{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "gemini-cli", "name": "Gemini CLI", "vendor": "Google", "vendorUrl": "https://geminicli.com", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "Google's open-source coding agent for the terminal, in TypeScript on Node 20 or newer.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gemini-cli.json", "repo": "https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@google/gemini-cli" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Sign in with a Google account (Gemini Code Assist for individuals, Google AI Pro or Ultra, Code Assist Standard or Enterprise), or use a Gemini API key from AI Studio or Vertex AI credentials. Google's terms forbid using the Gemini CLI sign-in from third-party software.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free with a Google sign-in, up to 1,000 model requests a user a day, or 250 a day on Flash with an unpaid Gemini API key. Google AI Pro raises the daily limit to 1,500 and Ultra to 2,000, Code Assist Standard to 1,500 and Enterprise to 2,000. Pay as you go through a paid Gemini API key or Vertex AI at token rates. Requests are also limited per minute (checked 2026-10-02).", "priceSummary": "Freemium", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source (checked 2026-10-02).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 107000, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-02" }, "docsUrl": "https://geminicli.com/docs/", "llmsTxt": "https://geminicli.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "official", "harness", "coding-agent", "cli", "open-source", "typescript", "mcp", "llms-txt", "telemetry-default-on", "pre-1.0", "free-tier", "no-card", "gemini-only" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-29", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 72, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 94, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 629, "categoryRank": 4, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 88, "payments": 40, "reliability": 71, "schema": 93, "security": 67, "transparency": 87 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-04-24. GHSA-wpqr-6v78-jr5g, critical (CVSS 10). In CI, headless Gemini CLI trusted the workspace folder automatically and loaded its configuration, and `--yolo` ignored fine-grained tool allowlists, so a workflow fed untrusted pull requests or issues could run an attacker's code. Fixed in @google/gemini-cli 0.39.1 and run-gemini-cli 0.1.22 and published, so the deduction is small (https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-wpqr-6v78-jr5g)" ], "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "Developers and CI jobs that want an open-source harness with a free tier and documented headless output.", "strengths": [ "Apache-2.0, CI passing on main, and 583 open issues with priority labels", "A weekly stable release after a week in preview, under a written release policy", "Headless JSON and stream-json output with documented exit codes, including 53 for the turn limit", "A TOML policy engine with admin policy paths, folder trust on by default and a setting that blocks yolo mode", "1,000 free requests a day with a Google sign-in and no card" ], "weaknesses": [ "Sandboxing is off by default, and the default macOS profile allows network", "Usage statistics on by default, and the free tier may train on data unless the user opts out", "A critical advisory in April 2026 (CVSS 10) for CI runs that trusted untrusted repositories", "Pre-1.0 at 0.62.0, and Gemini models only", "Open P1 report #29310 says yolo and auto_edit auto-allow obfuscated shell commands" ], "agentNotes": [ "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", "Turn on the sandbox with `-s` or `tools.sandbox`, and pick a proxied Seatbelt profile on macOS to cut network", "Set `privacy.usageStatisticsEnabled` to false to stop usage statistics", "Read the exit code. 42 is bad input and 53 is the turn limit", "Use `--output-format stream-json` to get tool calls and results as JSONL events" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 3.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 72 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 78, "maintenance": 88, "payments": 40, "reliability": 71, "schema": 93, "security": 67, "transparency": 80 }, "provenanceScore": 93 }, "connect": { "install": "npm i -g @google/gemini-cli # or: brew install gemini-cli", "headless": { "run": "gemini -p \"fix the failing test\" --output-format json --approval-mode auto_edit" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/gemini-cli" }, "sameCompany": [ "gemini-api", "gemini-embedding", "vertex-ai-tuning", "google-model-armor", "google-imagen", "google-veo", "google-lyria", "google-speech-to-text", "google-adk", "google-secret-manager", "google-weather-api", "chrome-devtools-mcp", "google-maps-platform", "google-cloud-translation", "google-calendar-api", "google-drive-api", "google-ads-api", "google-sheets-api", "gmail-api" ], "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Google LLC", "domain": "google.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-09-15", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://geminicli.com/docs/resources/tos-privacy", "privacy": "https://policies.google.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://aistudio.google.com/status", "changelog": "https://geminicli.com/docs/changelogs", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-01", "notes": [ "The docs are on geminicli.com. The terms page there maps each sign-in method to its own terms and privacy notice (Gemini Code Assist, the Gemini API unpaid and paid services, Google Cloud).", "The status page is the Gemini API's. We found no status page for Gemini Code Assist sign-ins.", "Legal entity, domain date and security.txt for google.com are from the gemini-api listing's check of 26 September 2026." ], "score": 93 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli.json", "live": { "slug": "gemini-cli", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://aistudio.google.com/status", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T21:40:04.477079675Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "google-gemini/gemini-cli", "version": "v0.63.0", "released": "2026-10-06", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:12:44.55043328Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@google/gemini-cli", "version": "0.63.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:12:41.451552281Z" } ], "githubStars": 107253, "npmWeekly": 453215, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://google.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2030-04-01T00:00:00z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:39.75078566Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://geminicli.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T14:00:27.236814951Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "google.com", "registered": "1997-09-15", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/google.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:05:50.737985829Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://geminicli.com/docs/changelogs", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-07T18:06:22.906677126Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:06:22.906677126Z", "fingerprint": "52b85a91ab8e" }, { "url": "https://geminicli.com/docs/resources/tos-privacy", "kind": "terms", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-07T18:06:24.962661853Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "f7d55fbc670d" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T16:12:44.55043328Z" } }, "answer": "Gemini CLI scores 72 (BB) on agent readiness against Prime Agent's 60.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Prime Agent leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "b": { "slug": "prime-agent", "name": "Prime Agent", "vendor": "Prime Intellect", "vendorUrl": "https://www.primeintellect.ai", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "Prime Agent is an open-source coding and research agent from Prime Intellect, run from a terminal. The model works through a persistent Python REPL, spawns subagents as function calls and keeps sessions running in a background daemon.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/prime-agent.json", "repo": "https://github.com/PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account of its own is required. `/login` on first launch picks a subscription or an API-key provider, and provider keys can also come from environment variables such as `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_API_KEY`, `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` or `PRIME_API_KEY`.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free and MIT-licensed, with nothing to buy for the agent itself. The model provider is paid separately, and Prime Intellect's own inference service is one of the providers.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the README or the source (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 21614, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://github.com/PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent#readme", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "free", "no-card", "rust", "mcp", "telemetry-default-on", "pre-1.0", "beta" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-07", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 60.5, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 352, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 629, "categoryRank": 9, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 79, "payments": 60, "reliability": 65, "schema": 42, "security": 50, "transparency": 64 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Budgets for turns, tokens and time bound an autonomous run, and sessions survive a closed terminal through a supervising daemon. Model-written Python and shell commands run with the user's rights, with no approval step and no sandbox, and the Rust build on the main branch ships only as nightly betas.", "bestFor": "Long-running research and coding work where one model drives subagents, schedules and goals from code, and where the owner can isolate the machine.", "strengths": [ "MIT licence, with CI on main passing on 8 October 2026 (fmt, clippy with warnings as errors, sharded tests, cargo-deny)", "Three model tools (bash, edit, ipython). MCP tools are found and called from Python, so their definitions stay out of the prompt", "Autonomous mode takes limits on turns, tokens, time and continuations, plus user-defined quality gates with retries", "A daemon supervises one worker per session, restarts it with backoff and restores from append-only JSONL session files", "Telemetry is disclosed on first run, carries primitive values only and has four documented ways to turn it off" ], "weaknesses": [ "No approval prompts and no sandbox. The README says the worker and kernel processes are not a security sandbox", "The stable channel (v0.9.8, 29 September 2026) is the TypeScript build. The Rust code on main ships only as nightly betas", "No documentation site for Prime Agent. Headless, JSON, RPC and ACP modes are described only in source and crate READMEs", "Usage telemetry is on by default, and the vendor privacy policy (updated 23 February 2024) does not describe it", "No SECURITY.md in the repository, and public issues and unsolicited pull requests are closed automatically" ], "agentNotes": [ "Run it in a disposable clone, container or VM. It executes model-written Python and shell commands with the user's rights and asks nothing first", "Set `PRIME_AGENT_TELEMETRY=0` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before the first run if usage metrics must not leave the machine", "For unattended runs pass `--autonomous-max-turns`, `--autonomous-max-tokens` and `--autonomous-timeout-ms`. Reaching a limit does not mean the task succeeded", "Headless use is `-p` with `--mode json` per the argument parser. A provider key must already be configured, because `/login` is interactive", "The `-t/--tools`, `-nt/--no-tools` and `-nbt/--no-builtin-tools` flags were removed and now fail as unknown options" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 60.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 79, "payments": 60, "reliability": 65, "schema": 42, "security": 50, "transparency": 67 }, "provenanceScore": 61 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://app.primeintellect.ai/prime-agent/install.sh | sh" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/prime-agent" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Prime Intellect, Inc.", "domain": "primeintellect.ai", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://www.primeintellect.ai/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://www.primeintellect.ai/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.primeintellect.ai", "changelog": "https://github.com/PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The site footer, terms and privacy policy name Prime Intellect, Inc. of Dover, Delaware. The repository LICENSE names Prime Intellect Ltd. as copyright holder.", "www.primeintellect.ai/.well-known/security.txt returned 404 on 8 October 2026. A security policy with a reporting address is at https://www.primeintellect.ai/security.", "The status page covers Prime Intellect's hosted platform (API, inference, sandboxes), not the locally run agent.", "The LICENSE adds that the software is a port of the Prime Agent TypeScript product, originally copyright 2025 Mario Zechner, used under the MIT licence. GitHub's licence detector reports the file as unrecognised." ], "score": 61 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent.json", "live": { "slug": "prime-agent", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.primeintellect.ai", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:37:11.094181515Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent", "version": "v0.9.8", "released": "2026-09-29", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:26:16.585379993Z" } ], "githubStars": 21619, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://primeintellect.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:39:02.360151245Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T16:26:16.585379993Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Google", "b": "Prime Intellect", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Apache-2.0", "b": "MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-29", "b": "2026-10-07", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "couldn't be read", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "107k stars", "b": "22k stars", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "3.5/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Gemini CLI scores 72 (BB) on agent readiness against Prime Agent's 60.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Prime Agent leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Gemini CLI or Prime Agent?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Gemini CLI is open source (Apache-2.0). Prime Agent is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are Gemini CLI and Prime Agent open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 71 against 65", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 93 against 42", "Agent ergonomics, 78 against 73", "Security \u0026 auth, 67 against 50", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 88 against 79", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 87 against 64" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better" ], "goodFor": "Developers and CI jobs that want an open-source harness with a free tier and documented headless output.", "slug": "gemini-cli", "watchFor": "Sandboxing is off by default, and the default macOS profile allows network" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 40" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it" ], "goodFor": "Long-running research and coding work where one model drives subagents, schedules and goals from code, and where the owner can isolate the machine.", "slug": "prime-agent", "watchFor": "No approval prompts and no sandbox. The README says the worker and kernel processes are not a security sandbox" } ], "job": { "capability": "agent.harness", "name": "Agent harness" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-gemini-cli.json", "title": "Aider vs Gemini CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-gemini-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Aider vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-gemini-cli.json", "title": "Amp vs Gemini CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-gemini-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Amp vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-gemini-cli.json", "title": "Claude Code vs Gemini CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-gemini-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Claude Code vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-gemini-cli.json", "title": "Cline vs Gemini CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-gemini-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Cline vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-gemini-cli.json", "title": "Cursor CLI vs Gemini CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-gemini-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Cursor CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-gemini-cli.json", "title": "Devin vs Gemini CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-gemini-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Devin vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-gemini-cli.json", "title": "Pi vs Gemini CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-gemini-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Pi vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-goose.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs goose", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-goose" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openai-codex.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs OpenAI Codex", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openai-codex" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-opencode.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs OpenCode", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-opencode" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openhands.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs OpenHands", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openhands" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-qwen-code.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs Qwen Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-qwen-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "goose vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "OpenAI Codex vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "OpenCode vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "OpenHands vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-qwen-code.json", "title": "Prime Agent vs Qwen Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-qwen-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-paperclip.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs Paperclip", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-paperclip" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Paperclip vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-prime-agent" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 6, "edge": "gemini-cli", "gemini-cli": 71, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "prime-agent": 65, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 51, "edge": "gemini-cli", "gemini-cli": 93, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "prime-agent": 42, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "gemini-cli", "gemini-cli": 78, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "prime-agent": 73, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 17, "edge": "gemini-cli", "gemini-cli": 67, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "prime-agent": 50, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 20, "edge": "prime-agent", "gemini-cli": 40, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "prime-agent": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 9, "edge": "gemini-cli", "gemini-cli": 88, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "prime-agent": 79, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 23, "edge": "gemini-cli", "gemini-cli": 87, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "prime-agent": 64, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Gemini CLI scores 72 (BB) on agent readiness against Prime Agent's 60.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Prime Agent leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do agent harness.", "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.", "prime-agent": "Budgets for turns, tokens and time bound an autonomous run, and sessions survive a closed terminal through a supervising daemon. Model-written Python and shell commands run with the user's rights, with no approval step and no sandbox, and the Rust build on the main branch ships only as nightly betas." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent.min.md" }, "markdown": "Gemini CLI scores 72 (BB) on agent readiness against Prime Agent's 60.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Prime Agent leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do agent harness.\n\n- Gemini CLI: grade BB, 72/100, rank #94 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gemini-cli.json\n- Prime Agent: grade C, 60.5/100, rank #352 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/prime-agent.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Gemini CLI (BB)\n\nGood for: Developers and CI jobs that want an open-source harness with a free tier and documented headless output.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 71 against 65\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 93 against 42\n- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 73\n- Security \u0026 auth, 67 against 50\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 88 against 79\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 87 against 64\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n\nWatch for: Sandboxing is off by default, and the default macOS profile allows network\n\n### Prime Agent (C)\n\nGood for: Long-running research and coding work where one model drives subagents, schedules and goals from code, and where the owner can isolate the machine.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 40\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n\nWatch for: No approval prompts and no sandbox. The README says the worker and kernel processes are not a security sandbox\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Gemini CLI | Prime Agent | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 71 | 65 | Gemini CLI +6 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 93 | 42 | Gemini CLI +51 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 73 | Gemini CLI +5 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 67 | 50 | Gemini CLI +17 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 60 | Prime Agent +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 79 | Gemini CLI +9 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 64 | Gemini CLI +23 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **72 · BB** | **60.5 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Gemini CLI | Prime Agent |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Google | Prime Intellect |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | None |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-10-07 |\n| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |\n| Popularity | 107k stars | 22k stars |\n| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**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.\n\n**Prime Agent.** Budgets for turns, tokens and time bound an autonomous run, and sessions survive a closed terminal through a supervising daemon. Model-written Python and shell commands run with the user's rights, with no approval step and no sandbox, and the Rust build on the main branch ships only as nightly betas.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Gemini CLI\n\n1. 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\n2. Turn on the sandbox with `-s` or `tools.sandbox`, and pick a proxied Seatbelt profile on macOS to cut network\n3. Set `privacy.usageStatisticsEnabled` to false to stop usage statistics\n4. Read the exit code. 42 is bad input and 53 is the turn limit\n5. Use `--output-format stream-json` to get tool calls and results as JSONL events\n\n### Prime Agent\n\n1. Run it in a disposable clone, container or VM. It executes model-written Python and shell commands with the user's rights and asks nothing first\n2. Set `PRIME_AGENT_TELEMETRY=0` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before the first run if usage metrics must not leave the machine\n3. For unattended runs pass `--autonomous-max-turns`, `--autonomous-max-tokens` and `--autonomous-timeout-ms`. Reaching a limit does not mean the task succeeded\n4. Headless use is `-p` with `--mode json` per the argument parser. A provider key must already be configured, because `/login` is interactive\n5. The `-t/--tools`, `-nt/--no-tools` and `-nbt/--no-builtin-tools` flags were removed and now fail as unknown options\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Gemini CLI or Prime Agent?\n\nGemini CLI scores 72 (BB) on agent readiness against Prime Agent's 60.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Prime Agent leads on payments \u0026 pricing.\n\n### Are Gemini CLI and Prime Agent open source?\n\nYes. Gemini CLI is open source (Apache-2.0). Prime Agent is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"gemini-cli\", \"b\": \"prime-agent\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare gemini-cli prime-agent`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gemini-cli.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/prime-agent.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Gemini CLI or Prime Agent\n\n- [Aider vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Aider vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Amp vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Amp vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Claude Code vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Claude Code vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Cline vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Devin vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Devin vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Pi vs Gemini CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-gemini-cli.md)\n- [Pi vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-goose.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openai-codex.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-opencode.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-openhands.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [goose vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [OpenAI Codex vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [OpenCode vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [OpenHands vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Prime Agent vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-qwen-code.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-paperclip.md)\n- [Paperclip vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-prime-agent.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Gemini CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "" } ], "description": "Gemini CLI scores 72 (BB) on agent readiness against Prime Agent's 60.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Prime Agent leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Gemini CLI BB 72", "Prime Agent C 60.5", "scores" ], "h1": "Gemini CLI vs Prime Agent", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent.png", "path": "/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Gemini CLI vs Prime Agent for AI agents, BB 72 vs C 60.5", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2400, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }