# Claude Code vs MiniMax Code

> MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) to Claude Code's 59.9 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-19

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against Claude Code's 59.9 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Claude Code leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do agent harnesses.

- Claude Code: grade C, 59.9/100, rank #593 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/claude-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/claude-code.json
- MiniMax Code: grade B, 67.5/100, rank #277 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/minimax-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-code.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 752 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Claude Code (C)

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:
- Agent ergonomics, 87 against 75
- Security & auth, 80 against 57
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 77
- Transparency & trust, 81 against 61

Watch for: The sandbox is off by default and native Windows has none

### MiniMax Code (B)

Good for: Scripted coding runs on MiniMax's models or any compatible model, driven by JSON output and exit codes.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 63 against 50
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 20

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 2.5 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where Claude Code loses 8 points for them

Watch for: Pre-1.0 and labelled a source preview, with npm at 0.6.12 and the public source at 0.6.5


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Claude Code | MiniMax Code | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 63 | MiniMax Code +13 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 81 | MiniMax Code +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 87 | 75 | Claude Code +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 80 | 57 | Claude Code +23 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 60 | MiniMax Code +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 77 | Claude Code +5 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 81 | 61 | Claude Code +20 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **59.9 · C** | **67.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Claude Code | MiniMax Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Anthropic | MiniMax |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| 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 for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-01-19 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | 2026-01-19 |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 141k stars | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (4) | 3.5/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Claude Code.** Six permission modes, allow, ask and deny rules down to command arguments, PreToolUse hooks, and managed settings that can disable bypass and auto mode. The sandbox is off by default and native Windows has none.

**MiniMax Code.** An MIT-licensed terminal coding agent with a headless mode that returns versioned JSON, documented exit codes and an ACP server, and telemetry off by default. It's pre-1.0 with 62 npm releases in nine weeks, and the npm package runs ahead of the published source.

## Before you call either

### Claude Code

1. Pass `--permission-mode`, `--max-turns` and `--max-budget-usd` on every `claude -p` run. The unset mode changed again in 2.1.302, and the docs page still gives the older rule
2. Turn on the sandbox with `sandbox.enabled` and set `allowUnsandboxedCommands` to false, or Claude can retry a blocked command outside it
3. Write MCP allow rules as `mcp__<server>__*` with the server's whole name. Since 2.1.299 a rule for `mcp__a` no longer covers a server named `a__b`
4. Set `CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC=1` on a Claude login to stop metrics and error reports in one go
5. Set `autoUpdatesChannel` to stable or `DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER=1` in CI. Native installs update themselves about once a day

### MiniMax Code

1. Run `mcode exec --cwd <repo> --output-format json --timeout 10m --max-steps 50` and check both the exit code and the JSON `status`
2. Keep `--permission full` and `off` for a container or throwaway workspace. The default `smart` fails when it would need a person
3. Set `MCODE_PROVIDER_API_KEY` and add a provider for BYOK. M Plan models need a browser sign-in with `mcode login --region global`
4. Set `MINIMAX_DATA_DIR` per CI runner. Keys and sessions live in `~/.minimax` by default
5. Pin a version. npm published 62 releases in nine weeks and the public source trails it

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Claude Code or MiniMax Code?

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against Claude Code's 59.9 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Claude Code leads on agent ergonomics, security & auth, maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

### Are Claude Code and MiniMax Code open source?

No open-source release is listed for Claude Code. MiniMax Code is open source (MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-minimax-code.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-minimax-code.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "claude-code", "b": "minimax-code"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare claude-code minimax-code`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/claude-code.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-code.json

## Other comparisons with Claude Code or MiniMax Code

- [Agent Zero vs Claude Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-claude-code.md)
- [Agent Zero vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Aider vs Claude Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-claude-code.md)
- [Aider vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Amp vs Claude Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-claude-code.md)
- [Amp vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Claude Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-claude-code.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs Claude Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-claude-code.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Claude Code vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-cline.md)
- [Claude Code vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-crush.md)
- [Claude Code vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-cursor-cli.md)
- [Claude Code vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-deepseek-harness.md)
- [Claude Code vs Devin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-devin.md)
- [Claude Code vs Droid CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-droid-cli.md)
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- [Claude Code vs Harness²](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-harness2.md)
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- [Claude Code vs Jules](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-jules.md)
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- [Claude Code vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-kiro-cli.md)
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- [Kimi Code CLI vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kimi-code-cli-vs-minimax-code.md)
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- [MiniMax Code vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-paperclip.md)
- [MiniMax Code vs Parallax](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/minimax-code-vs-parallax-agents.md)

## Disclosure

- Anthropic makes the models this research run and the review panel run on. This listing was graded by agents running on Claude, by the same published checklist as every other listing, and re-checked on 15 October 2026 with every judgement call written in the note. Since that date the panel reviews it too, at our founder's request, and every review carries a conflict label, because every reviewer and the arbiter run on Claude.

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp