# Pi vs GitHub Copilot CLI

> Pi scores 68.4 (B) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-github-copilot-cli
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-github-copilot-cli.md (~2,400 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-github-copilot-cli.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-github-copilot-cli.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: 2026-10-08

Pi scores 68.4 (B) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harness.

- Pi: grade B, 68.4/100, rank #170 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/earendil-pi.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/earendil-pi.json
- GitHub Copilot CLI: grade C, 57.6/100, rank #415 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/github-copilot-cli.json

## Which one, for what

### Pi (B)

Good for: Developers and pipelines that want a small, scriptable coding agent they can extend in TypeScript and drive over JSONL or RPC, inside their own container.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 75 against 55
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 72
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 77

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: No permission system or sandbox. Tool calls run with the user's rights and without an approval prompt

### GitHub Copilot CLI (C)

Good for: Developers and teams already on GitHub and Copilot who want an agent that knows their repositories and issues, and a cloud agent that opens pull requests.

Watch for: Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Pi | GitHub Copilot CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 55 | Pi +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 72 | Pi +12 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 72 | Pi +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 61 | 60 | Pi +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 40 | Pi +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 77 | Pi +10 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 64 | 68 | GitHub Copilot CLI +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **68.4 · B** | **57.6 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Pi | GitHub Copilot CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Earendil | GitHub |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary, under the licence in the repository's `LICENSE.md`. Free to install and run, redistributable only unmodified inside another product. The repository holds the README, changelog and install script, not the source |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-01 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-04-27 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-04-27 |
| Customer content may train models |  | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 113k stars, 5.2M npm/wk | 11k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Pi.** Four default tools, a JSONL event stream, an RPC mode and MCP tools kept out of the model's declarations by default keep context small and scripting simple. Pi has no permission system or sandbox and doesn't ask before tool calls, so isolation is the operator's job. Version 1.0.0 is dated 1 October 2026.

**GitHub Copilot CLI.** Asks before the first use of each modifying tool, and `--deny-tool` beats `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`. Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026.

## Before you call either

### Pi

1. Run Pi inside a container or VM for unattended work. It has no sandbox and doesn't ask before running shell commands
2. Use `pi --mode json` and wait for `agent_settled`. A failed response doesn't set a nonzero exit code in JSON mode
3. Split the JSONL stream on LF only. Node's `readline` also splits on U+2028 and U+2029, which are valid inside JSON strings
4. Pass `--no-approve` or `--approve` in scripts to make the project trust decision explicit
5. Set `PI_TELEMETRY=0` and `PI_SKIP_VERSION_CHECK=1`, or `PI_OFFLINE=1`, to stop the default requests to pi.dev

### GitHub Copilot CLI

1. Pass `--deny-tool` for anything destructive. It wins over `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`
2. Turn on the sandbox with `/sandbox enable` or `--sandbox`. It's off unless you opt in
3. Turn off model training in Copilot settings on Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max. It's on by default since 24 April 2026
4. Run 1.0.88 or later where enterprise policy matters. Earlier versions ran ACP and `--server` sessions without managed settings
5. Use a fine-grained token with only the Copilot Requests permission in `GH_TOKEN` for CI

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Pi or GitHub Copilot CLI?

Pi scores 68.4 (B) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Pi and GitHub Copilot CLI open source?

Pi is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for GitHub Copilot CLI.


## For agents

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

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