Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
AXLR vs OpenMausBot
AXLR scores 70.6 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenMausBot's 65.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. OpenMausBot leads on schema & documentation. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1000 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
AXLR BB
Best 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 60
- Agent ergonomics, 83 against 77
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 74
Also in its favour
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
Watch for
The setup assistant turns autonomy on and leaves the exec sandbox off, so after setup the model's commands run with the person's rights, bar the destructive list
Best for A person or an outside agent who wants several CLI agents (Claude Code, Codex, Grok, ACP CLIs) organised as named bots with their own computers, routines and approvals, driven by MCP or a CLI.
Ahead on
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 80
Also in its favour
- Runs on your own machine
Watch for
New bots start at Full access, which approves provider permission requests without a card
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Reliability AXLR +10
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.
OpenMausBot 60
Read as local software. Official npm package openmausbot (Node.js 24 or newer) and signed, notarised macOS builds, a Windows installer and Ubuntu 24.04 packages, with supported platforms and a capability table in the README (20). 2,075 test files and a CI workflow on main. Of the last 23 finished CI runs on main on 30 October 2026, 10 passed, 3 failed and 10 were cancelled by newer pushes in a serialised queue (20). 365 open issues against about 3,940 issues and pull requests filed since 11 August, so most are closed, but the 25 newest open issues include several bug reports from 29 and 30 October with no reply yet (15). Release notes for every version in New, Easier and Fixed sections, but new capabilities ship in 0.1.x patch versions and no release marks breaking changes (5). Version 0.1.134, and the README calls the project early (0).
Schema & documentation OpenMausBot +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.
OpenMausBot 90
The MCP server's 20 tools each have a JSON Schema input with additionalProperties: false and required fields marked. No OpenAPI for the local HTTP API (25). Markdown docs in the repository, and the docs app's source serves llms.txt, llms-full.txt and Markdown routes. docs.openmausbot.com disallows every crawler, so the live llms.txt was not read (10). Descriptions state purpose and limits, such as that update_bot_profile cannot alter permissions, that send_bot_message may make the bot use external tools and that edit_bot_message is refused while a thread works, and the server instructions say to read before mutating. Few say when not to use a tool (15). Integer limits with minimum and maximum, an enum on scope, a pattern on send_id and oneOf shapes for responders (13). JSON configuration examples for each install path, the wait statuses and job states, CLI exit codes and a { ok, error, hint, exitCode } failure shape (12). MCP server version 1.1.0, release notes per version and a changelog page in the docs (15).
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.
OpenMausBot 50
No payment protocol (0). MausBot Cloud, the hosted option, is priced by plan on a public page ($15, $49, $99 and $169 a month), with extra computer-hours at $0.05 each, so plan pricing (10). The app is free with no card or account (20). npx openmausbot installs and starts it with no signup (20).
Agent ergonomics AXLR +6
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.
OpenMausBot 77
20 tools, inside the 11 to 30 band, with annotations that separate reads from writes but no toolsets or read-only mode to load. Transcript reads are bounded and never return screenshot pixels (17). limit up to 200 messages, search capped at 100 hits, task_id and scope filters, and since_ms and after_version to keep watching a job (17). wait_for_conversation reports settled, needs-user, failed, stalled or timed-out with a redacted transcript tail, and the CLI's exit codes separate a pending approval from a timeout. We did not read every MCP error path (15). send_id makes a repeated send return the first receipt, wait is held by the server rather than polled, and every tool carries readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint and openWorldHint (20). Few required parameters and defaults for task, limit and timeout. The server answers only while the app or openmausbot serve runs, mutating tools need a paired token in packaged builds, and there is no client SDK beyond the CLI (8).
Maintenance & community AXLR +5
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.
OpenMausBot 74
v0.1.134 on 30 October 2026 (30). 128 desktop versions since 11 August 2026 (20). The maintainer has 4,221 commits and the contributor list returns at least 100 accounts. 587 issues and pull requests are open from about 3,940 filed, but we could only sample the newest open issues, nearly all from the last two days and mostly unanswered so far (16). Not in the official MCP registry, which returns nothing for mausbot (0). CI on main runs on every push with most finished runs passing, npm provenance and an SBOM for the bundled Cua runtime (8).
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | AXLR | OpenMausBot | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 70 | 60 | AXLR +10 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 80 | 90 | OpenMausBot +10 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 83 | 77 | AXLR +6 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 62 | 59 | AXLR +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 60 | 50 | AXLR +10 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 79 | 74 | AXLR +5 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 55 | 59 | OpenMausBot +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| Total | BB 70.6/100 | B 65.4/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | AXLR | OpenMausBot |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Underpass AI | Supamaus Software Private Limited |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | stdio | |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0, with a NOTICE naming Tirso García Ibáñez as the copyright holder | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | none | 20 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-25 | 2026-10-30 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-10 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-18 |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 0 stars | 8.2k stars, 3.5k npm/wk |
Verdicts
AXLR
A pre-1.0 Go harness with an unusually complete service contract, mutual TLS with principal roles, required idempotency keys, a policy, budget and sandbox per execution, and a result object a program can read. The console's defaults after setup are autonomy on and no sandbox, the project has one maintainer and no outside users yet, and releases carry no notes.
OpenMausBot
A bounded 20-tool MCP server with typed schemas, annotations and idempotent sends, and a headless CLI with JSON output and exit codes, let another agent hand work to a bot team and wait on it. New bots start at Full access, so provider permission requests pass without a card, and usage analytics stay on until switched off.
Before you call either
AXLR
- Before the first prompt, set
approvals.autonomousto false or run with--approve none, and turnexec_sandbox.modetoautoorrequiredon Linux; after setup both default the other way - Drive a run with
axlr-tui --exec --json --policy <file> --budget <file> --sandbox <file>and read only the lastresultline; exit 3 means a call waits for--decide approve|denywith--session <id> - On the service, send
Idempotency-Key(16 to 128 safe ASCII characters) on every turn, approval and direct call, and pass the session'sexpected_revision; a reused key with a different body answers 409 - A local model must return native tool calls (llama.cpp with
--jinja, vLLM with--enable-auto-tool-choice); setcontext_tokenson the entry andOLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTHfor Ollama - Leave
TYPESAFE_API_KEYunset unless you want the setup assistant to switch Jev on, which sends requests and final answers to TypeSafe
OpenMausBot
- Ask the owner for a pairing code from Settings > Phone, exchange it at
POST /api/auth/pair, and setOPENMAUSBOT_TOKENwith an explicitOMB_PORT - Pass a
send_idwith everysend_bot_messageandsend_channel_message, so a retry returns the first receipt - Use
wait_for_conversationinstead of polling, and onneeds-userstop and tell the owner a card is waiting - Check a bot's access level with the owner before sending work. New bots run at Full access unless defaults were changed
- Ask the owner to switch off Settings > General > Usage analytics if nothing beyond model calls should leave the machine
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, AXLR or OpenMausBot?
AXLR scores 70.6 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenMausBot's 65.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. OpenMausBot leads on schema & documentation.
Are AXLR and OpenMausBot open source?
Yes. AXLR is open source (Apache-2.0, with a NOTICE naming Tirso García Ibáñez as the copyright holder). OpenMausBot is open source (Apache-2.0).
Other comparisons with AXLR or OpenMausBot
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- AXLR vs Devin
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- AXLR vs GitHub Copilot CLI
- AXLR vs goose
- AXLR vs Harness²
- AXLR vs HarnessRouter
- AXLR vs Jules
- AXLR vs Junie CLI
- AXLR vs Kilo Code CLI
- AXLR vs Kimi Code CLI
- AXLR vs Kiro CLI
- AXLR vs mini-swe-agent
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- AXLR vs Muse Code
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- AXLR vs OpenCode
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- AXLR vs Mirror CLI
- AXLR vs Rovo Dev CLI
- AXLR vs Unstoppable
- AXLR vs Vibe-Trading
- AXLR vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Claude Code vs OpenMausBot
- Cline vs OpenMausBot
- Crush vs OpenMausBot
- Cursor CLI vs OpenMausBot
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs OpenMausBot
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs OpenMausBot
- Devin vs OpenMausBot
- Droid CLI vs OpenMausBot
- Pi vs OpenMausBot
- Gemini CLI vs OpenMausBot
- GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenMausBot
- goose vs OpenMausBot
- Harness² vs OpenMausBot
- HarnessRouter vs OpenMausBot
- Jules vs OpenMausBot
- Junie CLI vs OpenMausBot
- Kilo Code CLI vs OpenMausBot
- Kimi Code CLI vs OpenMausBot
- Kiro CLI vs OpenMausBot
- mini-swe-agent vs OpenMausBot
- MiniMax Code vs OpenMausBot
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs OpenMausBot
- Muse Code vs OpenMausBot
- OpenAI Codex vs OpenMausBot
- OpenCode vs OpenMausBot
- OpenHands vs OpenMausBot
- AXLR vs Clawboo
- AXLR vs CLI Manager
- AXLR vs Harness
- AXLR vs Paperclip
- AXLR vs Parallax
- Clawboo vs OpenMausBot
- CLI Manager vs OpenMausBot
- Harness vs OpenMausBot
- OpenMausBot vs Paperclip
- OpenMausBot vs Parallax
- OpenMausBot vs Prime Agent
- OpenMausBot vs Qoder CLI
- OpenMausBot vs Qwen Code
- OpenMausBot vs Mirror CLI
- OpenMausBot vs Rovo Dev CLI
- OpenMausBot vs Unstoppable
- OpenMausBot vs Vibe-Trading
- OpenMausBot vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/axlr-vs-openmausbot.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/axlr.json·/api/v1/tools/openmausbot.json - From a terminal
anchor compare axlr openmausbot(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "axlr", "b": "openmausbot"}at/mcp, no key