, `ask` or `deny` with glob rules, `sandbox.network` and `--format` are enums, though the schema served on 8 October had no `sandbox` key (13). Config and CI samples and exit codes 0, 1 and 124, but we found no reference for the records `--format json` writes (11). A versioned changelog and dated GitHub releases (15). Not re-read on 1 November apart from the changelog. 25 + 10 + 16 + 13 + 11 + 15 = 90.)
- Payments & pricing, AXLR +10: AXLR 60 (No payment protocol (0). Free and Apache-2.0 with nothing to buy, so 20, 20 and 20 on the last three lines by the self-hosted rule, since the docs say what you pay your model provider, the free route needs no card, and it runs local models with no signup at all, the JSON worker without any model. 0+20+20+20 = 60.); Kilo Code CLI 50 (No payment protocol (0). Scored on Kilo's paid options, as with Cline. Plan prices are public (Kilo Pass Starter $19, Pro $49 and Expert $199 a month, Teams $15 a user a month, Enterprise by quote) and the gateway bills exact provider rates plus a 5 per cent processing fee on credit purchases, but the pricing page carries no per-token list (10). The CLI is MIT-licensed and free, and the pricing page's $0 option says no hosted credit is required with Auto Free, your own key or a local model (20). Your own provider key or a local model works with no Kilo account, so an agent can install and run it without a sign-up (20). Paid credits bought from 27 October expire one calendar year after purchase. 0 + 10 + 20 + 20 = 50.)
- Maintenance & community, Kilo Code CLI +8: AXLR 79 (v0.15.0 on 2026-10-25, with commits on main to 2026-11-01 (30). 21 releases between 4 and 25 October 2026 (20). One maintainer (368 of 399 commits, the rest by two agent accounts), 10 open issues that are his own trackers with no comments, about 100 merged pull requests and no outside report to measure a reply against (15). Not in the MCP registry; the Go module and a proto to generate clients from are the only client code, beside the GHCR image and Helm chart (5). Go 1.26 toolchain pinned, release actions pinned by commit SHA, a go-licenses check that the third-party bundle matches the dependency graph, and CI passing on main (9). 30+20+15+5+9 = 79.); Kilo Code CLI 87 (7.8.18 on the npm `latest` tag (tag of 26 October 2026), with 7.8.25 on the `rc` tag (28 October) (30). 51 v7 release tags from 4 August to 28 October 2026, among them 7.8.13 to 7.8.25 since the 17 October check (20). Issue replies weren't re-read. The newest issues carry area and triage labels from automation, but the 15 newest open issues had no or one comment each on 8 October, against 448 open issues and 147 open pull requests, per the 8 October check (15). `@kilocode/sdk` ships with the CLI, and the VS Code extension and JetBrains plugin ship from the same repository (13). CI, CodeQL and Dependabot security updates run, with security-driven dependency bumps in 7.8.18 and 7.8.20 (9). 30 + 20 + 15 + 13 + 9 = 87.)