# Junie CLI vs MiniMax Code

> MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) to Junie CLI's 53.2 (D) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/junie-vs-minimax-code
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/junie-vs-minimax-code.md (~3,700 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/junie-vs-minimax-code.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/junie-vs-minimax-code.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-19

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against Junie CLI's 53.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Junie CLI leads on transparency & trust. Both do agent harnesses.

- Junie CLI: grade D, 53.2/100, rank #813 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/junie.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/junie.json
- MiniMax Code: grade B, 67.5/100, rank #277 of 1175. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/minimax-code.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/minimax-code.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 752 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.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 78 against 61

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

### MiniMax Code (B)

Good for: Scripted coding runs on MiniMax's models or any compatible model, driven by JSON output and exit codes.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 63 against 45
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 62
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 55
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 42
- Maintenance & community, 77 against 72

Also in its favour:
- Open source
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 2.8 out of 5
- No incidents deducted, where Junie CLI loses 3 points for them

Watch for: Pre-1.0 and labelled a source preview, with npm at 0.6.12 and the public source at 0.6.5


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Junie CLI | MiniMax Code | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 45 | 63 | MiniMax Code +18 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 62 | 81 | MiniMax Code +19 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 75 | MiniMax Code +20 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 56 | 57 | MiniMax Code +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 42 | 60 | MiniMax Code +18 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 77 | MiniMax Code +5 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 78 | 61 | Junie CLI +17 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **53.2 · D** | **67.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Junie CLI | MiniMax Code |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | JetBrains | MiniMax |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| 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 for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated |  | 2026-01-19 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-12 | 2026-01-19 |
| 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 | 2k stars, 6.8k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.8/5 (4) | 3.5/5 (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.

**MiniMax Code.** An MIT-licensed terminal coding agent with a headless mode that returns versioned JSON, documented exit codes and an ACP server, and telemetry off by default. It's pre-1.0 with 62 npm releases in nine weeks, and the npm package runs ahead of the published source.

## 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

### MiniMax Code

1. Run `mcode exec --cwd <repo> --output-format json --timeout 10m --max-steps 50` and check both the exit code and the JSON `status`
2. Keep `--permission full` and `off` for a container or throwaway workspace. The default `smart` fails when it would need a person
3. Set `MCODE_PROVIDER_API_KEY` and add a provider for BYOK. M Plan models need a browser sign-in with `mcode login --region global`
4. Set `MINIMAX_DATA_DIR` per CI runner. Keys and sessions live in `~/.minimax` by default
5. Pin a version. npm published 62 releases in nine weeks and the public source trails it

## Questions

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

MiniMax Code scores 67.5 (B) on agent readiness against Junie CLI's 53.2 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Junie CLI leads on transparency & trust.

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

No open-source release is listed for Junie CLI. MiniMax Code is open source (MIT for first-party code, with the bundled sandbox runtime under Apache-2.0. The desktop app's source isn't published).


## For agents

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

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