# Cursor CLI vs Kilo Code CLI (slim)

> Kilo Code CLI scores 75.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Cursor CLI's 35.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kilo-code-cli.md (~2,400 tokens) · this version ~630 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kilo-code-cli.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-kilo-code-cli
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

Kilo Code CLI scores 75.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Cursor CLI's 35.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do agent harness.

- Cursor CLI: F 35.3, rank #828 of 842 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cursor-cli.min.md
- Kilo Code CLI: BB 75.4, rank #47 of 842 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kilo-code-cli.min.md
- Cursor CLI, good for Teams already on Cursor who want the same agent and rules in a terminal or CI and a hand-off to Cloud Agents.
- Kilo Code CLI, good for Developers who want an open-source terminal agent with per-tool permission rules, an optional sandbox and a choice of provider, and the same engine in VS Code and JetBrains. Ahead on Reliability, 85 against 27; Schema & documentation, 90 against 39; Agent ergonomics, 72 against 42; Security & auth, 66 against 46; Payments & pricing, 50 against 25; Maintenance & community, 87 against 62; Transparency & trust, 76 against 59. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; Open source; No incidents deducted, where Cursor CLI loses 5 points for them.

| Category | Cursor CLI | Kilo Code CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 27 | 85 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 39 | 90 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 42 | 72 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 46 | 66 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 25 | 50 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 62 | 87 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 59 | 76 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Cursor CLI | Kilo Code CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Cursor | Kilo Code Inc. |
| Licence | Proprietary, under Cursor's terms of service (Anysphere, Inc., updated 3 September 2026). No source is published | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-03 | 2026-09-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-29 | 2026-05-29 |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | none | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 1.5/5 (2) | none |