# Cline vs Kimi Code CLI

> Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) to Cline's 60.4 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cline's 60.4 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cline leads on reliability, security & auth and maintenance & community. Both do agent harnesses.

- Cline: grade C, 60.4/100, rank #568 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cline.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cline.json
- Kimi Code CLI: grade B, 62.1/100, rank #492 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kimi-code-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kimi-code-cli.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 713 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Cline (C)

Good for: Developers who want an agent inside VS Code or JetBrains that asks before acting and can roll back, with the same engine in a CLI.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 80 against 68
- Security & auth, 57 against 45
- Maintenance & community, 85 against 72

Watch for: The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider

### Kimi Code CLI (B)

Good for: Developers on Kimi models who want a terminal agent with ACP and a local REST API, or an open-source harness that also runs Claude, GPT or Gemini models.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 77
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.0 against 2.0 out of 5

Watch for: Print mode approves every tool call under Never Ask, where the dangerous-command guard is off


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Cline | Kimi Code CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 68 | Cline +12 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 85 | Kimi Code CLI +8 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 71 | Kimi Code CLI +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 45 | Cline +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 60 | Kimi Code CLI +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 72 | Cline +13 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 62 | Kimi Code CLI +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **60.4 · C** | **62.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cline | Kimi Code CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Cline Bot Inc. | Moonshot AI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-14 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-09-25 |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-09-24 |  |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 68k stars | 37k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Cline.** Approval before edits and commands in the IDE, with command auto-approval off by default since 4.0.0. The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider.

**Kimi Code CLI.** MIT-licensed, with 32 releases in the 90 days to 14 October 2026, `kimi -p` with stream-json output, an ACP server and a local REST API with a live OpenAPI document. Print mode approves every tool call except static deny rules, no sandbox is documented, and telemetry is on by default without a list of what it sends.

## Before you call either

### Cline

1. Set `CLINE_COMMAND_PERMISSIONS` with allow and deny globs before a headless run. The CLI approves every tool by default
2. Pick a provider with `-P` and a key, or run `cline auth`. The default provider needs a Cline sign-in
3. Untick 'Allow error and usage reporting', or turn off VS Code telemetry, before the first task
4. Pin the CLI version. 2.3.0 was a malicious publish
5. Keep the hub on 127.0.0.1 or set ROOM_SECRET, and run 3.0.30 or later

### Kimi Code CLI

1. `kimi -p` approves every tool call. Add `[[permission.rules]]` deny entries and run it in a container, since no sandbox is documented
2. Set `KIMI_LOOP_MAX_STEPS_PER_TURN` for unattended runs. Steps per turn are unlimited by default
3. Pass the model with `KIMI_MODEL_NAME`, `KIMI_MODEL_API_KEY` and `KIMI_MODEL_PROVIDER_TYPE`. `OPENAI_API_KEY` or `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` in the shell is ignored otherwise
4. Set `KIMI_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1` and use 0.41.0 or later, since earlier print-mode runs ignored it
5. Install `@moonshot-ai/kimi-code` or the `kimi-code` formula. The `kimi-cli` and `kimi-code` packages on PyPI are the archived Python CLI

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Cline or Kimi Code CLI?

Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cline's 60.4 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cline leads on reliability, security & auth and maintenance & community.

### Are Cline and Kimi Code CLI open source?

Yes. Cline is open source (Apache-2.0). Kimi Code CLI is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

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