# GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenHands

> OpenHands has a score of 70.9 (BB) against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.9 (C). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is reliability, 28 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-04

OpenHands has a score of 70.9 (BB) against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.9 (C). Both do agent harness. The largest gap is reliability, 28 points.

- GitHub Copilot CLI: grade C, 57.9/100, rank #286 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/github-copilot-cli.json
- OpenHands: grade BB, 70.9/100, rank #92 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openhands.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openhands.json

## Which one, for what

Pick GitHub Copilot CLI for nothing in particular (no category where it leads by five points or more).

Pick OpenHands for reliability (+28), schema & documentation (+15), agent ergonomics (+6), security & auth (+6), payments & pricing (+20), maintenance & community (+8).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | GitHub Copilot CLI | OpenHands | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 83 | OpenHands +28 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 87 | OpenHands +15 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 78 | OpenHands +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 66 | OpenHands +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 60 | OpenHands +20 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 85 | OpenHands +8 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 69 | GitHub Copilot CLI +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **57.9 · C** | **70.9 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | GitHub Copilot CLI | OpenHands |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | GitHub | All Hands AI |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary, under the licence in the repository's `LICENSE.md`. Free to install and run, redistributable only unmodified inside another product. The repository holds the README, changelog and install script, not the source | MIT (Agent Canvas, SDK, tools and Agent Server). OpenHands Cloud is a hosted service |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-30 |
| Popularity | 11k stars | 90k stars |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | 2.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**GitHub Copilot CLI.** Asks before the first use of each modifying tool, and `--deny-tool` beats `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`. Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026.

**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

### GitHub Copilot CLI

1. Pass `--deny-tool` for anything destructive. It wins over `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`
2. Turn on the sandbox with `/sandbox enable` or `--sandbox`. It's off unless you opt in
3. Turn off model training in Copilot settings on Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max. It's on by default since 24 April 2026
4. Run 1.0.88 or later where enterprise policy matters. Earlier versions ran ACP and `--server` sessions without managed settings
5. Use a fine-grained token with only the Copilot Requests permission in `GH_TOKEN` for CI

### 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

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