# GitHub Copilot CLI vs Qwen Code (slim)

> Qwen Code scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. GitHub Copilot CLI leads on security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-qwen-code.md (~2,600 tokens) · this version ~730 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-qwen-code.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-qwen-code
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-08

Qwen Code scores 72.4 (BB) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. GitHub Copilot CLI leads on security & auth and transparency & trust. Both do agent harness.

- GitHub Copilot CLI: C 57.6, rank #415 of 629 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli.min.md
- Qwen Code: BB 72.4, rank #88 of 629 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qwen-code.min.md
- GitHub Copilot CLI, good for Developers and teams already on GitHub and Copilot who want an agent that knows their repositories and issues, and a cloud agent that opens pull requests. Ahead on Security & auth, 60 against 53; Transparency & trust, 68 against 63.
- Qwen Code, good for Developers and CI jobs that want an open-source harness tied to no single model vendor, with run budgets and SDKs. Ahead on Reliability, 69 against 55; Schema & documentation, 91 against 72; Agent ergonomics, 85 against 72; Payments & pricing, 60 against 40; Maintenance & community, 88 against 77. Also Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better; Open source; No incidents deducted, where GitHub Copilot CLI loses 5 points for them.

| Category | GitHub Copilot CLI | Qwen Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 55 | 69 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 72 | 91 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 72 | 85 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 60 | 53 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 40 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 77 | 88 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 68 | 63 |

| Fact (where they differ) | GitHub Copilot CLI | Qwen Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | GitHub | Alibaba (Qwen team) |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| 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 | Apache-2.0 |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-04-27 | 2026-10-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-04-27 | 2026-10-01 |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 11k stars | 28k stars, 105k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |