# Pi vs T3 Code (slim)

> Pi scores 62.6 (B) to T3 Code's 51.9 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-t3-code.md (~6,250 tokens) · this version ~2,880 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-t3-code.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-t3-code
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-07
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Pi scores 62.6 (B) on agent readiness against T3 Code's 51.9 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- Pi: B 62.6, rank #550 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/earendil-pi.min.md
- T3 Code: D 51.9, rank #1008 of 1510 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/t3-code.min.md
- Pi, 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 43; Schema & documentation, 84 against 55; Agent ergonomics, 76 against 60; Security & auth, 61 against 35; Maintenance & community, 87 against 75; Transparency & trust, 67 against 51. Also Free to start without a card.
- T3 Code, good for Developers who want one app, including on their phone, to drive several coding agents they already pay for. Also No incidents deducted, where Pi loses 10 points for them.

| Category | Pi | T3 Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 75 | 43 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 84 | 55 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 76 | 60 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 61 | 35 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 87 | 75 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 67 | 51 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Pi | T3 Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Earendil | T3 Tools Inc. |
| Last release | 2026-10-21 | 2026-11-06 |
| Popularity | 113k stars, 5.2M npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.3/5 (4) | none |

Why the edge:
- Reliability, Pi +32: Pi 75 (Read as a local package. `@earendil-works/pi-coding-agent` 1.4.0 on npm (still the latest on 1 November 2026) with Node.js 22.19 or newer stated, install scripts for macOS, Linux and Windows, Nix and standalone binaries (20). A public CI workflow builds, checks and tests on every push to main and runs an MCP client conformance job. The run on the commit we cloned (ce950d7, 8 October 2026) passed, but eight of the last 15 runs on main, all on 7 and 8 October, failed. Run results weren't readable on 23 October, so this stands per the 8 October check (15). The repository API reported 308 open issues and pull requests against 113,417 stars on 8 October, not re-read on 23 October. Issues from new contributors are closed automatically and reviewed daily by maintainers, per CONTRIBUTING.md, so the open count understates what is reported, and we couldn't sample reply times (16). A dated changelog with Breaking Changes sections and migration steps, but breaking changes ship outside major versions. The Azure provider rename shipped in patch release 1.0.3 on 5 October 2026, minor release 1.2.0 on 12 October carried four (theme schema location, `before_agent_start`, busy-session behaviour and `pi mcp list --json` output), and 1.3.0 required `/v1` on `kimi-coding` base URL overrides under Changed. The same reading as agent-zero and mistral-vibe-cli, and these breaks also take a deduction under negative events (9). 1.4.0 on 21 October 2026, with 1.0.0 dated 1 October 2026 (15).); T3 Code 43 (Local software. An install script and desktop and mobile apps from the vendor (20). ci.yml and windows-tests.yml run on the repository; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Stable tags v0.1.5 to v0.1.7 with many nightlies, no changelog file (8). Version 0.1.7 (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 43.)
- Schema & documentation, Pi +29: Pi 84 (Harness reading, as for the other harnesses. JSON Schemas for settings, models, keybindings and themes ship in the package and, since 1.2.0 on 12 October 2026, at pi.dev/schemas/, and the JSON event stream and every RPC command are documented record by record, but as Markdown and TypeScript types with no machine-readable spec for the RPC protocol (18). pi.dev/llms.txt returns 404. Each docs page answers `Accept: text/markdown` with Markdown, and the docs ship inside the npm package (8). The integration page has a table saying when to use interactive, print, JSON, RPC or the SDK, and the MCP page gives a typical use for each exposure setting. 1.4.0 adds a Models Configuration reference generated from the `models.json` schema (17). Enumerated modes, thinking levels and exposure values, typed settings with defaults (13). A Python RPC client, a typed TypeScript client and about 75 example extensions, with command errors and parse errors shown as records (13). A dated changelog in the repository and at pi.dev/changelog with an RSS feed (15).); T3 Code 55 (Harness reading. User docs in the repository (managed policy, handoffs, providers, telemetry), AGENTS.md for contributors, a server other clients connect to (55).)
- Security & auth, Pi +26: Pi 61 (Harness reading of the framework checklist, used for the harnesses in this category. 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. An anonymous install and update ping to pi.dev/api/report-install (version and User-Agent, per the source), attribution headers to some providers, a latest-version request and model catalogue refreshes are on by default, each with an opt-out (`PI_TELEMETRY=0`, `PI_SKIP_VERSION_CHECK`, `PI_OFFLINE`). Since 1.4.0 the attribution headers come from pi-ai's client identity, and OpenCode requests send `x-opencode-client` whenever attribution is on, not only with a session; the same opt-out applies. Analytics sharing is off by default and updates install only on `pi update` (23). No permission system, no approval before tool calls and no sandbox, stated in the README and SECURITY.md. Project trust gates a repository's `.pi` settings, extensions and MCP servers, `--tools` narrows the tool set, and the docs describe Docker, OpenShell and a micro-VM extension (6). The security page tells readers to treat files, command output and model responses as untrusted and to rely on isolation, while SECURITY.md puts prompt injection out of scope and context files such as AGENTS.md load whatever the trust decision (7). Sessions are JSONL files on disk with HTML export, MCP server logs go to `~/.pi/agent/mcp.log`, and the JSON stream records each tool call (11). SECURITY.md gives security@earendil.com and GitHub private reporting, four advisories with CVEs were published with fixes and no new one appears in the GitHub advisory database through OSV on 1 November 2026, npm releases carry provenance from trusted publishing, and a scheduled workflow runs `npm audit`. Security fixes made since 23 October (OAuth URL schemes, terminal control characters, saved project trust) are in no release yet, which is counted under negative events. No security.txt and no bounty found (14).); T3 Code 35 (Harness reading. Product usage events go by default to ingest.t3.codes and PostHog, with hashed identifiers for your T3 Connect, OpenAI and Claude accounts, and relay traces to Axiom, which can include machine names and error text. Off with T3CODE_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false or a managed policy. Disclosed in docs/user/telemetry.md, not the README (10 of 30). Permission modes and managed policies (12 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). No security policy file found (3). 10 + 12 + 5 + 5 + 3 = 35.)
- Agent ergonomics, Pi +16: Pi 76 (Harness reading of the framework line, scored on what an agent or pipeline driving it has to supply. Four default tools (read, bash, edit, write) and a short system prompt. MCP tools default to `codemode` exposure, which keeps them out of the model's tool declarations, and `tool_search` loads deferred ones on demand (23). Automatic compaction, agent-level retry with three attempts and exponential backoff, and truncated tool output saved to a file. We found no turn or step limit in the CLI or settings reference (13). `--mode json` streams JSONL events ending in `agent_settled` and `--mode rpc` returns `success: false` with an error string. Print mode exits nonzero on a failed response, JSON mode doesn't (16). Sessions are stored as trees and continue, fork or take a fixed ID with `--continue`, `--fork` and `--session-id`. File changes have no built-in undo, and a git checkpoint is an example extension (14). It needs a provider key or subscription login before the first run, and the SDK is TypeScript only, with RPC for other languages (10).); T3 Code 60 (Harness reading. Remote control from phone or browser, portable handoffs between providers and managed policies for teams (60).)
- Transparency & trust, Pi +16: Pi 67 (MIT (30). No privacy policy for pi.dev or the CLI was found (pi.dev/privacy, earendil.com/privacy and radius.earendil.com/privacy return 404 on 23 October 2026, and pi.dev/privacy and pi.dev/terms again on 1 November). The docs say where sessions and credentials are stored and what `/share` and `/bug` upload. The Radius alpha terms of 1 September 2026 name Earendil Works Co. and refer to a Privacy Notice we couldn't locate (10). Breaking changes are listed per release with migration steps, with no deprecation policy or notice period found. Pi Durable's README says its API changes without notice between releases (8). Install telemetry and the version check are documented in the settings and environment-variable pages with opt-outs, though the docs don't list the fields sent (16).); T3 Code 51 (MIT (30). docs/user/telemetry.md lists what is sent and what isn't, but includes hashed third-party account identifiers and the README doesn't mention it (15 of 30). No deprecation policy (5). Disclosed with an opt-out, on by default (12 of 20). 30 + 15 + 5 + 12 = 62.)
- Maintenance & community, Pi +12: Pi 87 (v1.4.0 on 21 October 2026, still the latest on npm on 1 November (30). The changelog dates 23 releases in the 90 days from 3 August, 0.84.0 on 6 August to 1.4.0 on 21 October 2026 (20). Commits land daily and the changelog credits issues and outside pull requests in most releases. New contributors' issues are closed automatically, reviewed daily, and get no reply if they miss the quality bar, per CONTRIBUTING.md. Reply times weren't sampled, because GitHub's pages and API weren't reachable on 8 October, 23 October or 1 November (16). npm, the pi.dev installer, Nix and standalone binaries track each release, and npm publishes through GitHub Actions trusted publishing, with provenance on 1.4.0 (14). Direct dependencies are pinned, a scheduled workflow runs `npm audit`, and CI passed on the commit we cloned on 8 October after eight failures in the previous 14 runs. CI results weren't readable on 23 October or 1 November (7).); T3 Code 75 (Commits and nightly tags on 6 November 2026 (30). More than three releases in 90 days (20). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Current official apps and install script (15). CI on push (10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 10 = 75.)