# Gemini CLI vs Junie CLI

> Gemini CLI scores 66.7 (B) to Junie CLI's 53.2 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Gemini CLI scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Junie CLI's 53.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Junie CLI leads on payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.

- Gemini CLI: grade B, 66.7/100, rank #307 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gemini-cli.json
- Junie CLI: grade D, 53.2/100, rank #804 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/junie.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/junie.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 713 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Gemini CLI (B)

Good for: Teams with a paid Gemini API key, Vertex AI credentials or existing Code Assist Standard or Enterprise licences that want an open-source harness with documented headless output.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 71 against 45
- Schema & documentation, 93 against 62
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 55
- Security & auth, 67 against 56
- Maintenance & community, 88 against 72
- Transparency & trust, 89 against 78

Also in its favour:
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 2.8 out of 5

Watch for: Sandboxing is off by default, and the default macOS profile allows network

### Junie CLI (D)

Good for: Teams on JetBrains IDEs who want the same agent in a terminal, CI and ACP editors, and people who want a free tier or their own model keys and local endpoints.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 42 against 20

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: One-shot, piped, ACP and Gateway runs trust the project by design and load its MCP servers, hooks, agents and skills without a prompt


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Gemini CLI | Junie CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 71 | 45 | Gemini CLI +26 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 93 | 62 | Gemini CLI +31 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 55 | Gemini CLI +23 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 67 | 56 | Gemini CLI +11 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 42 | Junie CLI +22 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 72 | Gemini CLI +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 89 | 78 | Gemini CLI +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **66.7 · B** | **53.2 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Gemini CLI | Junie CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Google | JetBrains |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary, JetBrains s.r.o., all rights reserved, under the JetBrains AI Terms of Service. The GitHub repository holds the README, release binaries and the issue tracker, not source |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | 2026-06-12 |
| Customer content may train models | yes |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read |  |
| Popularity | 107k stars | 487 stars, 3.2k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | 2.8/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Gemini CLI.** Apache-2.0, with 16 stable releases since 3 July and documented headless output. Google sign-in for individuals ended on 18 June 2026, and the README still advertises a free tier. Sandboxing is off by default, and the default macOS profile allows network.

**Junie CLI.** Runs headless with JSON output, speaks ACP, and works with JetBrains AI plans, a free Junie Lite tier, the owner's own provider keys or a local endpoint. Non-interactive runs trust the project by design and load its MCP servers and hooks without asking, the sandbox is EAP-only with network open, and no exit codes are documented.

## Before you call either

### Gemini CLI

1. Set `GEMINI_TRUST_WORKSPACE` to true only for trusted inputs in CI. Since 0.39.1 headless mode doesn't trust a folder on its own
2. Turn on the sandbox with `-s` or `tools.sandbox`, and pick a proxied Seatbelt profile on macOS to cut network
3. Set `privacy.usageStatisticsEnabled` to false to stop usage statistics
4. Since 0.63.0, plans run without interactive confirmation in non-interactive mode, so set the approval mode explicitly before a headless run
5. Authenticate with a paid Gemini API key or Vertex credentials. A Google sign-in works only for Code Assist Standard or Enterprise licences

### Junie CLI

1. Run headless only in repositories you trust. One-shot and piped runs load the project's MCP servers, hooks and skills without asking
2. Set `JUNIE_API_KEY` (from junie.jetbrains.com/cli) or a provider key such as `JUNIE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` in CI. The default sign-in opens a browser
3. Add `--output-format json` or `--json-output-file` to parse results. Check the output, since exit codes aren't documented
4. Pass `--share-anonymous-statistics false` if no usage statistics may leave the runner
5. Pin a build with `--use-version` and `--skip-update-check`. The CLI updates itself on start by default

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Gemini CLI or Junie CLI?

Gemini CLI scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Junie CLI's 53.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Junie CLI leads on payments & pricing.

### Are Gemini CLI and Junie CLI open source?

Gemini CLI is open source (Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Junie CLI.


## For agents

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

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