# Droid CLI vs OpenCode

> OpenCode scores 67.7 (B) to Droid CLI's 59.1 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-opencode
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-opencode.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-opencode.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/droid-cli-vs-opencode.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

OpenCode scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against Droid CLI's 59.1 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- Droid CLI: grade C, 59.1/100, rank #560 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/droid-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/droid-cli.json
- OpenCode: grade B, 67.7/100, rank #241 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/opencode.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/opencode.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 167 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.

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where OpenCode 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

### OpenCode (B)

Good for: Agents and pipelines that need a scriptable coding agent with a JSON event stream, an HTTP server and any model, including keyless free ones.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 68 against 49
- Schema & documentation, 88 against 79
- Agent ergonomics, 79 against 72
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

Watch for: Most permissions default to allow, and SECURITY.md says the permission system is not a sandbox


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Droid CLI | OpenCode | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 49 | 68 | OpenCode +19 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 79 | 88 | OpenCode +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 79 | OpenCode +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 63 | 60 | Droid CLI +3 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 60 | OpenCode +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 81 | OpenCode +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 67 | OpenCode +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **59.1 · C** | **67.7 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Droid CLI | OpenCode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Factory | Anomaly |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Paid | Freemium |
| 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 | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-09-30 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-07-14 | 2026-08-15 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-20 | 2026-03-06 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 49 stars, 7.8k npm/wk | 211k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (2) |

## 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.

**OpenCode.** Runs with no key or account on free OpenCode Zen models. Most permissions default to allow, and SECURITY.md says the permission system is not a sandbox.

## 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

### OpenCode

1. Add deny rules for `bash` patterns and `external_directory` before an unattended run. Most tools default to allow
2. Set `"autoupdate": false` or `OPENCODE_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE=1` and pin the version in CI
3. Configure a provider key. With none, prompts go to free Zen models that may train on them
4. Set `OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD` before `opencode serve`. Without it the server runs unauthenticated
5. Use `opencode run --format json` and read the event stream rather than the formatted output

## Questions

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

OpenCode scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against Droid CLI's 59.1 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Droid CLI and OpenCode open source?

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


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Droid CLI or OpenCode

- [Aider vs Droid CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-droid-cli.md)
- [Aider vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-opencode.md)
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- [Claude Code vs Droid CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-droid-cli.md)
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- [Cline vs Droid CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-droid-cli.md)
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- [Cursor CLI vs Droid CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-droid-cli.md)
- [Cursor CLI vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-opencode.md)
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- [Pi vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-opencode.md)
- [Gemini CLI vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-opencode.md)
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- [OpenAI Codex vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-opencode.md)
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- [OpenCode vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-qwen-code.md)
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