# Kilo Code CLI vs Kiro CLI

> Kilo Code CLI scores 75.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Kiro CLI's 59.9 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kilo-code-cli-vs-kiro-cli.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
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Kilo Code CLI scores 75.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Kiro CLI's 59.9 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harness.

- Kilo Code CLI: grade BB, 75.4/100, rank #47 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kilo-code-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kilo-code-cli.json
- Kiro CLI: grade C, 59.9/100, rank #486 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/kiro-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/kiro-cli.json

## Which one, for what

### 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 57
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 79
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 67
- Payments & pricing, 50 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 73
- Transparency & trust, 76 against 67

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Open source
- No incidents deducted, where Kiro CLI loses 4 points for them

Watch for: Telemetry to PostHog is on by default, and the privacy policy and PRIVACY.md don't mention it

### Kiro CLI (C)

Good for: Teams on AWS that want one agent configuration across terminal, IDE and web, with central permission policy, prompt logging to their own S3 bucket and IAM Identity Centre sign-in.

Watch for: Free and individual paid accounts have content used for service improvement, including model training, unless they opt out


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Kilo Code CLI | Kiro CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 85 | 57 | Kilo Code CLI +28 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 79 | Kilo Code CLI +11 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 67 | Kilo Code CLI +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 66 | even |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 40 | Kilo Code CLI +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 87 | 73 | Kilo Code CLI +14 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 67 | Kilo Code CLI +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |
| **Total** | | **75.4 · BB** | **59.9 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Kilo Code CLI | Kiro CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Kilo Code Inc. | Amazon Web Services |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary. Licensed as AWS Content under the AWS Customer Agreement and the AWS Intellectual Property Licence (https://kiro.dev/license/). The GitHub repository is the public issue tracker and doesn't hold the source |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-05 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-09-30 | 2026-08-14 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-29 | 2026-05-18 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 28k stars, 33k npm/wk | 4.4k stars |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Kiro CLI.** Permission rules follow deny over ask over allow, cloned repositories can't add rules, and a headless session treats every ask as a deny. Content from Free and individual paid accounts is used for service improvement, including model training, unless the user opts out, and API keys for pipelines need a paid plan.

## Before you call either

### 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
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. Put provider keys in global config or the environment. `{env:VAR}` in a project `kilo.json` is ignored

### Kiro CLI

1. Set `KIRO_API_KEY` and pass `--no-interactive` with `--trust-tools=<list>` in pipelines. Keep `--trust-all-tools` for disposable environments
2. Pass `--require-mcp-startup` when a run depends on MCP tools. Without it a failed server is logged and the run continues
3. Pass `--no-interactive` whenever input is piped from a source you don't control, and run 2.10.0 or later on Windows
4. Run `kiro-cli settings telemetry.enabled false` and turn off content collection on Free and individual plans. Both are on by default
5. Export variables in the shell before starting. Since 2.24.0 a project `.env` file is no longer loaded into sessions, MCP servers or tools

## Questions

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

Kilo Code CLI scores 75.4 (BB) on agent readiness against Kiro CLI's 59.9 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

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

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


## For agents

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

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