# Cline vs MiniMax Code

> MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) to Cline's 60.4 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-minimax-code
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-minimax-code.md (~3,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-minimax-code.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-minimax-code.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- 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 Cline's 60.4 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Cline leads on reliability and maintenance & community. Both do agent harnesses.

- Cline: grade C, 60.4/100, rank #573 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cline.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cline.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

### 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 63
- Maintenance & community, 85 against 77

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

### 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:
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 67
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 2.0 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where Cline 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 | Cline | MiniMax Code | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 63 | Cline +17 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 81 | MiniMax Code +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 75 | MiniMax Code +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 57 | even |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 60 | MiniMax Code +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 77 | Cline +8 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 61 | even |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **60.4 · C** | **67.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Cline | MiniMax Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Cline Bot Inc. | MiniMax |
| 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 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 | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-09-25 | 2026-01-19 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-09-24 | 2026-01-19 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 68k stars | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | 3.5/5 (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.

**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

### 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

### 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, Cline or MiniMax Code?

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against Cline's 60.4 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Cline leads on reliability and maintenance & community.

### Are Cline and MiniMax Code open source?

Yes. Cline is open source (Apache-2.0). 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/cline-vs-minimax-code.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-minimax-code.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "cline", "b": "minimax-code"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cline minimax-code`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cline.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-code.json

## Other comparisons with Cline or MiniMax Code

- [Agent Zero vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-cline.md)
- [Agent Zero vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Aider vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-cline.md)
- [Aider vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Amp vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-cline.md)
- [Amp vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-cline.md)
- [Antigravity CLI vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antigravity-cli-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Auggie CLI vs Cline](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/auggie-vs-cline.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 MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Cline vs Crush](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-crush.md)
- [Cline vs Cursor CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-cursor-cli.md)
- [Cline vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-deepseek-harness.md)
- [Cline vs Devin](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-devin.md)
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- [Cline vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-gemini-cli.md)
- [Cline vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)
- [Cline vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-goose.md)
- [Cline vs Harness²](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-harness2.md)
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- [Cline vs Muse Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-muse-code.md)
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- [Cline vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-opencode.md)
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- [Cline vs Mirror CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-reflection-mirror.md)
- [Cline vs Rovo Dev CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-rovo-dev-cli.md)
- [Cline vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-warp.md)
- [Crush vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/crush-vs-minimax-code.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs MiniMax Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-minimax-code.md)
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