Conductor vs Kimi Code CLI

Conductor 0

No new sign-ups since 4 November, free users can't upgrade, and no price is shown. No protocol, no published price, no open free tier, no onboarding (0).

Kimi Code CLI 60

Self-hosted rule. No payment protocol (0). The CLI is free under MIT with nothing to buy (20). No card or account is needed for the software, and any listed provider's key works (20). An agent can install it from npm and run it with KIMI_MODEL_* variables and no sign-up, given a model key (20). The Kimi Code subscription and Kimi Platform API usage are separate purchases.

Conductor 25

Read as local software that is winding down. Installed from Conductor's own download, which stopped taking new users on 4 November 2026 (10). Closed source, so no public CI or issue tracker (0, 0). A dated changelog, newest 0.93.0 on 4 November (15). Version 0.93 (0). 10 + 0 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 25.

Kimi Code CLI 68

Local-package reading. An install script that verifies a checksum, npm @moonshot-ai/kimi-code with Node 22.19.0 or newer stated, and Homebrew core at 2.4.1, for macOS, Linux and Windows (20). A public CI workflow runs the build, a smoke test, sharded tests on Linux, tests on Windows, lint and typecheck. GitHub's pages answer 403 in this session, so whether it passes on main wasn't checked (15). The 18 October issue and pull-request counts came from shields.io badges, a third-party copy of GitHub data this run bars, so they are struck. The clone shows 95 commits from 13 authors since 18 October and a changelog that credits merged pull requests up to #4553 in 2.4.1, but which open issues are crashes or regressions, and how fast they're answered, couldn't be read (8). Changesets changelog with Major, Minor and Patch headings and no breaking-change label since 0.28.0. 2.2.0 made executor = "kaos" configs fail validation, 2.3.0 stopped bare-name plugin skill calls and 2.3.2, a patch, removed swarms from kimi -p and ACP (10). 2.4.1, past 1.0 (15). 20 + 15 + 8 + 10 + 15 = 68.

Conductor 60

Harness reading. Docs for workspaces, review and merge, a Conductor API reference page linked from the docs (not read), and security and permissions pages (60).

Kimi Code CLI 85

Framework reading. The kimi web server serves /openapi.json and /asyncapi.json, generated from its runtime validation schemas, but only from a running server behind auth, and the API is marked experimental. The ACP server's methods and capabilities are tabled (20). llms.txt indexes every page and each page is served as Markdown (10). The permission-mode, goal-mode and MCP pages say when to use each mode and what to avoid (16). The config reference gives type and default for each key, with enums for permission modes, output formats and rule decisions (13). Many examples, the server's error-code bands and ACP error codes are documented, but print-mode exit codes are documented only for goal runs (11). A dated changelog in the docs plus the technical changelog in the repository (15). Unchanged on 2 November; llms.txt now indexes 60 pages in two languages.

Conductor 55

Harness reading. Each task gets a workspace, branch, terminal and diff, with pull requests and merges from the app, and an API for integrations; not re-read in detail (55).

Kimi Code CLI 71

Framework reading, adapted to a harness driven by a pipeline. Global tools.enabled and tools.disabled lists, per-agent tool lists, deferred MCP tool loading and a read-only Plan mode (20). stream-json output and a step limit per turn by environment variable, but steps are unlimited by default and there's no wall-time or cost limit for the main turn (13). The server API returns coded envelopes and ACP returns standard JSON-RPC errors, but print mode documents no exit codes outside goal runs (12). Retries only on transient failures and never on an exhausted quota, with --continue, --session, fork, undo and ACP session/load (16). kimi -p needs one argument, with ACP and the REST API as programmatic surfaces but no SDK package in any language (10).

Conductor 58

0.93.0 on 4 November 2026 (30). Several dated releases in 90 days, per the changelog index (20). Discord, a subreddit and email for support (8). Closed app, no package or CI to read (0). 30 + 20 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 58. The local app gets new models and critical fixes only until early 2027.

Kimi Code CLI 72

2.4.1 on 30 October 2026 (30). 30 stable tags from 0.32.0 on 4 August to 2.4.1 on 30 October, plus canary builds since 29 October (20). The 18 October counts from shields.io badges are struck. The clone shows the pace directly, 95 commits from 13 authors between 18 October and 2 November and pull requests numbered past #4600, with the changelog crediting outside contributors in each release. Issue reply times couldn't be read (11). No published SDK. A TypeScript SDK sits in the repository (@moonshot-ai/kimi-code-sdk 0.22.0) marked private, the ACP server and REST API ship inside the CLI, and Homebrew core is current at 2.4.1 (5). CI with a frozen lockfile, lint and a dependency check (sherif), canary and release workflows, no Dependabot or Renovate file, and the pass state unchecked (6). 30 + 20 + 11 + 5 + 6 = 72.

Conductor 53

Closed service with terms and privacy pages (15). The transition notice says when Cloud data deletion begins (20 November) and that all user data is deleted when the app shuts down in early 2027 (20 of 30). Dated shutdown notice (15 of 20). SOC 2 report on a trust portal, subprocessors not read (10 of 20). 15 + 20 + 15 + 10 = 60.

Kimi Code CLI 62

MIT (30). The docs have no privacy page for the CLI. The Kimi terms (effective 13 August 2026, NOVASCENT PRIVATE LIMITED, Singapore) let Moonshot use content to train its services unless the user opts out by email, prospectively only, and the Kimi privacy policy says content is used for training. The Kimi Platform privacy policy keeps inputs while the account is active. Neither says which applies to CLI sessions (12). The kimi server tree prints a deprecation notice until the next major version, a table names each deprecated config key and the version that replaced it, and the Python Kimi CLI was archived with a migration guide, though its notice gives no date for when old installations stop working (13). Telemetry is documented as on, with a config key and an environment variable to turn it off, but what it collects isn't listed, and print mode ignored the opt-out until 0.41.0 (9).