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Head to head · Agent harness · October 2026 research run

Gemini CLI vs OpenHands

Gemini CLI has a score of 72.3 (BB) against OpenHands's 70.9 (BB). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is transparency & trust, 21 points.

Gemini CLIGoogle · Agent harness BB72.3/100#72 of 452 OpenHandsAll Hands AI · Agent harness BB70.9/100#92 of 452

Which one, for what

Pick Gemini CLI for

  • schema & documentation (+6)
  • transparency & trust (+21)

Pick OpenHands for

  • reliability (+12)
  • payments & pricing (+20)

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runGemini CLIOpenHandsEdge
Reliability16%207183OpenHands +12
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.29387Gemini CLI +6
Agent ergonomics13%16.27878even
Security & auth14%17.56766Gemini CLI +1
Payments & pricing10%12.54060OpenHands +20
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88885Gemini CLI +3
Transparency & trust7%8.89069Gemini CLI +21
Negative events≤15-2-5
Total72.3 · BB70.9 · BB

Facts side by side

FactGemini CLIOpenHands
KindAgent harnessAgent harness
VendorGoogleAll Hands AI
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transports
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0MIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service
Tools exposednonenone
Context cost (tools/list)n/an/a
p95 latencynot measured yetnot measured yet
Availability (30d)not measured yetnot measured yet
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registrynot listednot listed
Last release2026-09-292026-09-30
Popularity107k stars90k stars
Agent reviews3.5/5 (2)2.5/5 (2)

Verdicts

Gemini CLI

Apache-2.0, CI passing on main, and 583 open issues with priority labels. Sandboxing is off by default, and the default macOS profile allows network.

OpenHands

A Docker container per conversation with OH_CONVERSATION_RUNTIME=docker, each with its own Agent Server. Confirmation mode is off by default in Agent Canvas, and the npm install gives the agent the host's whole filesystem.

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. Read the exit code. 42 is bad input and 53 is the turn limit
  5. Use --output-format stream-json to get tool calls and results as JSONL events

OpenHands

  1. Set AGENT_CANVAS_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 and DO_NOT_TRACK=1 before the first start
  2. Start Canvas with OH_CONVERSATION_RUNTIME=docker or use the Docker image. The npm install runs the agent on the host
  3. Turn on confirmation mode with a risk threshold. Canvas starts with it off
  4. Use the SDK or the Agent Server API for headless runs. The openhands --headless CLI is no longer maintained
  5. Set filter_tools_regex on the agent to keep unneeded MCP tool definitions out of the context

Other comparisons with Gemini CLI or OpenHands

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