Conductor vs MiniMax Code

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).

MiniMax Code 60

Self-hosted rule. No payment protocol (0). The CLI is free under MIT with nothing to buy (20). No card or MiniMax account is needed for the software, and BYOK works without a login (20). An agent can install it from npm and run mcode exec with a provider key and no sign-up (20). M Plan and MiniMax API usage are separate purchases. Total 60.

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.

MiniMax Code 51

Local-package reading, for the CLI. An install script for macOS, Linux and WSL and one for Windows, and npm @minimax-ai/code with Node.js 22.19+, 24.2+, 25 or 26 stated. The installer doesn't support Alpine or musl (20). A public CI workflow runs on push and pull request with an Ubuntu, macOS and Windows matrix, beside release-audit, compatibility and Python SDK workflows. Whether it passes on main couldn't be read, since GitHub's pages answer 403 and this run doesn't use third-party copies of GitHub data. The repository's own records show passing runs on earlier revisions and mark fresh cross-platform acceptance as not run (15). Open issue counts and replies couldn't be read. The clone shows fixes that cite the issues they close (#159, #318, #393 to #395, #433), but which open issues are crashes or regressions isn't visible (8). A dated CLI changelog with Added, Improved and Fixed headings and no breaking-change label. Its latest entry is 0.7.0 (26 October) while npm's latest is 0.7.4 (30 October) (8). 0.7.x and called a source preview (0). Total 51.

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).

MiniMax Code 79

Harness reading, for a pipeline driving the CLI. Lightweight mode sends no tool schemas, Plan mode is separate from permissions, /btw side chats run without blocking the main task, and since 0.7.0 MCP tools beyond 64, or with large schemas, load on demand through tool_search. No per-tool allow or deny list was found in the CLI docs (16). json and stream-json output, --timeout, --max-steps, --output-schema and --output-last-message (18). Exit codes per failure class, a status field and an interaction error when a run would need a person (17). --session, --continue, fork and rewind, and a model request is retried when the first response doesn't arrive within 300 seconds (16). One positional argument runs a task and BYOK needs no MiniMax login. The TypeScript SDK @minimax-ai/code-sdk 0.1.0 (npm, 29 October) drives mcode exec, and a Python SDK is in the repository with no published release found (12). Total 79.

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).

MiniMax Code 81

Harness reading. mcode exec returns a versioned ExecResult JSON document (schemaVersion 1) or versioned stream-json events, takes --output-schema for the final answer, and mcode acp speaks the Agent Client Protocol. No OpenAPI, since there's no server API (20). llms.txt indexes the docs, and each page is served as Markdown (10). The security page says when to use each permission policy and to keep full and off to isolated workspaces, and the automation page gives a CI baseline (16). An options table with defaults and enums for permission, output and prompt modes (12). Examples for each mode, a nine-row exit-code table, five result statuses and a named error for invalid structured output (13). A dated CLI changelog in the docs, whose latest entry (0.7.0, 26 October) trails npm's 0.7.4 (10). Total 81.

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.

MiniMax Code 79

0.7.4 on npm on 30 October 2026 (30). Every npm release from 0.1.0 on 14 August falls in the last 90 days, 62 of them by 15 October per the 19 October check (20). The clone has 167 commits since 3 August and 32 since 2 October, with fixes that cite issues, but pull requests are taken only from collaborators, and issue counts and reply times couldn't be read (11). An official TypeScript SDK, @minimax-ai/code-sdk 0.1.0, published on 29 October, and a Python SDK in the repository with no published release found. ACP ships inside the CLI (10). CI pins its GitHub Actions by commit, and the root package pins overrides for vulnerable dependencies (8). Total 79.

Conductor 45

Closed app. Telemetry and data handling weren't read beyond the transition notice (10 of 30). A security and permissions page (10 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance found (5). No audit log found (5). SOC 2 Type II report at trust.conductor.build (15 of 20). 10 + 10 + 5 + 5 + 15 = 45.

MiniMax Code 57

Harness reading of the framework checklist. 30 for credentials and what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. Provider keys are read from an environment variable and never printed, and stored in config.yaml in the data directory. All three telemetry channels are off by default and the doc lists every field sent. The default smart policy classifies actions through a cloud classifier, and what it sends isn't documented (20). Ask, Auto and Full access in the TUI. Headless defaults to smart and fails on a pending permission request instead of approving it, while full and off skip checks. A bundled sandbox runtime with macOS tests, a read-only filesystem policy for Explore subagents when sandboxing is available, but the default sandbox coverage isn't documented (12). SECURITY.md says permissions and sandboxing don't replace review of untrusted plugins, MCP servers and shell commands. No guidance found for fetched web content (6). Sessions kept locally, /export with credential redaction, /transcript and stream-json events (11). SECURITY.md takes private reports by email and GitHub's private advisories with no response SLA, history and build scans with Gitleaks run in a release-audit workflow, and OSV lists no advisories for @minimax-ai/code or @minimax-ai/code-sdk. No security.txt (8). Total 57.