# Emdash vs Qoder CLI (slim)

> Qoder CLI scores 59.5 (C) to Emdash's 53.9 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emdash-vs-qoder-cli.md (~5,950 tokens) · this version ~2,430 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emdash-vs-qoder-cli.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/emdash-vs-qoder-cli
- 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
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Qoder CLI scores 59.5 (C) on agent readiness against Emdash's 53.9 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Emdash leads on payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.

- Emdash: D 53.9, rank #927 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/emdash.min.md
- Qoder CLI: C 59.5, rank #695 of 1486 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qoder-cli.min.md
- Emdash, good for Developers who want parallel agents in worktrees, fed from their issue tracker, locally or over SSH. Ahead on Payments & pricing, 60 against 35. Also No key needed to call it; Open source; No incidents deducted, where Qoder CLI loses 3 points for them.
- Qoder CLI, good for Developers already on Qoder who want the same agent in a terminal, in CI through a PAT, in Zed through ACP, or embedded through the Agent SDK. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 81 against 55; Agent ergonomics, 80 against 55; Security & auth, 58 against 38; Transparency & trust, 61 against 54.

| Category | Emdash | Qoder CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 55 | 51 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 55 | 81 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 55 | 80 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 38 | 58 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 60 | 35 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 70 | 72 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 54 | 61 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Emdash | Qoder CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | General Action, Inc. | Qoder (BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED) |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary, under the Qoder Terms of Service (BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED, last updated 29 April 2026). No source is published, and the Agent SDK's LICENSE file points to the same terms |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-11-06 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | none | 5k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (4) |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Qoder CLI +26: Emdash 55 (Harness reading. Docs site and a workspace server package (55).); Qoder CLI 81 (Framework reading. A CLI reference with types and defaults for every flag, a settings reference with types and defaults, TypeScript declaration files and a Python reference for the SDK, and Result and error-code tables. No schema for the stream-json events was found (16). docs.qoder.com/llms.txt indexes every page with a Markdown twin, and robots.txt allows both (10). The permissions page states what each mode does and is best for, what headless runs do with ask, and which actions skip the auto classifier (17). Permission modes and output formats are enums and rules have a fixed syntax (12). CI examples, an SDK error page with exit codes 0, 1, 41, 42, 44, 52, 53, 54 and 130, Result subtypes and a troubleshooting index. Code 44 names a sandbox the docs don't describe (14). Dated release notes for the CLI and the SDK, though the SDK notes stop at 1.0.41 on 15 September while npm has 1.0.53, and the CLI reference still names the removed `lite` model (12). 16+10+17+12+14+12 = 81. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).)
- Agent ergonomics, Qoder CLI +25: Emdash 55 (Harness reading. Issue intake from Linear, GitHub, Jira and others, diff review, pull requests and CI checks in one place, local or over SSH (55).); Qoder CLI 80 (Framework reading, adapted to a harness driven by a pipeline. `--tools`, `--allowed-tools` and `--disallowed-tools` restrict built-in tools, and `--strict-mcp-config` with `--allowed-mcp-server-names` limits MCP servers. Nothing on deferred MCP tool loading was found (18). text, json and stream-json output, `--max-turns`, `--max-output-tokens` and `--no-session-persistence` (16). Distinct exit codes for authentication, input, configuration, turn-limit and tool failures, and SDK Result subtypes with error codes (16). `--continue`, `--resume`, `--session-id`, `--fork-session`, SDK checkpoints with rewind, and `--max-model-request-retries` (15). Official SDKs in TypeScript and Python, an ACP server, and headless runs that need only a PAT and a permission flag (15). 18+16+16+15+15 = 80. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).)
- Payments & pricing, Emdash +25: Emdash 60 (Free self-hosted software with nothing to buy, so 0 for a protocol and 20 each for public pricing, a free tier and onboarding with no sign-up, 60.); Qoder CLI 35 (Harness reading of the published rubric, scored on the Qoder subscription the CLI needs. No payment protocol (0). Plan prices, the Credit Pack price ($20 for 1,500 credits) and per-model credit factors are public in the docs without a login. qoder.com/pricing is disallowed by robots.txt and wasn't read (20). A Free plan with basic models for a limited number of messages and a 14-day Pro trial with 300 credits. We found no statement on whether a card is needed (15). A person signs in through a browser, and a PAT is created by hand at qoder.com/account/integrations (0). 0+20+15+0 = 35. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).)
- Security & auth, Qoder CLI +20: Emdash 38 (Harness reading. Telemetry is described as optional and disabled in Settings or with TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false, which reads as on by default (15 of 30). Worktree per task and remote machines over SSH (10 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). No security policy file found (3). 15 + 10 + 5 + 5 + 3 = 38.); Qoder CLI 58 (Framework reading (telemetry defaults, approvals, guardrails, sandboxing), five lines. Browser sign-in with background refresh, or a PAT created with chosen permissions and an expiry and revocable, plus scoped service accounts for organisations. Usage statistics and AI code statistics are on by default with documented opt-outs, and the privacy policy lets users turn off Share & Improve depending on the plan, without saying which plans or the default (18). Five permission modes, deny over ask over allow across seven rule layers, ask turned into deny in headless runs, a `dont_ask` mode, trusted directories, protected paths and an administrator switch that disables YOLO. No local sandbox is documented, and `auto` mode lets an AI classifier decide and approves read-only tools on any path (14). Workspace files can't add auto-mode rules, protected paths stop the agent changing shell startup files or .mcp.json without approval, and network paths always ask on Windows. A project's .qoder/settings.json is still one of the rule layers, and nothing contains a command once approved (9). The enterprise audit log records administrative and configuration events for administrators and says it leaves out prompts, terminal commands, MCP call parameters and CLI execution, and individuals have local session history only (5). qoder.com/enterprise says Qoder is certified to ISO/IEC 27001 and has completed a SOC 2 Type II audit. No security.txt, disclosure policy or bug bounty was found, and fixes appear as one-line release notes without advisories. Graded 12 against the named comparables for ISO 27001 and SOC 2 claims with no disclosure route (fireworks-inference, people-data-labs, launchdarkly), where the 18 October check gave 9 (12). 18+14+9+5+12 = 58. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).)
- Transparency & trust, Qoder CLI +7: Emdash 54 (Apache 2.0 (30). A telemetry page on the docs site (not read) (18 of 30). No deprecation policy (5). Disclosed with an opt-out (15 of 20). 30 + 18 + 5 + 15 = 68.); Qoder CLI 61 (Proprietary, with clear terms from BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED under Singapore law, and the SDK's LICENSE points to the same terms (15). The privacy policy lists purposes with retention for each (mostly for as long as the account exists), names storage in the United States, Singapore and Japan and names model providers. The terms let the operator use User Content to improve the Services unless Share & Improve is turned off, and the policy says the opt-out depends on the plan. No subprocessor list or DPA was found (14). Dated notices with two weeks' warning for the Lite tier removal (4 to 18 September 2026) and for the credit factor change on 21 September, but no stated deprecation policy (8). Usage statistics and AI code statistics are disclosed as settings with an opt-out, both on by default, and the installer's telemetry isn't described (14). 15+14+8+14 = 51. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).)