# Droid CLI vs OpenAI Agents API (slim)

> OpenAI Agents scores 73.3 (BB) to Droid CLI's 57.2 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-openai-agents-api.md (~6,600 tokens) · this version ~3,180 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-openai-agents-api.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-openai-agents-api
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-06
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OpenAI Agents API scores 73.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Droid CLI's 57.2 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do agent harnesses.

- Droid CLI: C 57.2, rank #725 of 1354 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/droid-cli.min.md
- OpenAI Agents API: BB 73.3, rank #99 of 1354 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-agents-api.min.md
- Droid CLI, 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.
- OpenAI Agents API, good for Teams that want OpenAI to run the agent loop, with sandboxes, MCP tools and subagents, and are fine with a beta API, US-only data residency and no Zero Data Retention. Ahead on Reliability, 60 against 54; Schema & documentation, 88 against 79; Agent ergonomics, 80 against 72; Security & auth, 87 against 63; Payments & pricing, 30 against 10; Maintenance & community, 87 against 79; Transparency & trust, 85 against 65. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install; No incidents deducted, where Droid CLI loses 3 points for them.

| Category | Droid CLI | OpenAI Agents API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 54 | 60 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 79 | 88 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 72 | 80 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 63 | 87 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 10 | 30 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 79 | 87 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 65 | 85 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Droid CLI | OpenAI Agents API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Factory | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.openai.com/v1/agents/sessions` |
| Transports |  | https |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Paid | Pay per use |
| 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 | Proprietary hosted API under OpenAI's Services Agreement. The SDKs are Apache 2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-07-14 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-20 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 49 stars, 7.8k npm/wk | none |

Why the edge:
- Security & auth, OpenAI Agents API +24: Droid CLI 63 (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. The agent loop runs locally and the docs say no copy of the repository is uploaded or indexed. Prompts and context go to the model endpoints. Usage metrics go to Factory's collector by default, with no opt-out in the pages read outside an airgapped deployment, and message content is never sent to it. The security page says code is not used as training data. Zero data retention is listed as a Business plan item. Headless runs use a long-lived `fk-` key (17). `droid exec` is read-only by default, autonomy has four levels, permission rules allow, ask or block commands, and an OS sandbox confines commands with Seatbelt or bubblewrap and a network proxy. The sandbox is off by default and `--skip-permissions-unsafe` skips every prompt (16). The sandbox page names prompt injection and states what the sandbox does not stop, MCP approvals are bound to the server's command or URL, and Droid Shield scans commits for secrets. The Agent Safety page was not read (9). An organisation audit log, OpenTelemetry export and session tags exist, with audit logging listed from the Business plan up (10). A disclosure address (security@factory.com), SOC 2 and ISO 42001 named on the security page, per the 9 October check, and Security sections in the changelog. No security.txt (404 on 4 November), no bug bounty and no published advisories were found, OSV holds nothing for `droid`, and the trust centre was not readable (11).); OpenAI Agents API 87 (Project keys with restricted per-endpoint permissions, service accounts and workload identity, per the openai-api listing; we didn't confirm a key can be limited to /v1/agents (27 of 30). Automatic review for approvals, a sandbox network restricted to a host allowlist, vaults for secrets and a sandbox security guide (17 of 20). The agent reads web pages, MCP results and browser content; the sandbox security guide and approval flow are the mitigations, with no prompt-injection guide of its own found (8 of 15). Tracing, observability and usage per session and admin audit logs (15). SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 family, Bugcrowd bounty and a disclosure policy, per the openai-api listing (20). Not ZDR-eligible and US residency only, recorded under transparency. 27 + 17 + 8 + 15 + 20 = 87.)
- Payments & pricing, OpenAI Agents API +20: Droid CLI 10 (Harness reading of the published rubric. This is paid, closed software tied to a subscription, so the self-hosted rule does not apply. No payment protocol (0). Plan prices are public, $20, $100 and $200 a month for individuals and $60 a team plus $40 a seat for Teams, but included usage is given only as rolling rate limits and multiples of Pro (10). No free tier or trial was found on the pricing pages. Using your own model key is free up to an allowance, but only on a paid plan (0). A person signs in through a browser to subscribe and to create the API key. The Service Accounts API can issue keys only inside an existing organisation (0).); OpenAI Agents API 30 (No machine payment protocol (0). Model, tool and container prices published without a login, and no fee for the API itself (20). The Free tier reading of the openai-api listing, half (10). Sign-up in a browser (0). 0 + 20 + 10 + 0 = 30.)
- Transparency & trust, OpenAI Agents API +20: Droid CLI 65 (Closed source under terms from The San Francisco AI Factory, Inc., last updated 14 July 2026. The npm package is marked `UNLICENSED` and the Python SDK is Apache-2.0 (15). The Data Flows page says where code, prompts and telemetry go in each deployment pattern, and the privacy policy (20 August 2026) lists service providers with the place of processing and keeps personal data up to 10 years after last use. Retention of Factory's operational logs is left to the trust centre, which we could not read, and whether session transcripts are stored in Factory's cloud on individual plans was not established (17). The terms promise commercially reasonable efforts to give 60 days' notice of major changes, the changelog has Deprecations sections, and the old command lists are deprecated but still honoured. A model retirement appeared in the changelog on the day it took effect, 11 August 2026 (12). The telemetry reference documents each metric and what reaches Factory, and `telemetry.granularity` can strip user identity. Metrics to Factory are on by default, with no opt-out found outside an airgapped deployment (11).); OpenAI Agents API 85 (Closed service with clear terms, Apache-2.0 SDKs (15). Session state retained until deleted, deletable sessions and artifacts, not ZDR-eligible, US residency only, and the data-controls guide agrees; no retention period for artifacts after a sandbox expires (25 of 30). Dated deprecation notices with minimum periods for GA models; a beta API can change faster (15 of 20). Subprocessors and processing countries listed, per the openai-api listing (20). 15 + 25 + 15 + 20 = 75.)
- Schema & documentation, OpenAI Agents API +9: Droid CLI 79 (Framework reading. The docs index links an OpenAPI file for the Factory public API, which we did not open, and the headless mode has a documented JSON-RPC surface with named methods. `droid exec --list-tools --output-format json` and `droid rules check --json` give machine-readable output. We found no published schema for the settings file (15). docs.factory.com/llms.txt lists a Markdown copy of every page (10). The overview says when to use the CLI, and the autonomy table says what each level allows, blocks and suits (16). Autonomy levels, output formats, sandbox modes and MCP server fields are enumerated with types and defaults (12). Examples on every page read, exit codes 0, 1 and 2, and a JSON result with `is_error` and `subtype`, with no error catalogue (11). A changelog by CLI version with dates and an RSS feed, 236 entries back to 30 September 2025 (15).); OpenAI Agents API 88 (The reference is linked from the overview and the SDKs carry beta.agents types; we didn't confirm /agents/sessions in OpenAI's public OpenAPI file, so 15 of 25. llms.txt with every Agents API page and Markdown twins (10). The overview, architecture page and the agents guide that compares the Agents API, Agents SDK and Responses API say when to use it (20). Typed configuration with enumerated container sizes, network modes and environment types (13 of 15). Examples in six languages and an errors page with codes per HTTP status, turn and session (15). Dated changelog entries and a versioned beta header (15). 15 + 10 + 20 + 13 + 15 + 15 = 88.)
- Agent ergonomics, OpenAI Agents API +8: Droid CLI 72 (Harness reading of the framework line. `--restrict-tools`, `--disabled-tools`, `--additional-tools` and `--list-tools` control built-in tools per run, and `disabledTools` in `mcp.json` keeps named MCP tools out of context. We found nothing on deferred tool loading (18). Output is text, json, stream-json or stream-jsonrpc, and the JSON result carries turns and duration. The `droid exec` help lists no flag for a turn or spend limit (10). Exit codes 0, 1 and 2 are documented, and a run that exceeds its autonomy level stops with a non-zero code and no partial changes, per the docs (15). `--session-id` continues a session, `--fork` branches one, and `--worktree` isolates parallel runs (16). Headless runs are read-only without flags, and TypeScript and Python SDKs wrap the CLI. A run needs a paid Factory account and an API key (13).); OpenAI Agents API 80 (Read as an API an agent drives. Context is compacted automatically, and session budgets and streamed events keep output sized (20 of 25). Sessions can be listed, continued and steered, events streamed or sent by webhook, artifacts fetched (15 of 20). Actionable error codes with recovery steps (20). No idempotency key; a documented check-then-retry procedure (10 of 20). One session call with defaults (medium sandbox, network enabled), SDKs in five languages (15). 20 + 15 + 20 + 10 + 15 = 80.)
- Maintenance & community, OpenAI Agents API +8: Droid CLI 79 (The changelog's newest entry is CLI v1.3.0 of 4 November 2026 (30). 67 dated changelog entries between 6 August and 4 November 2026, 20 of them after 9 October (20). The public tracker had 33 open issues that are not pull requests on 9 October 2026, most with no reply, and three closed in the previous week after two or three comments, not re-read on 4 November. Support is also by email and Discord, where reply times are not visible (9). The TypeScript SDK repository moved to 0.10.0 with examples tested in CI on 20 October 2026, and the Python SDK is at 0.5.0 of 24 September 2026 (15). The npm package is published from GitHub Actions through a trusted publisher and the installer checks a checksum, per the 9 October check. There is no public CI for the CLI (5).); OpenAI Agents API 87 (Closed API. Last dated change 16 October 2026, Ultrafast mode and document skills (30). Four dated changelog entries in the 57 days since release, 10 September, 29 September, 9 October and 16 October (20). Changelog and help centre, as the openai-api listing reads them (12 of 15). Official SDKs carry beta.agents (15). SDK CI, per the openai-api listing (10). 30 + 20 + 12 + 15 + 10 = 87.)