# Droid CLI vs Kimi Code CLI

> Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) to Droid CLI's 59.1 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) on agent readiness against Droid CLI's 59.1 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Droid CLI leads on security & auth and maintenance & community. Both do agent harnesses.

- Droid CLI: grade C, 59.1/100, rank #619 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/droid-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/droid-cli.json
- Kimi Code CLI: grade B, 62.1/100, rank #492 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kimi-code-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kimi-code-cli.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 713 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Droid CLI (C)

Good for: Teams that want a terminal coding agent with tiered autonomy, command rules and an optional sandbox, and that will pay for a Factory plan.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 63 against 45
- Maintenance & community, 79 against 72

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Kimi Code CLI loses 4 points for them

Watch for: No free tier or trial was found. Plans start at $20 a month and included usage is stated only as rolling rate limits without numbers

### Kimi Code CLI (B)

Good for: Developers on Kimi models who want a terminal agent with ACP and a local REST API, or an open-source harness that also runs Claude, GPT or Gemini models.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 68 against 49
- Schema & documentation, 85 against 79
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

Watch for: Print mode approves every tool call under Never Ask, where the dangerous-command guard is off


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Droid CLI | Kimi Code CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 49 | 68 | Kimi Code CLI +19 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 85 | Kimi Code CLI +6 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 71 | Droid CLI +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 63 | 45 | Droid CLI +18 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 60 | Kimi Code CLI +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 72 | Droid CLI +7 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 62 | Droid CLI +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **59.1 · C** | **62.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Droid CLI | Kimi Code CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Factory | Moonshot AI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary, under Factory's Terms and Conditions. The `droid` npm package is marked `UNLICENSED` and the public repository holds documentation only. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-14 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-07-14 |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-20 |  |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 49 stars, 7.8k npm/wk | 37k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Droid CLI.** `droid exec` is read-only unless `--auto` raises the autonomy level, with command rules, an optional kernel-enforced sandbox, JSON output and documented exit codes. No free tier, status page or security.txt was found, the source is closed, and usage metrics go to Factory by default.

**Kimi Code CLI.** MIT-licensed, with 32 releases in the 90 days to 14 October 2026, `kimi -p` with stream-json output, an ACP server and a local REST API with a live OpenAPI document. Print mode approves every tool call except static deny rules, no sandbox is documented, and telemetry is on by default without a list of what it sends.

## Before you call either

### Droid CLI

1. Set `FACTORY_API_KEY` (starts `fk-`) from the API keys page in Factory settings for headless runs. Interactive use signs in through a browser
2. Start with `droid exec` and no flags for analysis. Add `--auto low` for edits and `--auto medium` for installs, tests and local commits
3. Use `--output-format json` and read `is_error`, `num_turns` and `session_id`. Treat a non-zero exit code as failure
4. Set `sandbox.enabled` to true before running on untrusted code. In `droid exec` a sandbox violation is denied without a prompt
5. Pin the version in CI with `npm install -g droid@<version>`, or set `FACTORY_DROID_AUTO_UPDATE_ENABLED=false` on standalone installs, which update themselves

### Kimi Code CLI

1. `kimi -p` approves every tool call. Add `[[permission.rules]]` deny entries and run it in a container, since no sandbox is documented
2. Set `KIMI_LOOP_MAX_STEPS_PER_TURN` for unattended runs. Steps per turn are unlimited by default
3. Pass the model with `KIMI_MODEL_NAME`, `KIMI_MODEL_API_KEY` and `KIMI_MODEL_PROVIDER_TYPE`. `OPENAI_API_KEY` or `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` in the shell is ignored otherwise
4. Set `KIMI_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1` and use 0.41.0 or later, since earlier print-mode runs ignored it
5. Install `@moonshot-ai/kimi-code` or the `kimi-code` formula. The `kimi-cli` and `kimi-code` packages on PyPI are the archived Python CLI

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Droid CLI or Kimi Code CLI?

Kimi Code CLI scores 62.1 (B) on agent readiness against Droid CLI's 59.1 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Droid CLI leads on security & auth and maintenance & community.

### Are Droid CLI and Kimi Code CLI open source?

No open-source release is listed for Droid CLI. Kimi Code CLI is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-kimi-code-cli.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-kimi-code-cli.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "droid-cli", "b": "kimi-code-cli"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare droid-cli kimi-code-cli`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/droid-cli.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kimi-code-cli.json

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