Head to head · Multi-agent orchestration · October 2026 research run
AXLR vs Parallax
AXLR scores 70.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Parallax's 38.1 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do multi-agent orchestration.
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 40
- Schema & documentation, 80 against 29
- Agent ergonomics, 83 against 42
- Security & auth, 62 against 43
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 56
- Transparency & trust, 55 against 50
Also in its favour
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card
- Open source
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
Parallax E
Best for A developer on a Mac who runs several coding agents across Claude and Codex subscriptions and wants cross-lab review of finished sessions on GitHub.
No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.
Watch for
No API, MCP server or CLI reference for the app itself. Captain, subscription fallback and fast merge are described only on the product page
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.
Schema & documentation AXLR +51
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.
Parallax 29
The review API has no OpenAPI or endpoint reference. Endpoints appear only in curl examples, and the base URL $PARALLAX_URL is not published (0). conifer.build/llms.txt covers the gateway in detail and Parallax in two lines that point to the docs (5). The docs explain sessions, sweeps, evidence states, memory and retention at length, but nothing documents the app, Captain, fallback or fast merge (8). parallax.yml keys are listed with allowed values (deliver: proven-only, review: off, severity floors, sweep modes), but request and response shapes for the API are not (5). curl examples, sample sweep lines and a table of skip reasons with the fix for each (8). Paths sit under /v1, with no changelog for Parallax (3).
Agent ergonomics AXLR +41
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.
Parallax 42
Scored on the review API and the hooks, the only parts an agent touches. The session-start brief is cut at 6,000 characters, memory per review call at 12,000, and lesson_cap sets 1 to 20 lessons per person (8). repo filters on recall and brief, brain=true on the ledger, no documented pagination (4). Skip reasons such as capture_commit_missing and test_configuration_missing each come with a fix, but HTTP error codes for the API are not documented (12). A session is swept once per capture mark, retries use no extra credit, and a fix PR is reused and never reopened or merged by Parallax (14). No SDK for Parallax, and capture of every repository is the default (4).
Reliability AXLR +30
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.
Parallax 40
Read as local software, because the launched product is the app the owner runs. A signed and notarised universal DMG for macOS 12 or later and Linux tarballs for x86-64 and arm64 on GitHub Releases, with SHA256SUMS and an install script. No package registry (20). The release repository holds a README and binaries only, with no public CI or tests (0). We could not read its issues, because our GitHub access refused the issue pages, so the issue record is unchecked and scored absent (0). Semver tags v1.0.0 to v1.0.2, but no release notes or changelog we could read (5). Version 1.0.2 (15). The hosted review service has no status page and no published rate limits. conifer.build/uptime covers upstream model providers only.
Payments & pricing AXLR +30
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.
Parallax 30
No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Parallax episode credit prices are read from the account after sign-in. Gateway token prices are public at GET /v1/catalog with no key, which covers Conifer credit spent by agents (10). $50 of Conifer credit and 5 free episodes on GitHub sign-up, with no card mentioned, and agents can run on the owner's own Claude and Codex subscriptions (20). A person has to download the app, sign in and install the GitHub App, so no autonomous onboarding (0).
Maintenance & community AXLR +23
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.
Parallax 56
v1.0.2 on 16 October 2026 (30). Three releases, v1.0.0 to v1.0.2, on 15 and 16 October 2026 (20). Closed service. No public changelog. Support through a GitHub issues link, a Discord server and email, none of which we could check for replies (3). No Parallax SDK and nothing in the MCP registry. Conifer's SDK is for the gateway (0). Signed builds with checksums and a self-updater, with no CI to inspect (3).
Security & auth AXLR +19
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.
Parallax 43
Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other 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. Once installed, capture uploads transcripts, tool calls with results and source snapshots from every repository on the machine unless a local allowlist is set first, and the app updates itself by default. Uploads stop with PARALLAX_STORE_UPLOAD=off and the token is revocable (8). Proofs run in a throwaway cloud copy, automatic PR review is off by default and Parallax never merges its own fix PR. What Captain may do to a running agent is not documented (10). Reviewers read untrusted transcripts and code with no documented mitigation. Lessons injected into the agent come only from verified outcomes and maintainer replies, never bots, and the brief labels everything else as cited fact (8). Recall receipts, per-injection records, sweep lines, the review ledger and GET /v1/calibration (12). No security.txt, bug bounty, SOC 2 or advisories. The privacy policy names a contact for security reports with a two-business-day reply and lists encryption and row-level security (5).
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | AXLR | Parallax | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 70 | 40 | AXLR +30 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 80 | 29 | AXLR +51 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 83 | 42 | AXLR +41 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 62 | 43 | AXLR +19 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 60 | 30 | AXLR +30 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 79 | 56 | AXLR +23 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 55 | 50 | AXLR +5 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| Total | BB 70.6/100 | E 38.1/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | AXLR | Parallax |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Underpass AI | Conifer Solutions, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | |
| 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 | Proprietary, under Conifer's Terms of Service (Conifer Solutions, Inc.). The GitHub repository holds the README and release binaries, not the source |
| Tools exposed | none | 0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-25 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-22 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-10-22 |
| 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 | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | yes |
| Popularity | 0 stars | none |
| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (4) |
How the scores have moved
AXLR
No score change since it was listed.
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.
Parallax
Parallax runs several coding agents in one app and reviews finished sessions in the cloud, labelling each finding by what a sandbox test established. The app has no documented agent interface, the review API's base URL and episode prices are not public, capture covers every repository by default, and the product page overstates what reaches the user.
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
Parallax
- Don't plan to drive the Parallax app. It has no documented agent interface. Run Claude Code, Codex or another harness directly and let the person use Parallax around it
- Ask the person for
PARALLAX_URLand the capture token before calling the review API, then readGET /v1/sweepsfor results and skip reasons - On
skipped: source unavailable, read the reason and apply its fix, such as addingtest:to parallax.yml or starting the session inside the repository - Ask the person to set the capture allowlist before starting sessions in repositories that must not leave the machine
- Treat a lesson in the session-start brief as a hint to check against the code, not as an instruction that overrides the person
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, AXLR or Parallax?
AXLR scores 70.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Parallax's 38.1 (E), and leads in every scored category.
Are AXLR and Parallax open source?
AXLR is open source (Apache-2.0, with a NOTICE naming Tirso García Ibáñez as the copyright holder). No open-source release is listed for Parallax.
Other comparisons with AXLR or Parallax
- Agent Zero vs AXLR
- Aider vs AXLR
- Amp vs AXLR
- Antigravity CLI vs AXLR
- Auggie CLI vs AXLR
- AXLR vs Claude Code
- AXLR vs Cline
- AXLR vs Crush
- AXLR vs Cursor CLI
- AXLR vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)
- AXLR vs dsh-superagent (DeepSeek)
- AXLR vs Devin
- AXLR vs Droid CLI
- AXLR vs Pi
- AXLR vs Gemini CLI
- 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
- AXLR vs MiniMax Code
- AXLR vs Mistral Vibe CLI
- AXLR vs Muse Code
- AXLR vs OpenAI Codex
- AXLR vs OpenCode
- AXLR vs OpenHands
- AXLR vs OpenMausBot
- AXLR vs Prime Agent
- AXLR vs Qoder CLI
- AXLR vs Qwen Code
- 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)
- Amp vs Parallax
- Antigravity CLI vs Parallax
- Auggie CLI vs Parallax
- AXLR vs Clawboo
- AXLR vs CLI Manager
- AXLR vs Harness
- AXLR vs Paperclip
- Claude Code vs Parallax
- Clawboo vs Parallax
- CLI Manager vs Parallax
- Cline vs Parallax
- Crush vs Parallax
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Parallax
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs Parallax
- Devin vs Parallax
- Droid CLI vs Parallax
- Gemini CLI vs Parallax
- GitHub Copilot CLI vs Parallax
- goose vs Parallax
- Harness vs Parallax
- HarnessRouter vs Parallax
- Jules vs Parallax
- Junie CLI vs Parallax
- Kilo Code CLI vs Parallax
- Kimi Code CLI vs Parallax
- Kiro CLI vs Parallax
- MiniMax Code vs Parallax
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs Parallax
- Muse Code vs Parallax
- OpenCode vs Parallax
- OpenHands vs Parallax
- OpenMausBot vs Parallax
- Paperclip vs Parallax
- Parallax vs Prime Agent
- Parallax vs Qoder CLI
- Parallax vs Qwen Code
- Parallax vs Mirror CLI
- Parallax vs Rovo Dev CLI
- Parallax vs Unstoppable
- Parallax vs Vibe-Trading
- Parallax vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/axlr-vs-parallax-agents.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/axlr.json·/api/v1/tools/parallax-agents.json - From a terminal
anchor compare axlr parallax-agents(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "axlr", "b": "parallax-agents"}at/mcp, no key