Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
Crush vs Sculptor
Sculptor scores 53.1 (D) on agent readiness against Crush's 49.8 (D), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Crush leads on reliability, schema & documentation and maintenance & community. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1500 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
Crush D
Best for Developers who want a Go terminal agent with a wide provider list, local models and Claude Code-compatible hooks.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 52 against 43
- Schema & documentation, 65 against 45
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 75
Also in its favour
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
crush run approves every permission request automatically, which the README doesn't mention
Sculptor D
Best for Developers who want parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces and are fine with a research preview.
Ahead on
- Security & auth, 57 against 41
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 55
Also in its favour
- No key needed to call it
- Open source
- No incidents deducted, where Crush loses 6 points for them
Watch for
Labelled an experimental research preview that may change drastically
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Schema & documentation Crush +20
Crush 65
Harness reading of the framework line. A JSON Schema for the config at https://charm.land/crush.json (also printed by crush schema), --json on the session commands, and an OpenAPI document that crush server generates from its endpoint list and serves at /v1/docs/openapi.json, which isn't published anywhere we could fetch. crush run output has no typed form (20). No llms.txt (charm.land/llms.txt is a not-found page). The docs are Markdown in the repository and the hooks guide says it was written for humans and agents (5). The README and config docs explain when to allow, deny or hook a tool and warn that configs run as code (12). The schema carries enums and defaults, such as the attribution trailer style, while permissions take bare tool names with no command patterns (11). Many examples for providers, MCP, hooks and local models, with no reference for error messages or exit codes (9). Version tags and GitHub releases with generated notes, which we couldn't open, and no changelog file (8).
Sculptor 45
Harness reading. A README, specs and agent docs in the repository; no API reference (45).
Security & auth Sculptor +16
Crush 41
Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other harnesses. 30 for 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. Usage metrics go to PostHog through data.charm.land by default, keyed to a hashed machine ID, aliased to the Hyper user ID after a Hyper login, and including error messages. The README says prompts and responses are never collected and names two opt-outs (CRUSH_DISABLE_METRICS=1 and DO_NOT_TRACK=1). The provider list is fetched from Catwalk at startup unless turned off, the update check only notifies, and provider keys stay local (15). The TUI asks before bash, edit, write, fetch, download and MCP calls, permissions deny hides tools and PreToolUse hooks can block calls. But crush run approves every permission request in its session automatically (internal/app/app.go in v0.99.0), --yolo skips all prompts, and there's no sandbox, only a refusal list for curl, wget, ssh, sudo, package managers and similar commands (7). No prompt-injection guidance found, and a project's .crushrc and $(...) in crush.json run as code at startup, which the README warns about (3). Logs in ./.crush/logs/crush.log with crush logs, sessions in a local database readable as JSON, and crush stats, with no OpenTelemetry export (9). The organisation's SECURITY.md is a disclosure policy with a reporting address (vt100@charm.sh) and no response time. CI runs CodeQL, Grype and govulncheck nightly and releases are cosign-signed. OSV lists no advisory for the npm package or the Go module. No security.txt and no bug bounty. A disclosure route with no stated time is this run's 7 (was 10). 15 + 7 + 3 + 9 + 7 = 41.
Sculptor 57
Harness reading. Product analytics, error reporting and session recording default to off in the user config, and the app asks for a telemetry level and privacy consent at first run; PostHog runs on the front end only for now (25 of 30). Each workspace is an isolated copy of the code (14 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). SECURITY.md (8). 25 + 14 + 5 + 5 + 8 = 57.
Reliability Crush +9
Crush 52
Local-package reading. @charmland/crush on npm, a Homebrew tap, Winget, Scoop, AUR, Nix, FreeBSD pkg, Charm's apt and yum repositories and release binaries, with supported platforms named in the README (20). The public build workflow runs go test -race -failfast ./... on Linux, macOS and Windows for every push to main and every pull request, but GitHub pages and the API answer 403 to us, so results are unread (15). The 18 October issue and pull request counts came from shields.io badges, a third-party copy of GitHub data, and are struck. The repository's own refs show 2,574 pull requests to #4224, 272 of them open with a merge ref, and 147 merges into main in the 90 days to 4 November. Crash and regression issues couldn't be read (10). Release notes are generated from commit messages, with no CHANGELOG file and no breaking-change headings found. The legacy JSON config is deprecated in favour of crushrc while still loading (7, held partial). v0.99.0, before 1.0, with no stability statement (0). 20 + 15 + 10 + 7 + 0 = 52.
Sculptor 43
Local software. Desktop downloads for Mac (Apple Silicon), Linux and Linux ARM64 (20). checks.yml and a PR gate run on the repository; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). sculptor-v tags up to v0.49.0, no changelog file (8). 0.x and labelled a research preview (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 43.
Maintenance & community Crush +7
Crush 82
v0.99.0 tagged on 29 October 2026 (6 days, 30). 21 release tags from 7 August to 29 October, v0.88.1 to v0.99.0, besides a moving nightly tag that isn't counted (20). The 18 October shields.io counts are struck. The repository's refs show 147 merges into main and 438 commits in the 90 days to 4 November, with 272 open pull requests carrying a merge ref, and new contributors signing the CLA most days. Reply times couldn't be read (12). No SDK, as with other harnesses. npm, Homebrew, Winget, Scoop, apt, yum and NUR builds come from the release workflow (12, held partial). Dependabot, a go mod tidy check in CI and nightly security scans, with CI results unread (8). 30 + 20 + 12 + 12 + 8 = 82.
Sculptor 75
Commits on 6 November 2026 and frequent tagged versions (30). More than three releases in 90 days (20). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent; the README says Imbue can't take many outside contributions yet (0). Current official downloads (15). CI on pull requests (10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 10 = 75.
Payments & pricing Sculptor +5
Crush 55
No payment protocol (0). Scored on Charm's Hyper provider. Its public provider file at hyper.charm.land/v1/provider lists per-million-token figures for 22 models without a login, but no pricing page confirms them as billed rates, and plan prices sit in a script-rendered app (15). The CLI is free to use and runs with your own provider key or a local model, so nothing needs a card (20). A local model through Ollama, llama.cpp or LM Studio, or an existing provider key in the environment, works with no Charm account, so an agent can install it and run a task without a person signing up (20).
Sculptor 60
Free self-hosted software with nothing to buy, so 0 for a protocol and 20 each for public pricing, a free tier and onboarding with no sign-up, 60.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Crush | Sculptor | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 52 | 43 | Crush +9 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 65 | 45 | Crush +20 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 52 | 50 | Crush +2 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 41 | 57 | Sculptor +16 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 55 | 60 | Sculptor +5 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 82 | 75 | Crush +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 59 | 57 | Crush +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | 0 | |
| Total | D 49.8/100 | D 53.1/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Crush | Sculptor |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Charm | Imbue, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | ||
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | FSL-1.1-MIT (source-available, each release converts to MIT two years after it is made available) | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-06 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Popularity | 29k stars, 5.6k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 2.3/5 (4) | none |
How the scores have moved
Sculptor
No score change since it was listed.
Verdicts
Crush
Works with almost any provider or a local model and needs no Charm account. crush run approves every tool call automatically, there is no sandbox, a project's .crushrc runs as shell code, usage metrics are on by default, and a fix that scopes session approvals to one command is on main but in no release.
Sculptor
Imbue's open-source app for parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces, with telemetry off until you choose otherwise. It's an experimental research preview that warns of bugs and drastic changes, Mac and Linux only, with no changelog.
Before you call either
Crush
- Add
permissions denyrules or a PreToolUse hook beforecrush run. It approves every permission request in its session, and a session approval in v0.99.0 covers later commands in the same directory - Read
.crushrc,crushrcandcrush.jsonin a cloned repository before running Crush there. They execute as shell code at startup - Set
CRUSH_DISABLE_METRICS=1orDO_NOT_TRACK=1to stop usage metrics to data.charm.land - Wrap
crush runin your own timeout. It has no turn, time or cost limit flag - Configure a provider by environment variable or
crushrcfirst. With none,crush runexits with an error asking for interactive setup
Sculptor
- Download from the README's links, connect a repository and create a workspace before prompting
- Review the diff before merging a workspace back to main
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Crush or Sculptor?
Sculptor scores 53.1 (D) on agent readiness against Crush's 49.8 (D), and leads in 2 of 7 scored categories. Crush leads on reliability, schema & documentation and maintenance & community.
Are Crush and Sculptor open source?
No open-source release is listed for Crush. Sculptor is open source (MIT).
Other comparisons with Crush or Sculptor
- Agent Zero vs Crush
- Agent Zero vs Sculptor
- Aider vs Crush
- Aider vs Sculptor
- Amp vs Crush
- Amp vs Sculptor
- Antigravity CLI vs Crush
- Antigravity CLI vs Sculptor
- Auggie CLI vs Crush
- Auggie CLI vs Sculptor
- AXLR vs Crush
- AXLR vs Sculptor
- Claude Code vs Crush
- Claude Code vs Sculptor
- Cline vs Crush
- Cline vs Sculptor
- Conductor vs Crush
- Conductor vs Sculptor
- Crush vs Cursor CLI
- Crush vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)
- Crush vs dsh-superagent (DeepSeek)
- Crush vs Devin
- Crush vs Droid CLI
- Crush vs Pi
- Crush vs Emdash
- Crush vs Gemini CLI
- Crush vs GitHub Copilot CLI
- Crush vs goose
- Crush vs Harness²
- Crush vs HarnessRouter
- Crush vs Jules
- Crush vs Junie CLI
- Crush vs Kilo Code CLI
- Crush vs Kimi Code CLI
- Crush vs Kiro CLI
- Crush vs Letta
- Crush vs mini-swe-agent
- Crush vs MiniMax Code
- Crush vs Mistral Vibe CLI
- Crush vs Muse Code
- Crush vs OpenAI Agents API
- Crush vs OpenAI Codex
- Crush vs OpenCode
- Crush vs OpenHands
- Crush vs OpenMausBot
- Crush vs Orca
- Crush vs Paseo
- Crush vs Prime Agent
- Crush vs Qoder CLI
- Crush vs Qwen Code
- Crush vs Mirror CLI
- Crush vs Rovo Dev CLI
- Crush vs T3 Code
- Crush vs Traycer
- Crush vs Unstoppable
- Crush vs Verdent
- Crush vs Vibe-Trading
- Crush vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Cursor CLI vs Sculptor
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Sculptor
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs Sculptor
- Devin vs Sculptor
- Droid CLI vs Sculptor
- Pi vs Sculptor
- Emdash vs Sculptor
- Gemini CLI vs Sculptor
- GitHub Copilot CLI vs Sculptor
- goose vs Sculptor
- Harness² vs Sculptor
- HarnessRouter vs Sculptor
- Jules vs Sculptor
- Junie CLI vs Sculptor
- Kilo Code CLI vs Sculptor
- Kimi Code CLI vs Sculptor
- Kiro CLI vs Sculptor
- Letta vs Sculptor
- mini-swe-agent vs Sculptor
- MiniMax Code vs Sculptor
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs Sculptor
- Muse Code vs Sculptor
- OpenAI Agents API vs Sculptor
- OpenAI Codex vs Sculptor
- OpenCode vs Sculptor
- OpenHands vs Sculptor
- Orca vs Sculptor
- Paseo vs Sculptor
- Prime Agent vs Sculptor
- Qoder CLI vs Sculptor
- Qwen Code vs Sculptor
- Mirror CLI vs Sculptor
- Rovo Dev CLI vs Sculptor
- Sculptor vs T3 Code
- Sculptor vs Traycer
- Sculptor vs Unstoppable
- Sculptor vs Verdent
- Sculptor vs Vibe-Trading
- Sculptor vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Clawboo vs Crush
- Clawboo vs Sculptor
- CLI Manager vs Crush
- CLI Manager vs Sculptor
- Crush vs Harness
- Crush vs Paperclip
- Crush vs Parallax
- Harness vs Sculptor
- OpenMausBot vs Sculptor
- Paperclip vs Sculptor
- Parallax vs Sculptor
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/crush-vs-sculptor.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/crush.json·/api/v1/tools/sculptor.json - From a terminal
anchor compare crush sculptor(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "crush", "b": "sculptor"}at/mcp, no key