# AXLR vs OpenAI Codex (slim)

> OpenAI Codex scores 73.5 (BB) to AXLR's 70.6 (BB) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/axlr-vs-openai-codex.md (~6,900 tokens) · this version ~3,680 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/axlr-vs-openai-codex.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/axlr-vs-openai-codex
- 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
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

OpenAI Codex scores 73.5 (BB) on agent readiness against AXLR's 70.6 (BB), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. AXLR leads on reliability. Both do agent harnesses.

- AXLR: BB 70.6, rank #168 of 1253 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/axlr.min.md
- OpenAI Codex: BB 73.5, rank #92 of 1253 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-codex.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 Reliability, 70 against 55.
- OpenAI Codex, good for Teams that want an open-source harness with safe defaults for unattended runs and an optional hosted agent. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 90 against 80; Security & auth, 82 against 62; Maintenance & community, 87 against 79; Transparency & trust, 85 against 55.

| Category | AXLR | OpenAI Codex |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 70 | 55 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 80 | 90 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 83 | 80 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 62 | 82 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 79 | 87 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 55 | 85 |

| Fact (where they differ) | AXLR | OpenAI Codex |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Underpass AI | OpenAI |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| Licence | Apache-2.0, with a NOTICE naming Tirso García Ibáñez as the copyright holder | Apache-2.0 (Codex CLI, its Rust crates and the TypeScript and Python SDKs). Codex cloud is a hosted service under OpenAI's terms |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-25 | 2026-10-29 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 0 stars | 126k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (2) |

Why the edge:
- Transparency & trust, OpenAI Codex +30: 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.); OpenAI Codex 85 (Apache-2.0 for the CLI and SDKs (30). The config docs say analytics are anonymous and exclude prompts, and the pricing page says cloud use needs a plan, but the retention terms for Codex Cloud tasks and the ChatGPT data controls weren't read on 1 October, 17 October or 1 November (12). The changelog at learn.chatgpt.com dates model retirements ahead of time with replacements (GPT-5.4 and GPT-5.4 mini announced on 31 July for 31 August, GPT-5.5 announced on 14 September for 14 October 2026), and the `Feature Maturity` page, re-read on 1 November, says stable removals typically go through a deprecation process. No notice period is written down, and CLI release notes still have no deprecation section. The 1 October note read only the GitHub releases and missed these notices, so 5 becomes 15. Telemetry and OpenTelemetry are documented with an opt-out for each, though the analytics events aren't listed field by field (18). 30 + 12 + 15 + 18 = 75.)
- Security & auth, OpenAI Codex +20: AXLR 62 (Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other four harnesses. 30 for what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. No product telemetry in the console source (the outbound hosts are openrouter.ai, api.anthropic.com, api.openai.com, a configured local server, api.github.com and github.com for engine downloads, and registry.underpassai.com for the signed catalog index) or in the docs; payload capture is off by default since 9 October 2026, traces omit prompts and credentials, model keys are never given to commands or plugins, and Jev sends requests and answers to TypeSafe only when on, which the setup assistant does when `TYPESAFE_API_KEY` is set, with a notice on stderr (27). Approval cards, a destructive list that always asks, four work modes, a policy level per execution, a bubblewrap or container sandbox with an enforced egress allow list, and a service that approves nothing but reads. Against that, the setup assistant writes `autonomous: true`, `exec_sandbox` is off by default, forged tools run with the person's rights, and the README says the console and worker are not sandboxes (13). Forged tools are refused when a file changes since the forge, a policy forbids calls outside the model, and the docs say MCP tools keep their own side effects, but no prompt-injection guidance was found and MCP results reach the model unmarked (6). The service keeps an event journal, audit records, a receipt with the SHA-256 of every call's arguments and outcome, and correlation ids on every event; the console keeps session records, a redacted app log and `/session` (14). No SECURITY.md, no security.txt on either host, no advisories, no bug bounty; release checksums and a minisign-signed catalog are integrity, not a programme (2). 27+13+6+14+2 = 62.); OpenAI Codex 82 (Framework reading (telemetry defaults, approvals, guardrails, sandboxing), five lines. Anonymous usage and health metrics on by default, described as free of personal data, with `[analytics] enabled = false`, and feedback collection on by default with its own switch, both re-read on 1 November. Credentials are a ChatGPT login or an API key (20). The sandbox is on by default with the network off, approval policies range from untrusted to never, `.git`, `.agents` and `.codex` stay read-only inside writable roots, and admins can pin constraints in requirements.toml (19). Network off by default locally. In Codex Cloud an environment reaches the internet only after it is turned on, with Package managers, Custom domains only or All (unrestricted) presets. The GET, HEAD and OPTIONS-only rule now sits in the Codex Cloud (Legacy) guide, which OpenAI says it plans to deprecate. The docs keep a worked example of prompt-injection exfiltration (14). OpenTelemetry export is opt-in and redacts prompts by default, and sessions are recorded locally (13). Bugcrowd programme, SECURITY.md and a signed security.txt on openai.com, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 1 November. As on the openai-api and openai-agents-sdk listings, that security.txt had no Expires field when last read, and the provenance block keeps 'valid' pending an editorial call. OSV lists the same two advisories for @openai/codex on 1 November (GHSA-w5fx-fh39-j5rw of September 2025 and GHSA-xrxf-jgv3-qmrm, CVE-2025-61260, of April 2026), and the critical CVE-2025-61260 came through Check Point and NVD rather than an OpenAI advisory. 0.165.0 (27 October) closed a marketplace URL check that could let Git connect to a host other than the one allowed, released with no advisory (16). SOC 2 isn't scored on the framework reading. 20 + 19 + 14 + 13 + 16 = 82.)
- Reliability, AXLR +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.); OpenAI Codex 55 (Local-package reading. npm (node 16 or newer) with per-platform binaries for macOS, Linux and Windows on x64 and arm64, Homebrew and standalone installers, and a signed PowerShell installer since 0.162.0, per the 17 October check, with 0.166.0 on 29 October the newest tag (20). Public CI, with rust-ci and a blocking-ci workflow that runs on every push to main, and the 10 rust-ci runs on main that our reader showed all passed, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 1 November as GitHub's pages answered 403 (20). Over 5,000 open issues and 169 open pull requests, labelled by surface and platform, with crash and regression reports among recent ones, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 1 November (10). 0.x minors every few days, and release notes for 0.164.0 to 0.166.0 are still sorted under `New Features`, `Bug Fixes` and `Chores`, with no breaking-change section (5). 0.166.0, pre-1.0 (0). 20 + 20 + 10 + 5 + 0 = 55. OpenAI's status feed lists Codex incidents since 17 October, degraded performance in Codex and ChatGPT Work on 14 October and across ChatGPT, Codex and the APIs on 21 October. The local-package reading doesn't score them.)
- Schema & documentation, OpenAI Codex +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.); OpenAI Codex 90 (Framework reading. A JSON Schema for config.toml in the repository (codex-rs/core/config.schema.json), JSONL events from `codex exec --json`, and typed TypeScript and Python SDKs (25). llms.txt at learn.chatgpt.com with a Markdown twin for every page, re-read on 1 November (10). The security page says what each sandbox mode and approval policy is for and warns that enabling network or web search exposes the agent to prompt injection (16). Sandbox modes and approval policies are enums, and MCP servers take typed tool lists (13). Examples throughout, and `--output-schema` validates the final message. The non-interactive page names the event types, `turn.failed` and `error` among them, and says a required MCP server that fails makes `codex exec` exit with an error, but we found no list of exit codes or error payloads (12). Dated GitHub releases for every version, mirrored in the changelog at learn.chatgpt.com, which runs to 0.166.0 on 29 October (14). 25 + 10 + 16 + 13 + 12 + 14 = 90.)
- Maintenance & community, OpenAI Codex +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.); OpenAI Codex 87 (0.166.0 on 29 October 2026 (30). 36 stable release tags between 5 August and 29 October, from 0.146.1 to 0.166.0 (20). Issues are labelled by surface, platform and cause, but over 5,000 stay open and a workflow closes stale contributor pull requests, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 1 November (12). TypeScript and Python SDKs are in the same repository and built in CI (15). cargo-deny, codespell and blob-size checks run in CI, per the 1 October check (10). 30 + 20 + 12 + 15 + 10 = 87.)