# Claude Code vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh) (slim)

> Claude Code scores 59.9 (C) to DeepSeek Harness's 49.2 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-deepseek-harness.md (~4,000 tokens) · this version ~730 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-deepseek-harness.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-deepseek-harness
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-10-18
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Claude Code scores 59.9 (C) on agent readiness against DeepSeek Harness (dsh)'s 49.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. DeepSeek Harness (dsh) leads on payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.

- Claude Code: C 59.9, rank #588 of 1146 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/claude-code.min.md
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh): D 49.2, rank #909 of 1146 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-harness.min.md
- Claude Code, good for A developer or a pipeline that wants Claude doing repository work with fine-grained, centrally managed permissions and an SDK for the same loop. Ahead on Reliability, 50 against 33; Agent ergonomics, 87 against 68; Security & auth, 80 against 40; Maintenance & community, 82 against 71; Transparency & trust, 81 against 50.
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh), good for Developers who use DeepSeek models and want a scriptable harness with ACP, a JSON event stream and a Python SDK. Ahead on Payments & pricing, 60 against 20. Also Free to start without a card; Open source; Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.0 against 2.5 out of 5.

| Category | Claude Code | DeepSeek Harness (dsh) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 50 | 33 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 80 | 77 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 87 | 68 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 80 | 40 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 20 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 82 | 71 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 81 | 50 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Claude Code | DeepSeek Harness (dsh) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| Licence | Proprietary. `LICENSE.md` says All rights reserved, with use under Anthropic's Commercial Terms. The GitHub repository holds the changelog, plugins and examples, not the source | MIT |
| Last release | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-17 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 141k stars | 245k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (4) | 3/5 (4) |