# Junie CLI vs Kilo Code CLI

> Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) to Junie CLI's 53.2 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
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- Updated: 2026-10-18

Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against Junie CLI's 53.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

- 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
- Kilo Code CLI: grade BB, 73/100, rank #98 of 1146. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kilo-code-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.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

### 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.

Also in its favour:
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 2.8 against 2.3 out of 5

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

### Kilo Code CLI (BB)

Good for: Developers who want an open-source terminal agent with per-tool permission rules, an optional sandbox and a choice of provider, and the same engine in VS Code and JetBrains.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 85 against 45
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 62
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 55
- Security & auth, 64 against 56
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 42
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 72

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Open source

Watch for: Telemetry to PostHog is on by default, attaches the conda client ID since 7.8.10, and the privacy policy doesn't mention it


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Junie CLI | Kilo Code CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 85 | Kilo Code CLI +40 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 62 | 90 | Kilo Code CLI +28 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 72 | Kilo Code CLI +17 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 64 | Kilo Code CLI +8 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 42 | 50 | Kilo Code CLI +8 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 87 | Kilo Code CLI +15 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 78 | 76 | Junie CLI +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **53.2 · D** | **73 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Junie CLI | Kilo Code CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | JetBrains | Kilo Code Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | 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 | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated |  | 2026-09-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-12 | 2026-05-29 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | yes |
| Popularity | 487 stars, 3.2k npm/wk | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.8/5 (4) | 2.3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Kilo Code CLI.** Shell commands ask before running by default, and an optional operating-system sandbox blocks writes outside the workspace and outbound network. Telemetry to PostHog is on by default and the sandbox is off, so an unattended `kilo run --auto` approves everything not denied unless both are configured first.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Kilo Code CLI

1. Set `sandbox.enabled` to true in the global `kilo.jsonc` before `kilo run --auto`. `--auto` approves every permission request not explicitly denied
2. Set `experimental.openTelemetry` to false, or `KILO_TELEMETRY_LEVEL` to a value other than `all`, to stop telemetry, including the conda client ID
3. Add needed hosts to `sandbox.allowed_hosts` in global config. MCP tool calls are unavailable while network restriction is on
4. Without `--auto` a non-interactive run rejects every permission prompt and exits 1
5. Confine subagent writes with a session-level edit rule. From 7.8.13 a custom agent's own `edit` denies no longer bind the subagents it starts

## Questions

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

Kilo Code CLI scores 73 (BB) on agent readiness against Junie CLI's 53.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Junie CLI and Kilo Code CLI open source?

No open-source release is listed for Junie CLI. Kilo Code CLI is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

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- [Agent Zero vs Kilo Code CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-zero-vs-kilo-code-cli.md)
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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp